MANSFIELD, Ohio — College basketball has the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
Local high school basketball will soon have a conference showdown of its own.
Teams from the Northern Ohio League and Ohio Cardinal Conference will battle for bragging rights when the Richland Source NOL-OCC Challenge tips off later this month.
Madison and Lexington will represent the OCC, while Ontario and Norwalk will carry the banner for the NOL.
“This is an idea (Ontario athletic director) Chris Miller and I have been kicking around for the last couple of years,” Lexington AD Joe Roberts said. “We borrowed the idea in part from the college game, but we wanted to put our own twist on it.
“We think it is going to be a great event and a chance to showcase the talent in the area.”
The Richland Source jumped at the opportunity to sponsor the event.
“The partnership was a natural one to make,” Richland Source publisher Jay Allred said. “Our sports coverage is all about high school athletes and athletic programs. The stories there are fantastic and important to our readers.”
The event will feature both boys and girls varsity and junior varsity teams. Madison will host the girls varsity games on Dec. 18 and 19, while Lexington will host the boys varsity games on Dec. 29 and 30. The girls junior varsity games will be played at Norwalk on Dec. 17 and 19 and the boys JV games will be at Ontario on Dec. 28 and 30.
“When I was coaching in the Lima area, they had a tip-off classic with Elida, Shawnee, Bath and Lima Central Catholic, but it wasn’t a conference challenge like this,” said Miller, who was the head football coach at Lima Bath before coming to Ontario. “In terms of making it a competition between conferences, I don’t know if anybody else around the state is doing anything like this.”
The four teams involved in this year’s challenge already have longstanding relationships. Ontario traditionally plays Madison and Lexington during the regular season and Madison has played Norwalk each of the past three years.
“We needed an extra game and Norwalk needed an extra game,” Roberts said. “And with (former Lex coach) Steve Gray at Norwalk, it was a natural fit.”
While the first year will feature just four teams, there already is discussion of expanding the event in the future.
“What if we had a girls game between (NOL member) Bellevue and (OCC member) West Holmes and we played it at a neutral site so that the fan bases didn’t have to travel so far?” Roberts said. “Could you imagine the size of that crowd?”
The West Holmes girls have been to the Final Four each of the past four years and won a state title in 2014. Bellevue advanced to the Elite Eight the past two seasons.
“Obviously, the layout of the event will change when we have seven or eight teams from each conference participating,” Miller said. “We will have to work out the logistics, but we don’t want to exclude anybody. We will look at what matchups might be intriguing and what matchups might not normally happen.”
All parties involved seem content on growing the event.
“Mostly, we want the athletes and fans to have a great time and feel like they are at an event,” Allred said. “Long term, we are excited to see the field grow and become a real focus for the kids’ early season play.”
Schedule
Girls Junior Varsity at Norwalk
Madison vs. Ontario, 5 p.m., Dec. 17
Lexington vs. Norwalk, 7 p.m., Dec. 17
Madison vs. Norwalk, 10 a.m., Dec. 19
Lexington vs. Ontario, noon, Dec. 19
Girls Varsity at Madison
Lexington vs. Ontario, 6 p.m., Dec. 18
Madison vs. Norwalk, 7:30 p.m., Dec. 18
Lexington vs. Norwalk, 6 p.m., Dec. 19
Madison vs. Ontario, 7:30 p.m., Dec. 19
Boys Junior Varsity at Ontario
Ontario vs. Madison, 5 p.m., Dec. 28
Lexington vs. Norwalk, 7 p.m., Dec. 28
Ontario vs. Lexington, 10 a.m., Dec. 30
Madison vs. Norwalk, noon, Dec. 30
Boys Varsity at Lexington
Ontario vs. Madison, 6 p.m., Dec. 29
Lexington vs. Norwalk, 7:30 p.m., Dec. 29
Norwalk vs. Madison, 6 p.m., Dec. 30
Ontario vs. Lexington, 7:30 p.m., Dec. 30
