Beat/Sports Writing Sample - Wayne High School Basketball

Wayne Boys Basketball – Winton Woods – December 30, 2011

With the Warrior boys now with seven losses on the season, six of those have been by single digits. But according to Wayne head coach Travis Trice, Friday night’s loss to one of the state’s most talented teams was a testament to Wayne’s tough attitude and heart – even the night after losing by one point on the road.

“After losing a heartbreaker last night (at Reynoldsburg, 44-43) to a team that I thought we could have gotten a win against, we could have easily came in and laid it down,” Trice said. “This is a very, very good Winton Woods team. They’ve got to be a top-five team in the state,” he said.

The final score showed Cincinnati Winton Woods on top 73-66, the Warrior’s third single digit loss in a row after losing by two to Springfield and one to Reynoldsburg, both on the road.

“We came out and fought, battled from start to finish, I couldn’t be more proud of the way we worked tonight, and at least it gives us an opportunity for something to build on,” Trice said.

At different moments in the game, Wayne had lots to build on. The scoring was spread out to eight players not so much by poor shooting, but effective distributing and unselfish play. “I think we’re good enough for that to happen every night, I think we can have a different (top) scorer any night of the week,” Trice said. “We don’t have a superstar. Right now we’ve just been trying to figure out how to bound together and keep getting after it,” he added.

Both the guards and big men for the home team Warriors were able to score inside rather than relying on the three-pointer. Much of that scoring came from junior Crisshawn Clark, who led the Warriors with 15 points on various put-backs and drives. Still, three other Wayne players were in double figures including Ford (13), Wagner (11) and Pittman (10).

Wayne’s best stretches came in the first and fourth quarters where they had a slight edge in points. Ultimately, Winton Woods secured their victory in the middle quarters, winning them by a total of 10 points, which included a 6-0 run to enter halftime.

In recent games, the (Wayne) Warriors had been caught leaving open three-pointers, but this time Wayne’s improved defense was answered by a hot-shooting streak and a devastating size advantage that helped (Winton Woods) make threes and stifle Wayne’s defensive efforts. None were more crucial than when 6’9” Cheatem hit an NBA-range three as time expired in the first quarter to cut Wayne’s lead to 21-19.

During both teams’ scoring runs, fans from both camps yelled at the officiating. As Wayne was down the entire second half, coach Trice saw his team’s toughness in those trying moments.

“You know, it is part of the game and you have to adjust to it,” Trice said. “The one thing that I was extra proud of is that our guys did not let the refereeing affect them in any way. If our guys thought they got fouled, they didn’t show it, they just went and got the ball back,” he said.

As many of the Warriors’ close losses have been for different reasons, and, though still early, their record could have had a different mark by this point. With a young team, Trice opted to enforce a fresh identity of relentless play and team camaraderie. Against one of the top teams they will face all season, much of their smaller objectives were accomplished.

“We didn’t talk about a win or a loss,” Trice said. “We didn’t talk about numbers or anything like that. The only thing I cared about tonight was our effort and our attitude. This is the first time all season long that I’ve given them an ‘A’ in that,” he said.

“We kind of started over in some things we talked about,” he continued. “We wanted to be better communicators – talking on defense. The other thing was if anybody fell to the floor, all four other guys need to sprint to that guy and help him up; also building camaraderie. And they did that. That allows them to forget about themselves. The last thing was the bench enthusiasm. I told our guys - if I saw someone who wasn’t focused on the game, my coaches had the right to send them to the locker room,” he added.

All of this happened; Wayne players yelled and cheered both on the court and the bench, and ran to rescue their teammates after hard falls.

 “We’ve got a young team,” Trice added. “Hopefully the light starts to come on and tonight was a good starting point.”