Hudson and Copley high school basketball teams face off in a Division I girls sectional tournament game at Ellet High School.

Here is an update from the Division I state diving meet at C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton:

Boys

Solon junior Michael Kreft won the title with 472.2 points.

Medina senior Liam McLaughlin finished second with 444.4 points and Hudson senior Nick Pinkerton placed fourth with 429.25 points.

Perry senior Seth Brandenburg finished seventh with 391.45 points and Perry senior Joe Cooper placed 13th with 373.3 points.

Girls

Powell Olentangy Liberty junior Kellie Carmendy won the title with 418.65 points.

Cuyahoga Falls junior Haleigh Bartlett placed second with 411.75 points.

Nordonia senior Breanne Horrigan finished 16th with 358.5 points.

Jackson sophomore Josie McKee and Parma Padua Franciscan senior Kelcie Mehwald, a Hinckley resident, were eliminated after the semifinal round, which consisted of nine dives.

Lake senior Amy Dorow did not advance past the first round, which consisted of seven dives.

Quotes

Bartlett

“I didn’t have a very good meet. It certainly was not my best meet. A few dives I didn’t nail. I am disappointed I did not get first, but second is really, really good. There is next year.´´

“I am going to try my hardest to get first next year.´´

Bartlett, who placed third at state last season, said she needs to have more “consistency´´ with her dives and have a “higher degree of difficulty.´´

Cuyahoga Falls coach Peter Nauman

“I thought she dug herself a little bit of a hole in the beginning and then she came on really strong in the end. Going into the last three dives she was in sixth place and then she came up to second. I am extremely proud of her.´´

“She is a very strong competitor. She had her sights set on winning it, but we are very pleased with a second place finish. Last year she was third. She is progressinig upward. This is really only her third year of diving, before she was a gymnast. The Akron Rippers club team have done a tremendous job developing her. It has not been me. I am a fan. I am the guy that gets to comes to the meet and cheer her on. They are the ones that have done a lot of the hard work and developed her talent.´´

McLaughlin

“I felt like I was going to throw up because there was so much pressure to do well, but at the same time there wasn’t as much pressure because I didn’t have to worry about qualifying. There was pressure because people were pulling for me to do good. I was able to maintain though, and find a perfect balance of intensity and fun. I had a ton of fun out there.´´

“I realistically tought I would finish 1 or 2. There was no doubt in my mind. I expected to do well.´´

“I started feeling hungry during the meet, so I had some bites of a banana. I had some extreme nervousness. It was an odd mix of emotions throughout the meet.´´

Pinkerton

“I was very pleased with today after I didn’t dive to my expectations at sectional and district. I was 10th at distirct and I wasn’t really pleased with that. Jumping up to fourth at state is a big accomplishment for me. This is a great way to end my season.´´

“I am super excited to go dive in college and I think the finish today was a good way to cap of my high school season.´´

“I have really loved diving in high school. It was a lot of fun. What I will miss most is the good friends I made through diving.´´

Horrigan

“I am very excited. Gymnastics definitely helped.´´

“I didn’t think I would make it to the state meet and now colleges are looking at me.´´

The Hudson girls baskeetball team (13-6) will open play 2:45 Saturday afternoon against a solid Kent Roosevelt team, which is 11-7 after defeating Garfield Saturday, 78-44. This is the third game of a tripleheader that day, with No. 2 seed Wadsworth opening plat 11:30 in the morning against Garfield followed by Kenmore and Copley at 1:15.

“We did beat them earlier this year at our place. I thought we would get the three or four seed and the kind of teams we though would be in our bracket and end up were we did,”  said Hudson coach Dennis Lawler, “They are physical tough team.”

Lawler said that he did not want a first round bye because he feared a long layoff of 10 days or more would be detrimental.

“We wanted to keep in a routine,” Lawler said.

Hudson finishes the regular season Wednesday night at home against NOC Valley Division foe Strongsville.

Hudsn’s top scorer is junior guard Jessica Monsman.

It is hard to tell who is more excited – Hudson quarterback Richie Piekarski or his coach Tom Narducci.

Piekarski has made a verbal commitment to play at the Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.  The  school is a 1-AA institution which has made “a nice financial offer”  according to Narducci. Piekarski will sign his letter of intent next week.

Richie’s dad and uncles graduated from Duquesne and you know his love of the Steelers!  He’ll be stone throw from downtown Pittsburgh and a stone skip across the Allegheny to Heinz Field,” Narducci said.

When you are a writer, you see things from different angles than the public, particularly fans that follow one high school team.

On Saturday, Canton McKinley defeated Massillon, 35-21, which is always special in and of itself. Here were the Bulldogs, a team that had blown a 34-2 lead two weeks earlier in a 38-34 loss to North Canton Hoover, reaching the playoffs on third level points.

It was a glorious moment for McKinley coach Ron Johnson, who has been roasted this season by Bulldog fans as if he was the most evil character a writer could concoct. After the game, he told me that the players never quit and that is what made him so proud of the kids.

So McKinley heads to Toledo Whitmer Saturday hoping to pull off another upset and go further into the playoffs.

For Hudson players and fans, the McKinley victory was a crushing loss because the Explorers were the team bumped out of the playoffs. On the face of it, this is ridiculous. Hudson is 8-2 and McKinley is 6-4.

What killed the Explorers were some opponents who just had awful seasons. Jackson, normally a .500 team at least, took the pipe and was 0-10. Lakewood, the worst Division I program in Northeast Ohio and frankly is a waste of time watching, had its usual one win season. The Rangers were Hudson’s opponent in Week 10, giving virtually nothing in computer points to the Explorers.

Hudson coach Tom Narducci, quarterback Richie Piekarski and the Explorer seniors

People talk about win or go home themes for the playoffs. As Hudson now knows, sometimes you go home early when you win because you lose. Life is not always fair.

Tom Narducci hopes to be working next week. The Hudson football coach knows that Senior Night at Dante Lavelli Field against Lakewood might be the team’s swan song. Even if the Explorers beat the Rangers, it might not be enough to get them into the playoff. Coming into the is week, Hudson sits in the eighth and final spot in Division I, Region 2.

“We need a few things to happen, like Perrysburg, Toledo St. John’s and some other teams too lose and maybe get lucky that Medina knocks off Brunswick (No. 6 in the region), which is possible because they’ve played pretty well in the second half of the year,” Narducci said.

The coach also Richie Piekarski ’s numbers are down in the passing category because of the weather.

“Of course, it will probably rain. The last four weeks have hurt Richie’s stats because we haven’t thrown with all the rain,” the coach said.

Hey everyone! This is my column that’s running in the Akron Beacon Journal Friday, but it’s posted on Ohio.com now, as you can see. Thanks to everyone who submitted votes for their favorite high school nicknames. If there are other crazy nicknames from out of state, post them so we can all get some laughs. Thanks again!

What a week that was and what a game coming up. As you read my thoughts, remember this – to reach the football playoffs, eight teams in each of the four regions in each division get their ticket punched. The top four teams host first round home games.,

Let’s go:

Roll 7, please!

I have beeen watching high school sports longer than some of my colleagues have been alive. So when I tell you that Ravenna coach Jim Lunerdi took one of the biggest gambles I’ve ever seen in defeating bitter rival Kent Roosevelt, 29-28 in overtime, I believe that is a big statement.

Here was the situation – Kent had just scored the go ahead touchdown in the OT to go ahead 28-21. Ravenna quarterback Zach Thomas, who wears No. 7, then counters with a 6-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 28-27. Conventional wisdom is to kick to the extra point and play another overtime.

Instead, the Ravens come out from a time-out and Lunerdi, convinced by his assistant coaches, go for the 2-point conversion. Thomas barely falls over the goal-line and Ravenna wins 29-28.

What was on the line? The Ravens came in 3-0 in the Metro Division of the Portage Trail Conference and Kent was 2-1, and both teams desperately needed playoff points. Ravenna and Kent now are 13th and 14th in Division II, Region 5 and now must win out for a hope of getting to the post season in this brutal division, one of the best in the state.

Surprising Spartans

Springfield’s 5-2 season now becomes the focus for both Ravenna and Kent. Kent hosts the Spartans this week, which is No. 12 in Division III, Region 13. so the winner’s chances of the post season improves.

Two of Ravenna’s last three games are against the Spartans and Field, which is 6-1 and also 4-0 in the division and No. 4 in Division III, Region 9. The  Falcons have already defeated the Rough Riders, so the Oct. 23 game at Ravenna could be for both the division and a playoff berth.

The big game

As each week as passed, it became apparent that Week 8 would gives football fans a big game in the River Division of the Northeast Ohio Conference. As  Twinsburg plays at Hudson Friday night, the stakes could not be bigger.

Face it – in an otherwise weak division, the winner will bring home the division crown. The winner also grabs a huge number of critical playoff points, which neither can get in the remaining two weeks of the schedule. It appears Twinsburg is the No. 4 team in Division I, Region 5, Hudson is No. 8. The Explorers obviously need this game more.

Stow coach Marty Tinkler says it simply.

“We just a need break; a big break,” Tinkler said. “The kids are doing everything they can to get better; they are practicing and preparing as hard as they can.”

The Bulldogs are facing the probability of not having starting quarterback Duane Mitchell and tailback Jon Markulis again Friday night against Lakewood. Both missed last week’s 14-7 Homecoming loss  against Hudson with injuries.

“It was 0-0 at halftime, then 14-0 going into the fourth quarter. We scored with three minutes left and we had a chance if we get the onside kick. We didn’t, but at least we were in position to have the shot,” Tinkler said.

It has not been an easy season for Marty Tinkler. The Stow football coach is hoping his 0-5 team can recover from its latest loss, a 27-14 setback to Garfield Heights (4-1) and knock off invading Hudson (4-1), which suffered its first defeat of the season, 28-14, to undefeated Solon.

“Obviously, you never think about being 0-5 despite our schedule. Its our Homecoming came and we’ve played with them the last two years, winning at home two years ago and we lost a good game at their place last year,” Tinkler says.

The coach hopes that injury-plagued senior running back Jon Markulis is finally on a roll, having rushed for over 300 yards the past two games.