Sports Editor
It’s been a strong run for the Amelia High School boys basketball team of late. Champions or co-champions of the last four Southern Buckeye Conference American Division seasons, head coach Craig Mazzaro has his Barons in position to make it five in a row as the team gets back into conference play this week.
A sloppy start to the season gave way to an impressive winning streak to end calendar year 2015 and some tough out of conference match ups has Amelia (9-5, 4-1) ready to make their stretch run.
“We came in (to the season) and everybody was in a different role and no body was really sure (what their role was),” Mazzaro said. “The first night we just got smoked. Anderson came in with seven or eight seniors with experience and everything that could go wrong (for us) did go wrong.
“The same thing that happened with Norwood (in the second game). I hate to say it, but losing those two games probably got us those next wins.”
Rattling off six straight to end the year included four American Division wins to put the Barons atop a standings table, one game up on both Norwood and Batavia. Goshen and Western Brown each sit two games back and New Richmond is three games behind.
The bumpy start was predicated by losing a core of three- and four-year players to graduation. With the younger players settling into their new roles, the wins soon followed.
“Ryan Turner has really stepped up,” Mazzaro said. “Dave Winkler is a 6-foot senior. He’s really shot the ball well after a slow start. Cage Meyer has really been rebounding well for us.”
The three stalwarts the coach mentioned all average more than nine points per game. Meyer leads the way with 11.4, followed by Winkler’s 10.2 and Turner’s 9.5.
While the numbers aren’t jaw-dropping, they don’t need to be. The Barons have given up 50 points or more only four times this season and twice in victories.
“We usually rely on our defense to keep us in games, so we think we can score enough points if we keep (the score) low,” Mazzaro said.
With roles adapted and the defense stifling, the Barons turn their attention to the second half of the SBC-American season.
Amelia has eight games remaining on their regular-season schedule, five of which are against divisional opponents and one more SBC crossover contest in the annual year-end tournament on Feb. 13.
To make their quest for a fifth consecutive league title even tougher, four of their five league games will be played on the road, beginning with a trip to New Richmond on Jan. 26. The result of that contest was not available at press time.
Home games against Georgetown (1/30, nonconference) and Batavia (2/5, in conference) are the only two times that the Barons will again play in front of a home crowd this year.
Should the Barons be able to claim a fifth consecutive crown, it would only be the second time in history of the SBC that a boys team won five straight league titles — Hillsboro did it in the mid 1990s and Georgetown completed the feat from 2005-2009.