2014: The good, the bad and the downright ugly
By George Starks

DARKE COUNTY- When the 2014 school sports year started, it started with a lot of high expectations.

Many eyes were focused on the mainstay sports (football, basketball and softball), many were looking in other places for possible titles.

The good started in the fall sports with the Versailles Lady Tigers and the volleyball team. Tigers head coach Karla Frilling came into the 2013 volleyball season with a loaded team and that’s where the good started.

Not only did Frilling have a stellar bunch of players, she had the eventual state champions.

That was the beginning of all the good that would evolve into a sports year that would not end as well as people had hoped.

Locally, the best football teams could not even scratch the surface to the post season. With the season winding down, it was Arcanum and Versailles that had outside shots at the post season. With the final two weeks left to be played, both the Tigers and the Trojans fell out of contention, ending all hopes of anyone making a trip to Canton or Massilon.

Bradford had pinned its hopes on the success of the 2012 football team under head coach Curtis Enis but not even Enis could pull a rabbit out of his hat and make the post season two years in a row.

The 2013-14 winter sports season brought on great expectations. I for one thought there were many area basketball teams that had the tools to bring home state gold. On the girls’ side of the ledger, there were two teams that, in my opinion, had the horses to get the job done. Versailles and Arcanum.

I learned a very long time ago, never underestimate a Jackie Stonebreaker coached team. Stonebreaker brought home state gold once and in 2014, she had the makings of another team that could go to state. Even without senior Chloe Warvel the Tigers would prove to be a force to be reckoned with.

In Arcanum, third year head coach Rachel Fearon had her young, upstart Lady Trojans geared up for a run at a CCC title. Arcanum would finish second in the conference but Fearon had bigger fish to fry. After losing to Miami East, Fearon and the Trojans had their eyes set on Tri-Village.

The Trojans fell to the Patriots, 59-52, in the title game of the Bill Burkett Invitational

In the conference re-match on Jan. 23 at New Madison, the Trojans sent the Patriots packing with a 57-45 victory. That set up a possible showdown between Versailles and Arcanum in the OHSAA tournament.

With both teams playing in the D-III sectional, the two teams had met earlier in the season with the Tigers rolling to a 56-43 victory. When the brackets were unveiled, that possible showdown was set to occur in the sectional final held at Tipp City. The two teams collided on February 20 for the second time in the season.

On that night, Fearon and the Trojans dropped a 64-56 heartbreaker to Versailles. Long after that game, Fearon often said she fell short by 1:48. Versailles would go on to fall in the state finals and bring home another trophy to Versailles.

In boys basketball, I actually had three teams that could go, even though I knew there could only be two.

In D-III, Versailles had the inside track until the ugly happened.

In the Tigers Holiday Tournament, junior Kyle Ahrens broke his left leg, trying to save a ball against Anna for the tournament title. The Tigers won the title game, 59-52, but lost to Ahrens for the season.

Versailles would hook up with the Rockets in the sectional final, losing 58-55 in overtime as Damien Richard would join Ahrens on the injured list with a torn ACL injury.

Tri-Village, under Josh Sagester, would complete its business with a trip to Columbus but that business would not be completed as the Patriots would lose their final four game at state to Convoy Crestview.

As good as things were for the Patriots, it would end on a bad note.

While many eyes were watching Tri-Village, many were watching Troy Myers and the Franklin Monroe Jets. It was the previous year that the Patriots and Jets had met for the third time during the season, with the third being a loss to the Patriots in the sectional final at Troy. In 2014, the two teams were on a collision course but this time, it would be in the regionals. That possibility would be cut short as the Jets would eventually lose to Troy Christian.

The spring would bring on new hopes on the diamonds.

Darke County would show some of the best teams in the area in the forms of Greenville, Ansonia, Bradford and Franklin Monroe softball.

The Lady Wave wheeled their magic on all opponents, losing only three regular season games. For the first time in many years, Jerod Newland and Greenville lost at the district level and a possible trip to Akron was cut way short.

Ansonia, would prove to be the only other sectional champion as FM and Bradford would fall short.

When the 2014-15 sports year starts in a couple of months, many teams will be looking to shine but there will be a lot of questions to be answered. With the loss of a host of seniors, can Frilling and Stonebreaker repeat at Versailles?

Can Sagester and Myers jump back on the victory train at TV and FM?

Will Newland get the Wave back to their glory days at Greenville and can Floyd Jenkins get Ansonia on the right track again?

At FM, Mike Morris has the Jets playing at peak performance. Morris lost one senior and has eight of his starts returning. Can Morris get back FM back to the districts and beyond?

Only time will tell.