SIDELINES

Robinson elected to Ohio basketball hall

1/9/2014

Robinson

THE BLADE/DAVE ZAPOTOSKY
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Longtime boys basketball coach Jim Robinson is heading into the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association hall of fame this spring.

Robinson, 70, coached at nine schools during his 45-year coaching career. He will be joined in the 28th OHSBCA hall of fame class by Bellaire’s Gene Ammirante, Gallia Academy’s Jim Osborne, and Centerville’s Jim Staley.

“I’m very humbled about it,” Robinson said. “It’s a great honor and I am accepting it for all the people who’ve been with me along the way.

“You don’t think about those kind of things as you go through your career every day. You’re thinking about working with the kids.”

Robinson had a 531-311 career record. He started at Port Clinton in 1966 after graduating from Ohio State. He also coached at Cincinnati Western Hills, St. Francis de Sales, Lima Senior, Libbey, Maumee, Milan (Mich.), Lake, and Maumee Valley.

He had two stints at Maumee for a combined 21 seasons where his teams won seven Northern Lakes League titles.

Robinson’s teams claimed 15 league championships. In his final season (2011-12), Maumee Valley advanced to a Division IV regional semifinal and finished 22-2.

The induction event will be April 26 in Columbus.

 

More basketball

Rogers’ Smith commits to Miami

Rogers senior guard Jasmyne Smith verbally committed to play at Miami (Ohio).

“A lot of the schools backed off, that’s why I really appreciate Miami because they never gave up on me,” said Smith, who suffered a knee injury as a sophomore and junior.

Smith, the daughter of Rogers coach Lamar Smith, has worked her way back on the court this season after spending the last two years rehabbing knee injuries. She suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament in her left knee as a sophomore and the ACL and cartilage in her right knee as a junior.

She had been sidelined for the better part of two years after averaging 14 points as a freshman. She is averaging 8.0 points and 4.0 assists this season. Other schools to show interest were Toledo, Ball State, Kent State, and Massachusetts.

“It’s pressure off of her, and now she can focus on her season and senior year and get that over with,” Lamar Smith said.

The Rams’ coach said he would have been fine with her daughter deciding not to return to playing basketball after going through such injuries.

“She didn’t want to quit,” he said.

Jasmyne, a co-captain for the Rams (9-1), has a 3.7 grade-point average. She is expected to sign a national letter of intent this spring.

 

Wrestling

PIT to be held this weekend

The Perrysburg Invitational Tournament gives Perrysburg coach Sam Cotterman a chance to see the Yellow Jackets in the spotlight against some of the area’s top-notch teams.

More than 20 teams are expected to participate in this year’s event Friday, starting at 4:30 p.m. and ending with the finals on Saturday at 5:30.

“Delta, Oak Harbor, and Wauseon always bring tough teams,” Cotterman said. “We try to put together a pretty good team every year. Delta is the defending Division III state dual meet champion and will be a pretty good test. We hope to give them all a run for their money.”

Perrysburg’s J.P. Newton (16-3 at 152 pounds), Rocco Caywood (21-3 at 192), and Cale Bonner (18-1 at 285) lead the Yellow Jackets, who have a 10-4 dual meet record.

Jake Spiess (120) and Tyler Fahrer (160) lead a strong Delta squad. Spiess, a defending state champion, is 18-0 this season. Fahrer, a three-time state placer, is 18-1.

“You see some pretty good competition there,” Delta coach Anthony Carrizales said.

 

Baseball

Perrysburg’s Delas going to UT

Perrysburg’s Mark Delas, a three-sport standout, has committed to play baseball at the University of Toledo.

Delas, a third baseman, batted .408 and had 31 RBIs last season. As a pitcher, he had a 6-1 record with a 1.58 ERA.

In football, he rushed for 548 yards in the regular season in 2013 and helped Perrysburg win the Northern Lakes League championship and reach the Division II regional semifinals. In wrestling, he won the 220-pound NLL title.

 

Tennis

Northview’s Miller heads to BGSU

Northview senior Megan Miller has signed a national letter of intent to play tennis at Bowling Green State University.

Miller, a three-time Division I state tournament singles qualifier, chose to attend BG over several other colleges. She is a four-time Northern Lakes League No. 1 singles champion and a two-time district champion.

She’s ranked 13th in Ohio and 45th in the Great Lakes Region, according to TennisRecruiting.net.

She was coached at Northview by her mother, Susie.

“We did perfectly well working together,” Megan said. “We had fun actually. It was kind of nice because she'd been my coach forever.”

But the coaching ends here.

“I’m ready to be a mom now,” Susie Miller said. “I want to just watch. It’s Megan’s time now to do her own thing.”

Contact Donald Emmons at: demmons@theblade.com, 419-724-6302 or on Twitter @DemmonsBlade.