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It’s not just Northmont; every game is personal to Wayne
HUBER HEIGHTS - Neither Wayne boys hoops coach Travis Trice nor Northmont coach Jim Brown wanted to pick up where they left off last season.
Brown was a vocal leader in crying foul on the Warriors and their transfer players Xaxier Jones and Isiah Boddie. Both were declared ineligible by the OHSAA during Wayne’s 2010 tourney run and both missed Wayne’s final two games.
Jones has since graduated and Boddie, a senior, is back as a Warriors starter. That’s what made Wayne’s delayed season opener on Friday against visiting Northmont extra intriguing. But a 74-53 Warriors beat down on the Thunderbolts went without extra bombs.
“We try not to single anybody out, but every game is personal to us,” said Travis Trice, the coach’s son who put a game-high 26 points on the Thunderbolts.
“It’s us against the world. That’s how we see every game, no matter who’s out there.”
Brown didn’t want to go on record again like he did last season when his low seeding of Wayne nearly cost the Warriors a No. 1 tournament seed. Still, he wondered how a team with two ineligible players didn’t have to forfeit any games.
There’s plenty of recent precedent for that. Both the Alter and Marshall football teams had to forfeit two or more games because of ineligible players. That cost Alter a top regional seed, although the Knights went on to win a 2008 state title.
Marshall wasn’t so lucky in 2009. The Cougars were unbeaten on the field and rolled over every team they played. But they had to forfeit three games and did not qualify for the playoffs.
Even Jefferson had to forfeit five games because of an ineligible player last basketball season. The Broncos still won a state championship.
“They have a nice team,” Brown said of Wayne after the Bolts dropped to 1-2.
“They play hard and shoot the ball pretty well.”
Like Brown, coach Trice also refuses to ignite another war of words. Besides, the Warriors are loaded for another great run this season. That it started against Northmont was nothing extra special, at least for the record.
“We’re supposed to beat them; plain and simple,” Trice said of Northmont.
“They’ve got a good team. They work hard. I don’t have anything to say negative about Northmont at all. I know a lot of those guys on that team. They’re great kids.
“People have them as one of the favorites in the conference as well. This is a must win for us. Not because it’s Northmont, but because it’s a conference game. We take care of them and that sends a message to the league. It puts us at 1-0 and that ultimately was our goal tonight.”
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