The Northwest Mohawks earned a 61-41 win over Unioto Wednesday night in the Boys Division II Sectional Semi-Final at Southeastern High School.

The Mohawks now face the Cavaliers for the Southeastern High School lower bracket championship at 7:00pm Saturday.

Coverage on 1490 WBEX begins at 6:45pm.

As the Cavs' tournament trail begins, a subtle reminder to buy your tickets at CHS.

Reason... The Chillicothe Athletic Department retains a portion of the ticket sales.

It's almost like making a donation directly to the Cavs!

Tickets for Saturday's Sectional Final game against the Unioto-Northwest winner at Southeastern High School are $5.00. Unioto and Northwest play Wednesday night at Southeastern.

When you buy your tickets at the door on game night, the Ohio High School Athletic Association keeps the cash. So, buy them at the CHS Athletic Office (behind the school) 8:30am through 3:00pm. Cash only please.

After the Cavaliers finished the ladder climb to clip the nets from the SEOAL championship, a few thoughts hit me about the league.

The move to the SEOAL has been an excellent move for the basketball team. Taking their second title in three seasons and playing for three has lifted the spirits of this community, capped by last season's state championship... well, who wouldn't yield a league title for the top prize?

Wandering our way through a three year learning phase for the league has had its quirky moments, some many fans can do without.

When the league expanded to 10 teams, split into two divisions, there was no clear divisional title for football. Chillicothe breezed its way through the South Division and a last second win at Portsmouth solidified it. The Cavs had defeated Logan in a non-league meeting in week 3 of 2006, but still didn't win the championship because Logan was undefeated in the league.

That was the introduction to some other weird decisions made along the way.

The test of a Day of Champions for the other sports seems like a great idea. The top teams in the divisions play for the title, second place divisional finishers play for third place, etc. All good intentions, until the team with a better record loses the DOC game and the team with the worse record finishes "better" than the other.

Case in point, Chillicothe's win at Zanesville Saturday night. The Cavs were 9-3 heading into the game, Zanesville 10-1. Chilli wins and is crowned champ, despite having lost three league games. It's a head scratcher.

Then, a note from the league office that DOC games do not count against the team's league record. So, Zanesville isn't 10-2, or the Cavs 10-3? Goofy, eh? What's worse, the determination of tie breakers. (Not enough time to get into that here)

Splitting the crowd. When Chillicothe's boys and girls soccer teams reached the DOC games in the fall of 2008, both teams played Marietta respectively... at the same time. With the fluid way the league has made decisions, one might think having the teams meet in Logan for a doubleheader would have been more convenient for the fans, and generated a better gate.

Other "rulings" that have rocked the boat, selecting All-League teams for each division instead of overall, including coveted Player/Coach of the Year awards. When the first teams were announced, they came with an embargo release date of not until all league members were finished with post season play. Which in some cases would not be until after All-Ohio selections were announced. Such ridiculous thoughts wreaked of a pompousness. That all changed when coaches began announcing their All-SEOAL athletes at awards banquets. Names began appearing on web chat sites before showing up in the media which promised to adhere to the embargo dates.

Much of the 2006 master plan was thrown out of orbit when Athens announced it was leaving, setting into play a nine team league. Saturday's game will be Zanesville's last in the league  since they're leaving when spring sports are completed. Ironton's school board passed a measure to leave after next season and Portsmouth has applied to enter the Southern Ohio Conference.

All in all, joining the SEOAL was still the right move, but some decisions along the way have taken on a "living. breathing" persona of the U.S. Constitution. 

Congratulations to Coach K and Company on the title.

As heartbreak trail begins this week, Chillicothe must wait for this Wednesday's Northwest/Unioto winner to determine the opponent for Saturday at Southeastern High School. We'll have coverage on 1490 WBEX beginning around 6:45pm Saturday.

Coverage of the SEOAL Boys Basketball Championship Game begins around 7:30pm from Winland Gymnasium on1490 WBEX.

For just the second time this season, the Chillicothe Cavaliers have lost back-to-back games.

Zanesville muscled their way to a 10-point halftime lead and maintained for a 56-44 victory.

It was the second consecutive win for Zanesville at Hatton Gym.

Tanner Gibson drained a three pointer to push Zanesville out to a 15-6 lead through the first quarter and 6'6" forward Joe Prati took control early, hitting his first seven shots and scored 17 of the Blue Devils' 27 points at the half. Prati tallied 24 on the night.

Chillicothe held a 6-5 lead early. Then, Prati's nose for the basket broke open a 22-11 run.

The Blue Devils out shot the Cavs from the field 60% to 39% while getting to the line often, making 10 of 14 free throws. The Cavs were 2-of-6.

The Cavs pulled to within five at 35-30, but the Blue Devils put together a run for a 39-30 lead after three quarters.

Zanesville extended that lead to 18 points in the fourth quarter.

Gregg VanVolkinburg paced the Cavs with 14 points and Ron Smith poured in 12.

In their final game at Hatton Gym, four year starters Caleb Knights and Seth Dawes combined for just 11 points.

Chillicothe slips to 14-5 overall and 9-3 in the league heading into the SEOAL championship game showdown at Zanesville Saturday night.

Coverage on 1490 WBEX begins at 7:30pm from Winland Gymnasium.

It's become the marquee game of the SEOAL.

Chillicothe-Zanesville. Enough said.

But, since there's space to be filled, let's say it.

Zanesville has had a long history of "having Chillicothe's number". In the 1950s, Coach Dick Dolan's victory over Zanesville was such an event, The Arrow has a two page spread of players and student body carrying the coach off the floor hoisted on their shoulders.

But in recent years, it's been an intense battle, of the highest of proportions.

Since the realignment of the SEOAL into a 10 member league (and now 9, soon to be 8), this has been the game circled by basketball fans.

In 2007, the first meeting scheduled for Hatton Gym was postponed by the weather and then cancelled. Both teams won their respective divisions and faced off on a snowy night at Logan High School for the newly designed "Day of Champions". A packed house saw the Cavaliers take an overtime victory with their first basketball league title in over a decade.

The two clubs met again in the Division II Regional Semi-Final, with Chillicothe winning 51-49.

In last season's regular season game, Chillicothe was down by double figures, only to come off the mat for a 59-58 win in OT. (Who would have thought it would eerily resemble the state championship game?)

In the 2008 SEOAL title game, Zanesville got the monkey off their back, snapping the Cavs 18-game winning streak, 68-63 at The Hatt.

Tonight, Blue Devils star Logan Aronhalt, Cedric and Andre Harris are gone, so are Humpty Hitchens and Ray Chambers. But what both programs bring to the court tonight will be just as fun.

If you can't make it to Hatton Gym, listen in to 1490 WBEX.

Hear the podcast

See game photos taken by Jim Day

Sweet Tigers' revenge.

Following a lopsided 88-58 loss at Chillicothe last February, the Waverly Tigers humbled the #10 Cavaliers in overtime, 60-53 Tuesday night.

The Tigers tried to set the tone early by taking a 5-0 lead, but the Cavs answered back with a 12-2 run.

Trailing 16-14, Waverly put together a 17-11 second quarter for a 31-27 halftime lead.

The Cavs answered in the third, 17-11, to take a 44-42 lead on a Greg VanVolkinburg three pointer to close the period.

Seth Dawes drained a three from the corner and Michael Turner scored quickly off a steal and Chillicothe made a 8-0 run in a matter of 30 seconds for a 49-43 lead.

That's when Waverly kept the Cavaliers at bay.

Chillicothe managed just 2-of-9 shots in the fourth period. Meanwhile the Tigers whittled away at the Cavs' lead to tie the game at 49, forcing the extra period.

Waverly scored first in the overtime and didn't allow the Cavs to catch up. Chillicothe closed the gap to 54-53, but no closer.

The Tigers took advantage of Chillicothe's agressive defense, making 20-of-29 free throws to Chillicothe's 9-of-13. They also had the edge from the field. Chillicothe shot 35% while Waverly hit for 58%.

Dawes paved the Cavs with 14 points, with VanVolkinburg adding 13 and Michael Turner 12.

Harrison Martin had the hot hand for Waverly with 20 points and Victor Lundin has 11.

The loss snapped a 5-game winning streak for Chillicothe, dropping the Cavs to 14-4.
The win improves the Tigers' mark to 13-6.

Chillicothe's gauntlet of 8 games in 14 days continues with their home finale with Zanesville Thursday night. Then the Cavs travel to Zanesville Saturday for the SEOAL championship game.

Hear the game podcast.

Michael Turner had a career high 26 points in Chillicothe's 70-67 overtime win at Reynoldsburg Saturday night.

Seth Dawes added 14 and Caleb Knights 11 as Chillicothe won it's 5th straight game during a seven day period.

After a poor night of shooting at Logan (34%), the Cavs came out of the gate hitting 8 consecutive field goals. Despite the hot shooting, the Cavs managed just an 18-16 lead through the first period.

The two clubs played to a 31-31- tie by halftime, but Reynoldsburg took a 48-43 point lead into the fourth quarter.

Turner had the hot hand making 10 of 14 field goals, including three 3-pointers to erase a 10-point Raiders lead in the fourth period.

With the Cavs down 61-57, Turner's last three pointer cut the deficit to 61-60.

The Raiders extended their lead to 63-60 with 35 seconds to go.

On the next possession, Dawes drained the tying three with 13 seconds remaining in regulation.

The free throw line continued to be a problem spot for Chillicothe as it has all season long. Only this time, their opponent had a more difficult time. For the year the Cavs have converted only 59% of their free throws. Saturday was no different, making just 10-of-17. Reynoldsburg however, made just 3-of-10.

Second chance baskets gave the Raiders the edge. Reynoldsburg grabbed nearly 50 rebounds to Chillicothe's 36.

Chillicothe is now 14-3 and will travel to Waverly Tuesday night.