Smithville snaps Norwayne’s historic WCAL streak in boys basketball

If you were to ask any local fan who is the favorite to win the Wayne County Athletic League this year, most objective people would say either Norwayne or Smithville.

The Bobcats owned the league’s longest regular-season winning streak and had one of the best players coming back in Braylon Arnold. The Smithies had a plethora of talent and always seemed to be right there, knocking on the door.

That made the teams’ pairing Jan. 6 just that much bigger as Smithville earned a 68-50 win over visiting Norwayne.

That marked the first time in 1,053 days the Bobcats had come up short in a league affair since Feb. 17, 2023. It also snapped the league’s longest winning streak in history, ending Norwayne’s run of perfection at 32 games, and for the Smithies, it marked their first win over Norwayne in 1,070 days.

For the Smithies, it was a continuation of their strong play to start the year as they already have wins over Grand Valley (Division VI, 10-3) 66-59 and Miami Valley Christian (Div. VII, 9-2) 48-46. The only blemish for Smithville is a 71-68 loss to Elyria Catholic.

“It's always nice to get wins in a tournament environment, and we have a lot of respect for Norwayne and their consistency,” Smithies coach Corey Kaufman said. “We're just trying to improve each game, and there were some things that we felt were better that night and things that we can still get better at before the tournament.”

The key to success for a team that stands at 10-1 overall and 7-0 in the WCAL (as of Jan. 12)?

“We feel like our pressure is better this year and we can play a little faster,” Kaufman said. “We still need to be able to defend and rebound in the halfcourt at a much higher level, and we think the level of games we have coming up will help prepare us.”

For the Bobcats, a preseason injury that ended Arnold’s season before it began put Norwayne’s winning streak in serious jeopardy. More impressively was their fight as they earned a tough win over Manchester (Div. V, 8-2) 66-60 and nearly upended Elyria Catholic in a narrow 53-47 loss.

“Injuries are obviously difficult to overcome,” Bobcats coach Brian West said. “But our kids know that no one feels sorry for us, and we need to be ready to step up and meet the challenge each and every night.”

Norwayne sits a game back of the Smithies in second place with a 5-1 mark and is 7-4 overall.

Rounding out the league pack is Hillsdale (7-3, 4-2 WCAL), Chippewa (7-5, 3-3), Dalton (4-6, 3-3), Waynedale (3-7, 2-4), Rittman (2-10, 1-5) and Northwestern (0-11, 0-7).

Principals Athletic Conference

There wasn’t any question heading into this year Orrville is loaded with talent. The big question was whether it could stay disciplined, keep its eyes on the prize and not be distracted by off- and on-the-court issues.

So far, so good for the Red Riders as they are 6-0 in the conference and 9-1 overall.

Orrville has earned a couple of narrow conference wins, holding off Manchester 72-70 and Canton South 73-71, both in overtime. Sprinkle in a 54-52 win over Northwest and a 78-73 victory over Genoa Christian Academy, and the Red Riders have been tested. Their only setback came to Wadsworth (Div. II, 4-7), 59-54, and their most recent win came over their bitter rival, Wooster, 70-66. All of that has Orrville sitting in the pole position as teams prepare for the stretch run.

Triway is currently fourth in the PAC at 5-6 overall and 3-3 in conference play, and Tuslaw is 5-5 overall and 1-4 in the PAC.

Ohio Cardinal Conference

Leading the Ohio Cardinal Conference is Dover with a conference record of 3-1 and an overall mark of 8-5. Locally, Wooster is 5-8 overall and 2-4 in the OCC, and West Holmes is 3-6 overall and 1-3 in the conference.

The Generals' biggest triumphs to date are a 62-60 win over the Titans and a 65-48 victory over the Knights.