John Staley was too much for the Chillicothe Cavaliers.

The 6-5 senior forward poured in 34 points on the Cavs, 21 in the first half to help Dayton Chaminade-Julienne pull away for a 64-44 win in the Flyin’ to the Hoop Invitational at Kettering Fairmont.

Staley drew Chillicothe’s MaLik London into two fouls in the first period, then a third inside a minute of the second to find a seat on the bench.

With London out, Staley and 6-5 Justin Bibbs displayed more confidence.

The Cavs kept the score at a manageable 30-22 at the half.

To open the third quarter, the Cavs caught up the ground they’d lost and over the 2:45 of the period used an 8-2 run to pull to within two at 32-30.

A fourth foul on London ended the Cavs rally and the Eagles put together a 15-2 run (which included a steal and dunk by Biggs after a layup… followed by another steal and layup for 6 quick points) to take a 45-32 lead entering the fourth period.

Staley scored nearly at will off the low block making 13-of-17 field goals and 8-of-11 from the line.

Zach Johnson led the Cavaliers with 22 points but the Cavs shot just 39% while the Eagles poured in 63% from the field, mostly from inside the paint.

Both teams had 12 turnovers apiece.

Chaminade-Julienne improves to 10-2 while the Cavs slip to 9-4.

The Cavaliers return to Hatton Gym for games Friday (vs Logan) and Saturday (vs Gahanna).

CLICK HERE to hear the Game podcast.

CLICK HERE to hear Cavs Coach Gary Kellough with WBEX’s Pat Highland. 

The Cavs picked up a win at Gallia Academy Friday night, 51-37. But the Blue Devils didn’t go down without a fight.

The game had an awkward feel to it. Cavs announcer Pat Highland described it as an “up and down” style… Chillicothe just couldn’t get into a good flow on tempo.

Defensively, the Cavs benchmark pressure was on, but they failed to have the kind of consistency they
needed on offense.

Chillicothe was able to push the ball up the floor and managed to build a 28-15 halftime lead with their fast break with some quick buckets. That allowed the Cavs to force Gallia
Academy to chase on defense which opened the inside 10 feet of the basket where MaLik London (19 points) is lethal.

In the second quarter, the Cavs made 7-of-11 shots from the field.

However, consistency is the goal this time of the year for Chillicothe.

In the postgame show, assistant coach Mike Henry told the WBEX crew “all of a sudden we didn’t do that anymore… plus they (GA) did a good job of taking care of the ball”, which allowed the Blue Devils to close the gap.

“In order for us to be where we need to be, especially come tournament time” said Henry, “we’re gonna have to have consistency out of three or four players offensively… we’re talking about double-figures”.

London’s 19 points paced  the Cavs. The Cleveland State bound center had a triple-double, adding 10 rebounds and 10 blocked shots. Zach Johnson dropped in 14 and Aaron Elliott added 10 for Chillicothe’s double-digit scoring. Gallia Academy was led by Justin Bailey’s 15 points.

In the SEOAL, Chillicothe  (9-3/4-1) and Portsmouth (10-2/4-1) share the lead by a half game over Warren (8-1/3-1) who’s game with Jackson was postponed. The Trojans escaped with a 61-57 win over Logan Friday night.

The Cavs will play Dayton Chaminade-Julienne in the “Flyin' to the Hoop” Invitational at Kettering High School’s Trent Arena Monday evening. Tip-off is 7:00pm. Coverage on 1490 WBEX follows the Thad Matta Show Monday.

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An awkward moment turned into a 56-54 Chillicothe victory over visiting Dublin Coffman Saturday night.

With the score tied at 54 in the game’s final seconds, the Cavs had difficulty handling the Coffman full court pressure, but once the ball got down the floor good things happened.

Aaron Elliott’s pass to the baseline didn’t quite reach MaLik London cleanly. London had to chase the ball to the sideline. Meanwhile, Elliott headed for the basket and London rifled the ball back to Elliott who hit the bucket to lift the Cavs back on top. Not exactly how it was drawn up, but it worked out for a win for the Cavaliers.

London had a big night with 27 points.

The Cavs’ swingman was 8-for-9 in the first half which helped Chillicothe take a 33-31 lead into the intermission. Chillicothe had trailed 25-19 before London hit 12 of the Cavs last 14 points of the half, closing on a 16-6 run.

The two clubs traded baskets for most of the second half with Zach Johnson and Isaiah Johnson teaming up to push Chillicothe ahead 45-41 at the end of the third.

The Cavs held off a late charge by Dublin in the final period. London buried a handful of free throws to give his team a 54-48 cushion.

The Shamrocks weren’t done as they tied the game at 54 with under a minute remaining, but Elliott’s basket was the nail in the coffin.

For a second straight night, the Cavs had fewer turnovers than their opponents (18-12) and had similar field goal percentage hitting 23-of-52 shots (44%) to Coffman’s 22-48 (45%).

It was the third straight Chillicothe (8-3) win and third straight loss for the Shamrocks (7-4) this week after falling to OCC foes Hilliard Davidson and Worthington Kilbourne.

The game marked the return to the lineup of Zach Johnson who poured in 15 points. Other Cavalier scorers included Elliott and Adam Bixler with four each and Jalen Jones, Marcus Dunn and Isaiah Johnson with two points each.

Chillicothe doesn’t play again until Friday at Gallia Academy.

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Warren’s Evan French was as hot as the room temperature inside Hatton Gym.

Equally as hot, were the Cavaliers.

Chillicothe evened up the SEOAL race by handing the visiting Warriors (8-1, 3-1) a 65-56 loss.

French, a 6’4” sophomore, pumped in 40 points on lights out shooting from beyond the arc. He accounted for 9 of the team’s 20 long range shots to help Warren overcome a 16-point deficit.

“He wasn’t even a concern for us coming in,” said Cavs coach Gary Kellough. “We were more interested in shutting down (Tyler) Ward and (Jeremy) Hastie outside.”

The Warren back court tandem combined for just 9 of the  Warriors 16 points.

Meanwhile, the Warriors made the Cavs MaLik London defend them away from the basket… a spot the 6’9” center is most dangerous. London managed just 9 points on the night making just 3 of 6 shots from the field, but at halftime was scoreless.

The Cavs were pretty impressive from the start.

Full court pressure and aggressive moves to the basket by Aaron Elliott (23 points) and Adam Bixler (21 points) got the Cavalier guard off to career nights. Between them, they accounted for 20 of Chillicothe 22 point first quarter (Marcus Dunn had the other two) while the Cavs made 10 of their 12 field goals. Most interesting was seven of those shots were from point blank range as Chillicothe raced out to a 22-8 lead.

The French started warming up. He hit for 13 as Warren outscored the Cavs 19-10 to pull within five at the midway point 32-27.

Slowly, Warren erased the 14-point hole they’d found themselves in from the first period, to cut the Cavs lead to 38-36 with 4:30 remaining in the third and French’s 6^th 3-pointer. Then French hit back to back baskets to knot the game at 41.

Isaiah Johnson nailed a Cavalier three to go ahead 46-43, but French answered to tie it again at 46 entering the fourth quarter.

Coach Kellough only went two deep to his bench, and the Cavs were still shorthanded by not having Zach Johnson. Coach K rested Aaron Elliott for most of the third quarter because he knew he’d have to count on him in the final period.

In the last 8 minutes, momentum appeared to have gone back with the Warriors.

French dropped in another three-ball (his 9^th) to give Warren a 49-46 lead. That began a series of lead changes… the last for the Warriors at 51-50.

Josh Winland, with a chance to tie and regain the lead, missed both shots. At the other end, Adam Bixler and Jalen Jones buried back-to-back three point shots for the Cavs and Chillicothe was back on top 56-51. London added another field goal and gave the Cavs the breathing room necessary to earn the victory.

Portsmouth’s 77-36 win over Gallia Academy created the tie atop the SEOAL among the League’s big three.

One of the goals for the Cavaliers was to cut down the turnovers. For the first time all season, the Cavs’ opponent had more (15-13).

While French was impressive individually, the Cavs were pretty good from the outside, too… making 8 of 11 three-pointers.

The Cavs home stand continues Saturday with Dublin Coffman, a game added when both teams pulled out from a showcase tournament which was originally scheduled at Ohio State.

The Shamrocks suffered their first loss of the season last Tuesday night (42-37 at Hilliard Davidson).

CLICK HERE for the Cavs-Warren Game Podcast

Chillicothe (6-3, 2-1) hits the floor for the first time in 2012 with two tough opponents, Warren (8-0, 3-0) which sits atop the SEOAL and the OCC’s Dublin Coffman (7-1).

Last season, the Chillicothe’s Jalen Ragland delivered a dagger on the Warriors home floor for a 44-43 Cavs win. You can bet that’ll be in the back of the minds of the Warren players coming to Hatton Memorial Gymnasium Friday.

Warren presents a patient, deliberate attack. However, they can push the ball up the floor, too. In a halftime appearance on WBEX over the holidays, Warriors coach Blaine Maddox says “We shoot the ball well at times and that keeps us in some games.”

In their last outing, Warren was a disappointing 5-of-18 from three point range, but managed to hang on for a 54-50 victory over Fort Frye.

In facing Chillicothe, one of the concerns for coach Maddox will not be a factor in this meeting defending Zach Johnson, who will be serving the final game of a two game suspension.

Maddox knows his team is not “in the clear” with Johnson off the floor. “You press and MaLik is down there ready to jam it on ya... but everybody else is playing their roll, playing hard, and always looking for those two (Johnson and London) is always a good idea.”

Graduation took two mainstays from the Warren lineup, Grant Venham and Austin Cunningham and deciding to focus on football, the Warriors lost Dylan Leffingwell from their lineup. However, the cupboard is not bare. “We’ve got some sophomores (Evan) French and Reece Patton, and we’ve got a lot of seniors who’ve been waiting, Tyler Ward, Jace Knost and Jason Winland has played well in the post for us…”

Cavs coach Gary Kellough says Warren will play that slow-down-style of game “… “They’re gonna look to Ward and Hastie to do a lot of their outside scoring, then kinda just bang and beat around a bit.” In other words, bring your lunch pail for the Warriors blue collar approach.

Jeremy Hastie has always delivered some big shots from behind the arc at inopportune times for Cavaliers fans. “We call him Big Shot Hastie” Maddox said. “He really likes to wait till that fourth quarter. The team moves the basketball well and plays hard, and that’s all I can ask for.”  

Coach K says “You’re gonna have to run a lot more of your sets and be able to execute in the half-court.” Which means taking care of the basketball, too. The Cavs are averaging 19.3 turnovers per ballgame. Kellough knows why “At times (in practice) our kids are very unselfish… sometimes we look too much (for opportunities) and by that time there’s a turnover.”

Coverage of the game begins around 7:30pm on 1490 WBEX.

The three-point shot is a great catch up tool when they find their way to the basket.

Make the shot, get back and play defense and create another opportunity.

For Fairfield Union, it worked… for a while. But, as the saying goes “live by the sword, die by the sword”.

Adam Bixler’s only basket of the game was a layup late in the third quarter to give the Chillicothe (6-3) a 36-25 lead. The Falcons closed out the period with two quick baskets by Derek Clark to close the gap to 36-30. Clark then added a free throw to start the fourth for a 6-0 Falcons run and whittle the margin down to five.

MaLik London slammed a dunk to stop the bleeding for the Cavs, but Josh Stewart and Sam Green hit from beyond the arc and erased the Falcons’ 11-point deficit
at 38-37 with 5:40 remaining in the game.

To that point, the Falcons had landed seven of 18 attempts from three-point range… but needed a couple more.

London took over the final minutes of the game. Defensively, he blocked three shots down the stretch, added another dunk, hit a jumper and capped it with a free throw to give the Cavaliers
the necessary cushion to snap their three game losing streak for the 46-41 win.

The Cavs helped Fairfield Union stay in the game by losing the turnover battle 17-9.

London finished as the game’s leading scorer with 21 points, and he earned every one. Each time London got the ball, Falcons swooped in and he constantly had a Fairfield Union player dogging him in the paint.

The win was true “total team” effort. The Cavs were playing without their leading offensive player, Zach Johnson, who is serving a two game suspension. Aaron Elliott (12 points) answered a couple of Fairfield Union runs with 3’s of his own while Jalen Jones and Marcus Dunn chipped in 3 points apiece and Pierce Knisley came off the bench for a quick 5 points just before half time.

Clark paced the Falcons attack with 18 points.

The Cavs will need more help across the board when they host Warren (8-0) next Friday. The Warriors were 54-50 winners over Fort Frye Friday night.

NOTE: A correction to the Cavs schedule posted on wbex.com, the Warren game had originally posted as a road game this week. The correct schedule has Warren at Chillicothe January 6th and the Cavs headed to Vincent on February 17th.

I forgot to share this thrilling finish to the Chillicothe-Jackson game. Special thanks to CavsHD for the mix!

Go Cavs!

Dan Ramey

Akron Buchtel used 80% shooting in the second half to pull away from Chillicothe for a 68-50 victory in the Ironton Holiday Classic Friday night.

It was the Cavs (5-2) second consecutive loss.

The Cavs found out what it was like to have to play without MaLik London for the first time when the 6’8” center went down with an ankle injury in the 3^rd quarter. London had leaped for his 6^th blocked shot of the game and hit the deck
after landing awkwardly on his right foot. London returned to the game, but
simply wasn’t the same player.

The Cavs had already lost guard Adam Bixler when he landed on the foot of a Griffins player. Bixler had only been on the floor for about two minutes.

Chillicothe had taken an 18-17 lead before the end of the 1^st quarter. Their first lead didn’t
come until the 1:09 mark in the period at 16-15 on a London dunk. The Cavs overcame a four point deficit.

It didn’t take long for Buchtel to retake the lead. Hot shooting Erron Cosey (17 points) showed he could score inside and outside. The 6’1” forward hit his first two baskets from the baseline, then moved out top to do the same.

The Griffins quickness forced the Cavs into turnovers and Buchtel had weak side rebounding which gave them second chances around the basket.

In the 3^rd quarter, Buchtel drained 9 of their 10 shots to go ahead 59-36. In the 4^th, the Griffins hit 7 of 10 shots from the field to keep the Cavs at bay.

Chillicothe was led in scoring by Zach Johnson’s 16 points and London’s 11.

The extent of the injuries to London and Bixler is unkown as the Cavs prepare for their next home game. Chillicothe will host Eastmoor Academy Wednesday and Fairfield Union Friday to close out 2011.