Random Thoughts: very random edition

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

This week’s installment of Random Thoughts includes congratulations, spring sports, state softball, Richard Kortokrax, and the NBA Finals.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Van Wert’s Owen Scott, who ended his high school career with a state championship in the 1600 meter run and an eighth place finish in the 3200 meter run. Both events featured top notch runners and winning a state title and getting on the podium was no easy feet.

Congratulations as well to Lincolnview’s Cody Ricker for finishing fourth in the 300 meter hurdles and earning All-Ohio accolades for the second consecutive season.

One more – congratulations to Drew Boggs of Delphos St. John’s, who won the Division III high jump (6-10).

Spring sports

The 2025 OHSAA spring sports season will officially come to an end with this weekend’s baseball state tournament.

The tournament will be held at two different stadiums in northeast Ohio, Canal Park in Akron and Thurman Munson Stadium in Canton.

Among the area teams that qualified for state: Wapakoneta (Division III), Coldwater (Division V), Fairview (Division VI) and Minster (Division VII). Best of luck to those teams.

State softball

Of the seven state championship softball games, four weren’t close. There were two 10-0 games, a 9-1 game, and a 9-2 game. Another game was 6-0. The only two games that were close were in Division II (Riverside 8 Mt. Vernon 6) and in Division I (Lebanon 3 Centerville 1).

Richard Kortokrax

Ohio’s all-time winningest basketball coach passed away Saturday morning. Richard Kortokrax was 91. His storied coaching career included stops at Fort Jennings (1960-1961), Ottoville (1962-1974), and Kalida (1975-1989, 1991-2015).

I was only able to cover a game that Richard Kortokrax coached just once, but I’m grateful I had that opportunity.

It was a 2009 Division IV regional game against Plymouth at Bowling Green State University’s Anderson Arena, back in my radio-only days. Plymouth had a very strong team. I had covered the Big Red multiple times that season and felt good about their changes. They had some great athletes and could really get out and move.

While it wasn’t that long ago, information on opposing teams wasn’t as readily available at the time. I’ll just say Coach Kortokrax kept things very close to the vest in the days leading up to the game. I remember watching Kalida in pregame warm-ups and could see the Wildcats weren’t at all flashy but were very fundamentally sound.

I really thought Plymouth would win the game but it wasn’t close. 64-46 Kalida. Plymouth had averaged 70 points per game during the regular season, yet the Wildcats harassed the Big Red into turnovers and missed shots all night, and many of those missed shots turned into Kalida points. It was a clinic.

Kalida went on to qualify for the Division IV state championship game but lost to Norm Persin-coached Oak Hill, 48-43 in two overtimes.

Kortokrax would go on to coach six more seasons and remains Ohio’s all-time winningest basketball coach, with 890 victories. Persin is currently Ohio’s third most winningest coach with 823 wins and took South Webster to the Final Four last season.

There may never be another coach like Kortokrax. They don’t make them like that anymore. As I said earlier, I’m happy I was able to see one of his teams play, even if it was just a one time thing.

Rest in peace coach.

NBA

We all knew Oklahoma City was a big favorite going into the NBA Finals, then the Pacers won the first game. I’m sure I wasn’t alone when I wondered if they could possibly pull off one of the bigger upsets in recent memory and somehow win the championship.

Then Game No. 2 happened, which kind of jarred me (and probably many others) back to reality. This may not be a popular opinion but after see Sunday night’s results, I won’t be at all shocked if the Thunder win the series 4-1.

As always, if you have thoughts or comments on any of the above topics, feel free to email me at sports@thevwindependent.com.