It may be a little premature to call it a full-blown revival, but Shelby’s run to the Final Four could usher in a new era of north central Ohio high school basketball.
Or maybe it’s a return to a former era.
The Whippets snapped the area’s six-year state-tournament drought when they knocked off Lutheran West 55-46 in the Division II Bowling Green regional championship game at BGSU’s Stroh Center on Saturday afternoon.
It was the first regional crown in program history.
Before Saturday, the last area team to reach the Final Four was Lexington in 2018. Lex’s state tournament appearance brought an end to a record 13-year dry spell for the region. Prior to Lexington’s run, the last area teams to reach the Final Four were Mansfield Senior and Loudonville in 2005.
While state tournament berths have become increasingly rare during the past couple of decades, there was a time when north central Ohio teams were frequent visitors to the Final Four.
The area’s first squad to win a state title was St. Peter’s in 1968.
Coach Bob Frye’s Spartans put the finishing touches on a sensational 26-3 season with a resounding 73-50 win over Petersburg Springfield in the Class A title game. That came on the heels of a 73-70 nail-biter over Latham Western a day earlier at Ohio State’s St. John Arena.
The Spartans returned to the Final Four under Frye in 1970 and Ron Barbo in 1973 and 1975.
Pat Maurer took over for Barbo in 1976 and piloted the Spartans to three straight Class A championship game appearances from 1977 to 1979. St. Peter’s won it all in 1978 and was runner-up in 1977 and 1979.
St. Peter’s emergence as a small-school power in the 1960s jump-started what became a Golden Era of high school basketball in north central Ohio.
From the time the Spartans won their first state title in 1968 until Senior High and Loudonville reached the Final Four in 2005, the area never went more than three seasons without producing a state tournament-qualifying team.
Lexington reached the Class AA championship game under John Barr in 1972, falling to Columbus Bishop Ready 59-47 in the final. The Minutemen were 25-1 in Barr’s 11th and final season. He was the winningest coach in program history until Scott Hamilton surpassed him in 2022.
Buckeye Central reached the Class A title game under Steve Mohr in 1983. The Bucks fell 55-48 to Delphos St. John’s in a battle of unbeatens and finished the season with a 27-1 record.
Two years later, Joe Prats and his high-flying Mansfield Senior Tygers played for the Class AAA championship. Senior High fell to Cincinnati Purcell Marian 65-57 in the finals after reaching the state tournament for the first time since 1950.
Wynford reached the Class A championship game in 1987 under legendary coach Rob Sheldon. The Royals snuck past Haviland Wayne Trace 50-49 in the semifinals before falling to Fort Loramie.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association went from three classes to four divisions for the 1987-88 season and now-defunct Malabar celebrated by reaching the Division II Final Four. The Steve Miller-coached Falcons fell to Portsmouth 68-65 in the semifinals.
Wynford returned to the state tournament in 1989, reaching the Division III semifinals, and was joined by Division II Lexington.
The Royals fell to Akron Hoban in the semifinals, but the Gregg Collins-led Minutemen ran the route with a 57-55 win over Dayton Chaminade-Julienne in the semifinals and an 89-57 blowout of Chesterland West Geauga in the state championship game.
St. Peter’s returned to state in 1990, reaching the Division IV semifinals. The Spartans, who were coached by Tim Birie and led by the high-scoring Will Meadows, fell to Springfield Catholic Central 64-42.
Lexington returned to the Division II Final Four in 1991 and beat Triway 66-61 in the semifinals to set up a showdown with Chaminade-Julienne in a rematch of the 1989 state semifinals. With Jamie Feick leading the way, the Minutemen hoisted their second gold trophy in three years with a 55-53 win.
Feick played collegiately at Michigan State before embarking on a seven-year NBA career with stops in Charlotte, San Antonio, Milwaukee and New Jersey.
The next area team to reach the state semifinals was Ontario in 1995. The Joe Balogh-coached Warriors fell to Orrville 68-65 in overtime in what many high school basketball analysts considered the de facto Division III state championship game.
The Red Riders, who were coached by Shelby graduate Steve Smith, pounded Wheelersburg 79-50 in the finals.
Three more years passed before Mansfield Senior made its return to the state semifinals in 1999. The Tygers, who were coached by Gregg Collins, fell to Cincinnati Moeller 49-43 in the Division I semifinals. That team was led by current Tygers’ boss Marquis Sykes.
Clear Fork produced the most recent boys state title in March of 2002.
The Colts, who were coached by Kevin Logsdon, beat Cleveland Central Catholic in the Division III semifinals and held on for a thrilling 54-51 win over Columbus Bishop Ready in the title tilt. Clear Fork led 40-27 after three quarters before being outscored 24-14 in the fourth.
Loudonville reached the Division III Final Four in 2004, falling to St. Henry 44-41 in the semifinals. The Redbirds trailed 15-2 after the first quarter but outscored St. Henry 39-29 the rest of the way.
Mark Schlabach led Loudonville back to the Division III semifinals in 2005, where the Redbirds ran into O.J. Mayo-led North College Hill. Mayo scored a team-best 21 points in the 75-42 win, but Loudonville’s Cole Gillette torched the Trojans for 27 points and 19 rebounds.
That same weekend, the Collins-led Tygers fell to Canton McKinley 73-61 in the Division I semifinals. McKinley, under Shelby product Dave Hoover, won the first of its two consecutive big-school state titles later that weekend.
By reaching this year’s Division II state tournament, Shelby already has secured its place in history. And just maybe, the Whippets will ignite a high school basketball renaissance in north central Ohio.