Sidney and Lebanon were members of the Greater Western Ohio Conference a few years ago. The Yellow Jackets left along with nine other GWOC schools to restart the Miami Valley League, and Lebanon left soon after to join the Eastern Cincinnati Conference, which includes several neighboring school districts.
The old GWOC foes will face off again on Wednesday when they meet in a Division I sectional opener at Vandalia-Butler’s Student Activity Center.
It will be the first boys tournament game broadcast this year on ScoresBroadcast.com. Air time is set for approximately 8 p.m. A radio simulcast is provided by WMVR, 105.5 TAM FM, in Sidney.
Sidney and Lebanon were the northernmost and southernmost GWOC schools, respectively, and are separated by about 70 miles. Sidney left to help restart the MVL before the 2019-2020 school year, and Lebanon left before the 2020-2021 school year for the ECC.
The two schools didn’t face off much while members of the GWOC, but did play in 2014 and 2015. The Warriors beat the Yellow Jackets in Sidney 84-56 in 2014; the Yellow Jackets beat the Warriors 59-52 in Lebanon in 2015.
The Warriors had a strong start in ECC play last year and finished second. They tied for fifth this season and enter Wednesday’s tournament opener with a 9-13 overall record.
Lebanon has had several close losses against the ECC’s top teams and beat a 15-win Winton Woods squad 53-46 on Feb. 1.
The Warriors average 52.4 points per game and give up an average of 53.4. Senior guard Kam O’Connor averages 13.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game while 6-foot-7 senior forward Andrew Cleaver averages 8.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.
Six players average between 3.3 points and 7.0 points, including Kyle Koch, who averages seven points and 4.3 rebounds per game.
“They have a strong guard (in O’Connor), which I compare to (Tecumseh’s Collin O’Connor), who scored (24) on us,” Willoughby told Sidney Daily News sports editor Bryant Billing after a win over Greenville on Friday.
“(Kam O’Connor) has a lot to his game. (Cleaver) can score well, and (Koch) is going to be a hard matchup for us.
“They run the flex a lot, and if you’re not focused in on your defense, you’ll have trouble. They’re the type of team that executes well, and if you’re not in proper positions defensively, they’re going to hurt you.”
The Yellow Jackets have been strong defensively. They have given up an MVL-low of 48.5 points per game this year while scoring an average 59 per game.
Sidney averages nine steals per game, with freshman guard Julius Spradling leading the way with 2.2 per game. Junior wing Sam Reynolds averages 2.0 steals.
Reynolds averages a team-best 16.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Swiger, the team’s lone returnee, averages 16.0 points and 5.4 rebounds.
Despite returning one player from last season, the Yellow Jackets finished regular season 18-4 and captured the overall MVL title for the second time in three seasons.
Sidney’s boys squad, like the school’s girls squad, won the MVL overall title outright. Greenville, which Sidney beat by 17 on Friday, upset Tippecanoe 53-44 on Monday night in a makeup game.
The Red Devils were on pace with Sidney to share the overall MVL title, but Monday’s loss to the four-win Green Wave gives the Yellow Jackets sole possession of the overall MVL title. The Div. II Red Devils (16-5) finish as MVL Miami Division champions.
Sidney’s girls squad won the overall MVL title this season and started tournament play on Saturday by beating Tecumseh 52-37 in a game that was covered by SCORES. The Yellow Jackets are scheduled to play Beavercreek in a sectional final at 6 p.m. on Wednesday in Troy. SCORES will provide a recap of the girls game in its pregame coverage from Vandalia.
SCORES will broadcast its first Piqua Div. IV sectional game of the year on Friday when Lehman Catholic faces off with fellow Three Rivers Conference foe Troy Christian. Airtime from Piqua’s Garbry Gymnasium is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Scores Broadcast and WMVR presented coverage of Monday of the Shelby County Athletic League freshman tournament championship game, in which Anna defeated Russia 38-34.
