Random Thoughts: hoops, LB, more

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

This week’s installment of Random Thoughts centers around a premiere basketball game, a tough boys basketball district, tournament draws, a new home for Liberty-Benton, and Super Bowl 59.

What a game

Saturday’s sold out game at Robert A. Arnzen Gymnasium was everything that could be expected and maybe more. Spencerville edged Delphos St. John’s 65-61. Was it an upset? Probably a slight one. After all, the Blue Jays had won 26 straight at home. Regardless, it was quite a show.

The two teams won’t square off again this season. The Bearcats are in Division VI and Delphos St. John’s is in Division VII, meaning there’s no chance they’ll meet in the tournament.

Division VI

Speaking of the tournament, Spencerville is in an extremely challenging district. It’s very top heavy, with the Bearcats, Marion Local and Coldwater. New Bremen and Allen East are good teams as well.

Tournament draws

If you’re keeping track, girls sectional/district tournament draws are this Sunday and boys tournament draws are the following Sunday, February 9. Girls sectional games will be played the week of February 10 and boys sectionals will be played the week of February 17.

Liberty-Benton

As it turns out, Liberty-Benton won’t be homeless. The Eagles were set to leave the Blanchard Valley Conference after the 2025-2026 school year. They had expressed interest in joining the Northwest Conference when Leipsic and Ada announced they were leaving for the BVC, but the NWC went in a different direction with Lima Central Catholic and Fort Loramie (football only).

Monday morning, L-B announced it had accepted an invitation to join the Cardinal Division of the Northern Lakes League (NLL) starting in the 2026-2027 school year.

In making the announcement, Liberty-Benton said the Northern Lakes League features two divisions based on enrollment: The larger Buckeye Division, and the smaller Cardinal Division. Currently the divisions are as follows:

Buckeye: Anthony Wayne, Findlay, Northview, Perrysburg, Whitmer (exception in football which also includes Springfield). Cardinal: Bowling Green, Napoleon, Clay, Fremont Ross, Southview, and Springfield for all sports except football.

Even in the Cardinal Division, Liberty-Benton will have the smallest enrollment by far, so it’ll be interesting to see how this works out. The Eagles have been the big fish in a small pond for years, now they’ll go to the opposite side of the spectrum. Regardless, I hope it works out for them.

Gone

I have to admit, I was stunned when I heard confirmation that Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles was leaving for the same job at Penn State. As it turns out, multiple sources have confirmed there was friction between Knowles, Ryan Day and defensive line coach Larry Johnson. Still, the timing of the announcement, right after OSU’s national championship celebration, was terrible.

Honestly, it seems like an odd move. Penn State’s problem really isn’t defense. They’ve been very solid in that area for years. All of it just seems mind boggling.

Super Bowl 59

It’s no big surprise – the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles will meet in Super Bowl 59.

Personally, I never really thought Washington would go into Philly and win and while I thought it was possible for Buffalo to go into Kansas City and win, it didn’t seem very likely. I guess the real storyline for the upcoming game is Kansas City – can the Chiefs become the first team ever to win three consecutive Super Bowls? I’m thinking no, but we shall see.

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