Mix developing league for junior high, freshmen at TPS to play basketball

10/7/2010

Freshmen and junior high students who attend Toledo Public Schools will have an opportunity to play basketball in a league that is being formed by a nonprofit group.

Students who attend TPS schools in the City League will not have a freshman team to play for this season because of budget cuts. A financial shortfall led to the elimination of all freshman-level sports at the six TPS high schools and six middle schools.

But Steve Mix, a local businessman and a former University of Toledo and NBA player, is in the process of forming a group called “Finding a Way.” The nonprofit organization is developing a basketball league for seventh, eighth and ninth graders.

“We just want to help these kids out,” Mix said. “It's primarily for TPS students.”

Mix said six companies have donated between $2,000 and $3,000 to get the project off the ground.

The league would play its games at the Steve Mix Basketball Academy in Maumee on Saturdays from November through December. Mix said each grade level would potentially have eight teams each consisting of 10 players.

“So for example we would have 80 girls playing seventh- grade basketball,” he said. “That would be about 480 kids total and that would be pretty good.”

The academy has four courts. Teams would practice on Mondays and play two games on Saturdays. The six-week, 12-game season would begin Nov. 6.

Signups for the league will be held Oct. 16 from noon to 4 p.m. at the academy located at 1630 Market Place Drive in Maumee.

If response is favorable, Mix said the organization could add teams for fifth and sixth-graders.

The group is seeking donations from companies to cover the various expenses including T-shirts, officials, scorers, maintenance, and supervisors. It also is looking for parents to volunteer as coaches.

For more info contact Mix at 419-346-1774 or by email at SteveMix50@hotmail.com.

“We just want to give these kids an opportunity,” he said.

Soccer: Perrysburg girls No. 9

Perrysburg's girls soccer team entered the week with a 9-1-3 record and is ranked ninth in the stase coaches poll.

St. John's Jesuit and Findlay are ranked No. 3 and No. 9, respectively, in the Division I boys poll, while Ottawa Hills sits in the No. 3 spot in Division III.

“We're pretty pleased,” said Mike Murphy, who is in his 15th season coaching at Perrysburg.

The Yellow Jackets had to replace seven starters lost to graduation. Those players scored 42 of 68 goals last season.

But the Yellow Jackets this year have outscored opponents 48-3. Six players have scored at least four goals with Meghan Long leading the way with a team-high seven. Kelsey Draper and Molly Camp have provided six apiece while Mollie Whitacre and Lucy Walton have added five each and Geri Siudzinski four.

“With the team we have, if they stop one player, they've got two, three or four that can still come at them,” Murphy said.

Chloe Buehler has recorded nine shutouts and 40 saves.

“She's very savvy when coming out to play the field,” Murphy said of Buehler. “At this stage, she's the best sophomore goalkeeper I've had here and I've been here 15 years. She's got the size and skills to get the job done.”

The lone defeat was a 2-0 loss to Northview, which entered the week undefeated in the Northern Lakes League.

Football: Southview's Fisher out

Southview (6-0) will have to finish out the season without one of its top defenders.

Jay Fisher, the Cougars' hard-hitting 5-foot-10, 194-pound junior linebacker suffered a season-ending ankle injury in a 21-7 victory over Perrysburg.

He has also been a contributor in the Cougars' rushing game. He carried the ball 40 times for 258 yards this season, third best on the team.

Football: City League points

City League commissioner Ed Scrutchins has sent out a clarification regarding the league's football schedule and standings points.

The scheduled CL game that will not count in the standings for Whitmer will be their home contest against Start. A previous communication had incorrectly listed Bowsher as the game that would not count.

Seven CL teams — Bowsher, Central Catholic, Rogers, Scott, St. John's, Waite and Woodward — only have six scheduled league games because of the closure of Libbey.

To balance the CL schedule, the four schools with seven league games — Clay, Start, St. Francis and Whitmer — will each have one game not count for them in the league's championship points system. For each, it will be the opponent that finished lowest in the 2009 CL standings.

Hall of Fame: Sylvania to induct 13

The Sylvania Schools athletic hall of fame has announced the 13 honorees for its 2010 class.

The members are: Iris Strohl-Zeitner (Burnham High School, class of 1930, girls basketball); Frederick Zechman (Sylvania High School, 1963, tennis and football); John E. Flowers, Jr. (Southview, 1977, basketball); Bob Napierala (Northview,1982, hockey, golf and baseball); Mark Rehklau (Southview, 1995, soccer); Josh Stedcke, (Southview, 1995, soccer, football, basketball and track); Erin Quinn-Lloyd (Northview, 1997, diving); Kati Stedcke-Hunt, (Southview, 1997, cross country, track and basketball); Patrick Kennedy (Northview, 1998, swimming); Megan Baier, (Northview, 2000, basketball and volleyball); Roy Becker, (Burnham, 1942, basketball and tennis; basketball coach 1950-64); Larry Jones, (Southview coach 1966-1982; Northview athletic director, 1983-2005) and Ross Deye, (Sylvania, 1972, cross country and track, coach at Southview, 1983-1997, and Northview, 1998-2009).

The honorees will be recognized Oct. 29 during halftime of the Northview/Southview football game and on Oct. 30 at a formal reception at Central Park West.

Tickets for the reception are available at 419-824-8656. Seats are $45 each and include dinner.

Crew: Frogtown Regatta

With more than 1,200 competing in the Frogtown Regatta on the Maumee River, several area crew competitors earned top honors.

St. Francis' Zach Turner captured first place in the men's open novice 4+ while Central Catholic's Nicholas Billmaier followed in second. Turner and Billmaier finished third and fourth, respectively, in the men's high school novice 4+. St. Francis' Austin McHugh also claimed victory in the men's open 4+.

Toledo Metropolitan's Matt Hagmeyer prevailed in the mixed 4+, while teammate Alyssa Basham finished fourth.

Toledo Metro's Claire Basham was first in the mixed high school 8+ and Anthony Wayne's Kristine Graves claimed second, while Central Catholic's Paul Siebeneck ran fourth.

St. Ursula's Allison Sheehan finished third in the women's high school 2nd varsity 8+.

AW's Alexis McConnell finished as runner-up in the women's high school novice 4+ while the Generals' Adam Patterson took fourth place in the men's high school lightweight 4+.

St. John's Logan McCollum earned third place in the men's high school novice 8+ and teammate Malek Atassi placed fourth in the men's high school 4+ event.