Marietta head coach Austin Gardner, right, talks strategy with assistant coach Ron Warner during a district semifinal game against Miami Trace at The Convo. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

With the Marietta Tigers’ regional semifinal loss to Bishop Watterson last week at “The Convo,” the 2025-2026 high school basketball season came to a close for teams in the valley on the Ohio side of the Ohio River.

It’s the perfect time to take a look back at a great hoops campaign that saw our area teams put together some record-breaking seasons along the way.

BOYS

What a season it was for Coach Austin Gardner and his Marietta Tigers.

The Tigers finished the season 21-5, capturing their first district championship since 1977 with a win over New Philadelphia at The Convo.

Waterford’s Shaeli Hayes, left, tries to wrestle the ball away from Belpre’s Gracie Bills during a district championship game at Southeastern High School. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

A senior-led team, the Tigers came to play every single game led by the likes of seniors Owen Riley, Zaiden Wittekind, Trey Hawkins and Lucas Miller and sparked by their athleticism and tenacious pressure defense the senior class won a grand total of 75 games in their four-year tenure at MHS.

Out in Vincent, the Warriors finished the season a respectable 12-11 with a roster full of inexperience after graduating nine seniors from a season ago.

Sophomores Blake Grimes and Jackson Perdue led the Blane Maddox-coached Warriors who were likely the most improved team in the valley from the start of the season to the end.

No one had a more challenging season than did head coach Eric Henniger and his Fort Frye Cadets.

After winning their first six games of the season, the Cadets lost several key players to injury and dropped their next seven games only to recover to win their final five and finish with an impressive 14-10 record.

Henniger picked up his 200th career coaching win along the way and the return of senior Chatum Courson for the playoffs after breaking his back early in the season was no doubt the most welcome sight of the season.

Roger Kirkpatrick’s Frontier Cougars put together a strong season as they went 16-9 before falling to River in the district semifinal.

Junior Jacob Bowersock and sophomore Kason Hoff had excellent seasons and give the Cougars plenty of promise for next season while they will lose Avery Powell who wrapped up his outstanding Cougar career with 1,382 points good enough for fourth all-time in Frontier history.

The defending state champion Monroe Central Seminoles followed up their title with a solid season as they finished 18-5 before being upset by Bridgeport in the District quarter-finals.

Waterford head coach D.J. Cunningham led his Wildcats to an 11-12 record before falling in the district semifinal to Peebles.

The Wildcats should be a team to watch next season as they will return every one but one from this year’s team including seniors-to-be Finn Pennock, Gavin Heiner, Reese Lang and Avery Pottmeyer.

Belpre had a similar campaign to the Wildcats as they finished 10-11 after being knocked out of the playoffs in the District quarter-final by Waterford.

Leading scorer’s Malik Currie and AJ Copen will return next year as will junior Malakai Ensor who developed into quite a presence under the basket in his junior year.

The season was not a kind one to the Morgan Raiders as they finished 5-18 on the season nor was it for a very young Shenandoah team that finished 4-20.

The Caldwell Redskins put together yet another strong campaign as head coach Clint Crane’s squad finished 16-7.

Caldwell will be in a bit of a rebuild mode next season with the loss of five seniors including leading scorer Dylan Schott.

TEAM OF THE YEAR: Marietta Tigers (21-5). The Tigers played a brutal schedule with their five losses coming to teams that won a combined 106 basketball games between them. Marietta overcame key injuries to Trey Hawkins and Graesyn Moat along the way and that might have helped them as the season went along as it lengthened their bench. The Tigers picked up three wins against their arch rival Warren Warriors along the way.

COACH OF THE YEAR: Austin Gardner, Marietta. In his four years at Marietta, Gardner and his staff have simply changed the culture of Tiger basketball. Huge crowds have become the norm at Sutton Gym and the Tiger faithful even out-drew their opponent in the stands at The Convo in all three of their games there. The Tigers like to jump all over their opponent from the opening tip and credit has to go to Gardner to have them start each game with such a high intensity level. Placing runner-up would have to be Henniger as it would have been quite easy for the Cadets to give up the ship at the midway point decimated by all of their injuries but the veteran head coach kept things together and rallied his team to a strong finish.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Owen Riley, Marietta. Teammates Zaiden Wittekind and Trey Hawkins might both be deserving as well but Riley seemed to be the most consistent player on a very deep and talented Tiger squad. He showed the ability to attack the rim and get to the basket while also being one of the Tigers best outside shooters. Riley averaged nearly 17 points per game while pulling down nearly seven rebounds all the while being one of the Tigers best defenders. Schott (20.7ppg.), Currie (19.0 ppg.) and Powell (15.8 ppg.) all had strong seasons as well.

BEST COMEBACK: Chatum Courson, Fort Frye. After suffering a broken back in the fifth game of the season, some wondered if Courson would ever be able to play basketball again let alone return before the season was over. After several weeks of healing and hard work the Cadets senior made his triumphant return by tossing in 18 points to lead Fort Frye to a 58-43 win over Meadowbrook at home in the district quarterfinal.

GIRLS

The Shenandoah Lady Zeps claimed a district championship in head coach Roman Thompson’s first year at the helm.

Featuring a deep roster led by senior Brenna Leach and freshman Emma Dailey the Zeps finished their season 24-3 and advanced to the Sweet 16 in the state before bowing out to Harvest Prep in the Regional Semi.

The Zeps won an Eastern District that featured two other heavy weights from the valley in Fort Frye and Monroe Central.

Fort Frye finished the season 20-5 in head coach Cathy Borich’s first year at the helm before falling to Shenandoah in the district final.

The future looks very bright for the Cadets as they will likely return every single player next year led by senior-to-be Ella Dowler and Rae Morgenstern who played like anything but a freshman in her rookie year.

The Seminoles ended up 19-6 on the season after falling to the Cadets in the district semis and figure to return strong again next season.

The defending state champion Waterford Wildcats got off to a very slow start after graduating so many key members from their title squad but by the end of the season they were right back in the hunt.

Three-time state champion head coach Jerry Close led his team out of the ashes as they finished with a 14-11 record and yet another district championship as well as a share of the TVC crown.

The Marietta Lady Tigers had a brand new head coach of their own in Ali Shane and they finished with a very respectable 12-12 record with a very inexperienced team that lost so many key players from a 20-win team a season ago.

The Tigers picked up a playoff win at home before falling to Unioto in the District quarterfinal.

Head coach Brad Venham’s Warren Warriors squad struggled with injuries all season long, including key ones to junior Aubrey Pepper and freshman Taylor Greenwalt.

Despite never having their anticipated starting lineup on the court for the entire season, the Warriors managed to go 11-12 on the season. With just about everyone returning next season, a healthy Warrior squad could be primed for a great rebound year.

Morgan finished with a similar 12-12 record before losing to West Holmes in the district semi.

Belpre was another team bitten by the injury bug as they were actually forced to postpone some games early in the season due to a lack of healthy players.

Credit to coach Austin Cunningham and his Lady Eagles — they hung in there and actually advanced to the district final before bowing out to Waterford despite an 8-17 record.

Up in New Matamoras, the Lady Cougars quietly put together another strong campaign as they finished the season 13-11.

Senior Anna Bowersock led the way for Frontier by averaging 13 points and 7 rebounds per game.

Another first-year head coach making an immediate impact was Caldwell’s Heather Saliba, who led her Lady Redskins to a 19-7 record before falling in the district final to Strasburg Franklin, the eventual D-7 state champion.

Caldwell figures to be solid once again next year led by Breighlee Moracco, Camy Crock and Mea Hendershot.

TEAM OF THE YEAR: Shenandoah Zeps. One year after falling to the Fort Frye Cadets in the district final, the Zeps plowed their way through one of the very best districts in the state and all the way to the Sweet 16. A great balance of both youth and experience were key and the Zeps got stronger and stronger as the season went along, buoyed by wins in the OVAC final over Monroe Central and Fort Frye in the district final.

COACH OF THE YEAR: Roman Thompson, Shenandoah. You could make a case for several coaches this season including Monroe Central’s Troy Baker, Saliba, Close and Borich, but in the end getting his team all the way to the regionals seals the deal for Thompson. The improvement of the Lady Zeps from the end of the 2024-2025 season to the end of this year was incredible and credit goes to Thompson and his staff for steering his team in the right direction.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Brenna Leach, Shenandoah. With several deserving candidates including Belpre’s Gracie Bills, Fort Frye’s Ella Dowler and Frontier’s Anna Bowersock to name just a few, the winner goes to the best player on the best team and this year that happened to be Leach. Her leadership on the court went a long way into leading the Zeps to the regionals.

CONGRATULATIONS: Ron Warner. The veteran basketball coach helped lead a pair of local basketball teams to the Sweet 16 this winter. Warner was an assistant coach for the Marietta boys and the Shenandoah girls.

CONGRATULATIONS: Dan Lietdke. The former Fort Frye head coach was recently named to the District 12 Hall of Fame to celebrate a career that amassed an incredible 759 wins. Coach Liedtke was certainly missed on the sidelines this season and, if indeed he has coached his last game, here’s hoping at some point he will be honored properly to celebrate such a legendary career.