Pioneers shot the lights out but still 2 points shy of 100

February 15, 2019

Marietta College could’ve hit the century mark for the third time this season Wednesday night at Ban Johnson Arena. The Pioneers — who are No. 19-ranked in the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll with a 19-5 overall record (13-4 Ohio Athletic Conference) — were leading rival Muskingum University 98-73 with about 20-25 seconds left in the contest, but elected to run the clock out. “We had our chances,” said MC men’s head coach Jon VanderWal of the 100-point mark. “You know, we like to beat people up as bad as we can. But at the same time, we’ve got to have some class. And I have a ...

Catching up with French and some other good people

January 31, 2019

A few years ago, Warren High boys’ basketball standout Evan French wrote and mailed a thank-you card to me for covering the Blane Maddox-coached Warriors. What was special about it is that he took the time to do this in his own hand-writing. Honestly, I felt like French had just passed the ball to me for an easy layup. If he’d been there when I read the card, I probably would’ve given him a high five. Little things, like thank-you cards, really do mean a lot. Fast-forward to today, and French is a fifth-year senior on the Ben Howlett-coached West Liberty University men’s ...

Jon VanderWal’s look was amusing, priceless

January 25, 2019

Early in the second half of Wednesday night’s men’s basketball game at the BanJo, Marietta College sophomore Tim Kreeger made a highlight film shot in the paint. The 6-foot-7 pivot player — who is right-handed — left-handed about a 10-foot hook off the glass to give the Pioneers a 66-50 advantage over Otterbein University. The look on MC head coach Jon VanderWal’s face was priceless. It seemed to say, “No! No! Yes!” Curt Plummer, who was sitting to my left on press row, said, “I wonder if he (Kreeger) called it (the bank shot)?” I laughed and replied facetiously, ...

Pioneers need Corrie Burkhardt for stretch run

January 23, 2019

Cross your fingers and hope that Marietta College senior Corrie Burkhardt will be available for court action this upcoming week. Last Friday night at the 7:01 mark of the fourth quarter against visiting Baldwin Wallace, the 5-foot-9 Pioneer forward assumed a defensive stance and collided with Yellow Jacket dribbler Riley Schill. Burkhardt, who was assessed a personal foul on the play, grimaced and collapsed to the floor, holding her nose. Play was stopped, and she was attended by the trainers. A few minutes went by before Burkhardt got to her feet and walked off the court on her own ...

Let’s call it ‘Chew the Coffee Bowl’

January 16, 2019

If an arctic blast visits Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., Sunday night, the AFC championship game between the host Chiefs and New England Patriots should be postponed and rescheduled. Let’s face it, an arctic struggle is not really a fair test of football. There, I said it. The contest is expected to be played, of course. I mean, there’s a Super Bowl in a couple of weeks, and there’s just too much money on the line, too many sponsors to be satisfied. To the best of my knowledge, in the long and storied history of the NFL, there’s never been a game cancellation of any ...

Pios got ‘hooked’ at the BanJo

January 11, 2019

Marietta College suffered a mortal wound when Capital University’s Austin Schreck made a baseline hook shot at the 4:49 mark of Wednesday night’s men’s basketball game at the BanJo. Anthony Wallace, arguably MC’s best one-on-one defender, couldn’t have played any better D on Schreck. I mean, the Pioneer standout — who by the way recently scored his 1,000th career point — was right on the Crusader shooter. But after Schreck did his Kareem Abdul-Jabbar move on the right baseline, Wallace had this funny expression on his face that could only be interpreted as “How did he ...