Notes from the tourney trail

By Dave Hanneman
There is always a wide-ranging swing of momentum and emotions along the tournament trail.
That was Van Buren's game against Wayne Trace in Friday's regional final at BGSU in a nutshell.
It would have been justified for Vasn Buren to earn the right to play in the Divison IV state tournament. The Black Knights have eight seniors returning from a team that reached the regional final a year ago. A trip to Columbus in their final go-round would have been a nice way to cap their careers.
But there was a general feel-good atmosphere following Wayne Trace's 50-43 overtime victory. That's because Wayne Trace coach Al Welch had announced he was retiring after the 2007-08 season -- his 33rd at the school. Welch has won 540 games at Wayne Trace, and while Van Buren was as deserving at a state tournament bid, it's nice that Welch can cap his career with a trip to the Division IV Final Four.
It will be interesting see if this same story line plays out again next year. Kalida coach Dick Kortokrax, the winning coach in Ohio prep history with over 740 wins, has said 2008-09 will be his last year, and the Wildcats will graduate only one or two players from a team that lost to Wayne Trace in the district finals.

ROAD WARRIORS: Wayne Trace has pulled off what is believed to be an OHSAA tournament first. The Raiders are 5-0 in the post-season, and they've won those five games at five different sites.
One of the top two seeds at the Van Wert Sectional, Wayne Trace took a first round bye, advanced straight to the final, and had to play just one game there to win its bracket and qualify for the district tournament at Elida.
Bad weather postponed the Raiders first district game, and with Elida booked up ith other games Wayne Trace's semifinal was moved to Lima Senior. They won that game, then headed to Elida for the district championship and a berth in the Division IV regional at BGSU.
Wayne Trace's regional opener against Ayersville last Tuesday was also a victim of bad weather. With BGSU also booked solid with Division II and III games, Wayne Trace and Ayesrville headed to Findlay Wednesday to get that game in. Then it on to BGSU for the finals.
Five wins. Five different sites. The Raiders have proven to be the Road Warriors of the 2007-08 tournament.

TREY TROUBLE: Van Buren and Wayne Trace headed into the regional final as two prtty good shooting teams, especially from 3-point range. Ironically, neither team shot well Friday, with Van Buren 0-for-7 on 3's and Wayne Trace just 1-for-12.
Wayne Trace's only '3' was a big one, though. With 1:42 left in overtime, Riley Linder knocked down a '3' from the left corner. It gave the Raiders a 41-40 lead and they never trailed after that.

RECORD RUN: Van Buren's Matt Phillips capped an outstanding career with 22 points  and 10 rebounds in the regional final. It was his fourth straight 20-point effort in tournament play.
Phillips entered the regional final with a chance to tie or break the state record for 3-point acccuracy in a season. Unofficially, Phillips had connected on 55 of 103 3-pointers  going into the game, a .434 percentage that would have tied him with Chardon's Scott Mackar, who hit 94 of 176 3's (.534) during the 1997-98 season.
Phillips missed his two 3-point attempts against Wayne Trace, leacing him (unofficially) 55 for 105 for the season. Still, that .524 accuracy is the third best on the OHSAA record books. In second place is South Webster's Eric McClintic (58 for 109, .532, 1998-99).

BACK-UP PLANS: So many tournament games were postponed and rescheduled by bad weather this year that people were asking about back-up plans. Some said the OHSAA has alternate sites ready if needed. Some said they didn't.
If not, it's certainly something the OHSAA has to consider and take into account. This winter has been harder that most on school schedules, both regular season and tournament. Having back-up sites ready in the future is something that has to be prepared for.