Tornadoes look to grow in first season in OCC

Dover’s girls basketball team has something to play for this year. Not that they didn’t before, but for the Tornadoes, things are a bit more tangible now.

Not members of a league for three seasons, the Tornadoes now are part of the Ohio Cardinal Conference. They’ve found out early that they’ll need to be sharp to be near the top.

Through four conference games Dover was 2-2 in OCC play, 3-2 overall. The league is strong at the top, though a little soft at the bottom, while Dover is probably somewhere in the middle.

Coach Kyle Dummermuth, now in his sixth season, is putting a team on the floor that should improve rapidly. Five letter-winners graduated from the 2024-25 squad that finished 16-5.

With 5-foot-8 senior forward Ansley Bollon and 5-7 junior forward Olivia McCue the only players back with significant experience, Dummermuth will be moving his pieces around the board a bit while seeing the best combinations.

“We lost four starters from last year’s team,” Dummermuth said. “Our team will be young and inexperienced to start the season but we are hoping to use the regular season to grow.”

Elder statesmen among the newcomers are 5-5 guards Katelynn Sines and Estera Cotlet, a junior and senior, respectively. They are joined by a pair of sophomores and three freshmen, all who will cut their teeth at the varsity level.

Tenth-graders new in the fold are 5-9 guard Jenna Festi and 5-5 guard Arianna Immel. Savannah Blind and Anna Klasnerer, both 5-5 guards, and 5-11 post Maddie Minis represent the freshman class.

“Our team (worked) incredibly hard this preseason to get ready to make strides as individuals and a group,” Dummermuth said. “We are hoping that this group will continue to grow and learn throughout the season and we would definitely like to go deeper into the tournament this season.”

Dummermuth said he his team could be strong on the defensive end this year, gaining strength in that department as the season goes on. That would be a nice commodity, given team’s overall inexperience and would give the Tornadoes time to catch up on the offensive end.

Things were playing out that way early. Through five games, Dover was allowing about 35 points per game. 

Bollon showed early on she can be a big-timer at the offensive end, going for a career-high 29 points in the Tornadoes’ season-opening win over Tuslaw, and averaging well into double figures over the first quarter of the season.

“Ansley Bollon has the most experience of the girls on our team this season, so we will certainly rely heavily on her,” Dummermuth said. “We have a number of other players that we will look for big things from.”

While everyone would like to go undefeated or win a league title – and those are worthwhile goals – sometimes the process is just as enjoyable. It’s part of what Dummermuth enjoys about coaching at this level.

“Basketball is a challenging sport to play and coach,” he said. “The grind physically and mentally during a basketball season is something that is challenging every day-that’s the reason I find so much joy in coaching it.”