{"id":113645,"date":"2019-02-20T00:14:43","date_gmt":"2019-02-20T05:14:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=113645"},"modified":"2019-02-20T00:14:49","modified_gmt":"2019-02-20T05:14:49","slug":"vwms-team-wraps-up-great-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2019\/02\/20\/vwms-team-wraps-up-great-season\/","title":{"rendered":"VWMS team wraps up great season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent sports editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monday\u2019s 26-20 loss to Defiance in the Ron Dixon Memorial Tournament championship game wasn\u2019t what Van Wert\u2019s eighth grade boys\u2019 basketball team had hoped for, but it doesn\u2019t take away from an outstanding season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t capture the championship, but I told the kids that doesn\u2019t define the season and the success that they experienced this year,\u201d head coach Kerry Koontz said. \u201cEverybody was out to get them and they had to bring their \u2018A\u2019 game every game because someone was looking to make their season by knocking us off. \u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the regular season, no opponent was able to beat Van Wert, as the Cougars rolled to a 15-0 record, then went 2-1 in the tournament. While reflecting on the just concluded season, Koontz offered praise for Cougars and their efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTheir approach to the game was a very good approach and they wanted to get better and wanted to learn,\u201d Koontz said. \u201cThe team comradery was very good, very positive and they were very supportive of each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Van Wert Middle School’s eight grade basketball team went 15-0 during the regular season. Front row (l to r): Ashton Baer, Ian Place, A.J. Proffitt, Nathan Phillips, Garett Gunter, Tavian Eddins, Carson Smith, Jackson Jones. Back row (l to r): Kerry Koontz, Mekhi Jerome, Rylan Burnett, Logan Dotson, Aidan Pratt, Luke Wessell, Damon McCracken, Nate Hoverman. <\/strong>Photo submitted<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019d also said they were very selfless,\u201d Koontz added. \u201cI don\u2019t think they really cared who scored, they just wanted to play and have fun.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey were so much fun to watch. They distributed the ball to each other so well and were always looking for the next pass. I think this team got as much satisfaction in getting the assist as they did scoring, which at this level is not always the case. A lot of people define how they did by how many points they scored, but I didn\u2019t see that in this class at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As far as leaders on the team, Koontz said it seemed to be a group effort instead of having one or two leaders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAidan Pratt, Garett Gunter, Carson Smith, and Maddix Crutchfield would be four guys who I thought stood out in a leadership role,\u201d the coach said. Logan Dotson, Luke Wessell, Damon McCracken, and Nate Phillips were leaders as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other key contributors during the season included Ashton Baer, A.J. Proffitt, Ian Place, Jackson Jones, Tavian Eddins, Rylan Burnett, and Mekhi Jerome. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cTheir basketball IQ is really good,\u201d Koontz said of the team. \u201cThere would be a few times where we\u2019d call time out and I\u2019d have my whiteboard out to draw a play, but I could just describe it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere were times I didn\u2019t draw it because they knew the terminology and that\u2019s a very mature group at that level to be able to do those types of things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m very proud of the kids for what they accomplished this year. They kept it all in perspective and we just took it one game at a time. I don\u2019t think we really focused on what our record was, and I loved that part of coaching these guys.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Koontz was assisted by Nate Hoverman, who also coached the Van Wert Middle School seventh grade team. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports editor Monday\u2019s 26-20 loss to Defiance in the Ron Dixon Memorial Tournament championship game wasn\u2019t what Van Wert\u2019s eighth grade boys\u2019 basketball team had hoped for, but it doesn\u2019t take away from an outstanding season. \u201cWe didn\u2019t capture the championship, but I told the kids that doesn\u2019t define the season and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-01 10:46:03","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113645\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}