Random Thoughts: boys draw, Aloha, more

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

This week’s Random Thoughts center around this Sunday’s boys basketball tournament draw, National Signing Day, happenings in Hawai’i, and NFL overtime revisited.

Boys tournament draw

Boys basketball sectional pairings will be determined on Sunday.

I’m thinking Defiance and Wapakoneta are contenders for the No. 1 and 2 seeds at the 11-team Division II Ohio Northern district, and Van Wert could be in the No. 3-5 range.

In the Division IV Elida district, Crestview could very well be the No. 1 seed, followed by Leipsic or Pandora-Gilboa. Patrick Henry is in the mix as well.

Lincolnview will be a lower seed but as evidenced by Friday’s win over Allen East, the Lancers showed they’re capable of pulling off an upset or two.

Things should be interesting at the Division III Lima Sr. district. With all due respect to the other teams there, Bluffton (14-1) Ottawa-Glandorf (13-2) and Wayne Trace (16-1) are clearly the top three, but in what order? I’m guessing Ottawa-Glandorf, Wayne Trace and Bluffton, but we’ll see.

National Signing Day

Tomorrow is National Signing Day, the day high school student-athletes who didn’t put pen to paper during the early signing period, can sign letters of intent to play collegiate athletics.

It used to be a big deal, but the NCAA transfer portal is changing that. Just look at the turnover in the last two or three years.

Just my thoughts.

Aloha!

I received an email from former Convoy resident Brad Miller, a student-athlete who graduated from Crestview High School with the Class of 2011. He now lives in Honolulu, Hawai’i and is an avid sports fan.

He wrote to answer my January 18 thoughts on the Hawai’i head football coaching position and if it should be considered one of the prime coaching jobs since, after all, it’s Hawai’I – sun, surf, beaches, etc.

Miller explained many of the challenges with keeping coaches and top recruits in state, which is understandable. He also mentioned the fact that Aloha Stadium, which seats over 40,000, has been deemed unsafe and is set to be demolished. The football team now plays in a makeshift 10,000 seat stadium.

It was nice hearing perspective from someone who lives there and learning some things that don’t always make it back here.

There’s more. Miller coaches high school volleyball and his team won the Division II state championship last fall.

It didn’t come easy for the University Lab Junior Bows. In fact, it seemed to be an uphill battle the entire way. Miller didn’t get the job until April of last year then due to COVID, the team couldn’t get into their own gym and had to rent one that was 15-20 minutes away. They practiced there every day and had no home matches.

After a 1-3 start, the team started to roll and at tournament time, knocked off some highly regarded teams in a double elimination tournament, then moved on the State tournament and rallied from an 0-2 deficit to win in five sets, then won the state title the next night, also in five sets.

That’s quite an accomplishment – kudos to Miller and his team!

Overtime revisited

Last week I mentioned hearing and reading complaints about the NFL’s overtime rules.

Fast forward to Sunday’s AFC Championship Game, when the Kansas City Chiefs won the overtime coin toss and the howling began, especially on social media. Current and former NFL players were among those to chime in but then something happened: the Bengals played defense, intercepted a pass, which helped set up the winning field goal by Cincinnati.

It goes back to what I said last week – play defense and you’ll have a shot to win. It’s as simple as that and the Bengals proved it on Sunday.

If you have thoughts on any of the above subjects, feel free to email me at sports@thevwindependent.com.