JEROMESVILLE – A seemingly unrelenting part of a schedule can sometimes overwhelm a high school team, making it feel as though it’s been thrown into a fire.
For the Hillsdale boys basketball squad and head coach Ben Ferguson, this season might feel more like being thrown into a volcano.
After the Falcons made a second consecutive appearance in the Division VII state championship football game Dec. 5, the vast majority of their players were tipping off the basketball opener 10 days later.
Add in a huge tweak to this year’s schedule – a three-game trip to the Lowman Law Firm Basketball Invitational near Tampa, Fla., beginning Saturday – and Hillsdale will have played its first seven games in just 15 days.
Ferguson, now in his third season leading the program, said December for his team might end up being a bit like drinking from a firehose.
But the Falcons are coming off their first district basketball championship since 2001, and the coach believes that a trip south is the kind of thing that could have a big long-term impact on his squad.
“I’ve been battling for a couple of years just to get time with the boys (away from the court),” Ferguson said. “With the football team being so successful, it’s been very tough for me to do things that other teams get to, like team bonding and just being around each other.
“They’ve been running hard and they don’t get a lot of time off,” he said, “so I thought this could be an opportunity to build those relationships, which I think is incredibly important.
“The better the relationship, it really does pay dividends in the tough games and down the stretch.”
Ferguson said the idea for the Florida trip began last March, when he spoke about it with longtime Norwayne head coach Brian West, whose team has competed in the same event before.
The ball got rolling from there. Ferguson worked with some private donors who he said felt the trip had a lot of value for the team, and the Falcons also did some fundraising to cover part of the costs as well.
Hillsdale will fly direct from Cleveland to Tampa the morning after Christmas. It begins action in the tournament-style event 11 a.m. Saturday with a game against Florida’s Springstead High School.
“I’ve been to the airport probably 2,000 times, but I’ve never arrived at the airport on a yellow school bus,” Ferguson said with a laugh, “and I’ve never gone through security with 16 high school boys.”
The Falcons will play three games in three days and their second and third opponents will be determined by game results.
Ferguson said his players will have workouts every day and have a conference room set up where they can watch film on upcoming opponents. He likened it to what most college teams do on road trips for games.
Hillsdale will have a chartered bus and stay near Clearwater Beach. Ferguson flew down earlier this year with his wife, Kim, to scout out the area and put together an agenda for the team.
They mapped out travel time from the hotel to games, as well as places to have lunch and dinner.
“You get out of town, play some tough competition, but there’s more to it than just that,” he said. “There will be some down time, but we are heading down there on business.
“I’ve told them, ‘Listen, this is a business trip. It’s not a vacation or a road trip with the fellas. We’re trying to win games.’ ”
There will be some down time, but we are heading down there on business. … We’re trying to win games.
hillsdale head coach ben ferguson
While Division VII Hillsdale has about 100 boys walking its high school hallways, Ferguson said the rest of the teams in the tournament come from schools with between 600 and 1,900.
The event is hosted at Nature Coast High School and will feature 16 teams. Additional Ohio schools competing include Division II Brecksville and Division I Lakota East.
Regardless of the competition, Ferguson feels his squad has the talent and poise to handle its busy December.
The Falcons got their first taste of a rapid-fire start on the basketball court last winter when many on the roster were coming off the school’s first trip to the state championship game in football.
Despite less than a week of practice before its opening tip-off, Hillsdale went 5-0 in December, winning all those games by double-digits.
By season’s end, the Falcons had tied for their most wins in any year (19-7) since finishing 23-1 in 2001. They went 9-5 and placed third in a Wayne County Athletic League that had four district champions.
This season has had mixed results thus far. Hillsdale launched directly into WCAL play and dropped its opener at Waynedale, 54-52.
Last season, the Falcons finished with a 17-0 record when holding teams below 55 points.
But the opening game Dec. 15 against the Golden Bears was impacted by the absence of senior starting wing Hayden McFadden due to illness.
Ferguson’s son – sophomore and second-year starting point guard Lowen Ferguson – also nearly missed the game for the same reason, but managed to play through it.
Following that loss, the Falcons swept their first back-to-back weekend of the year Friday and Saturday with wins over Chippewa (64-60) and Northwestern (65-47).
Hillsdale overcame a 15-point deficit to get past the Chipps, using a 20-4 third-quarter run to turn the tide.
Ferguson then dropped in 21 points against the Huskies to lead that blowout victory. He and junior wing Kael Lewis are averaging 14 points per game to pace the squad.
Before heading out for the Florida trip, they’ll host WCAL front-runner Smithville on Tuesday – a team off to a 6-0 start (4-0 WCAL).
“We aren’t quite clicking on all cylinders yet, which of course is to be expected,” coach Ferguson said. “We are shooting at a high clip, but we’re allowing too many points and not rebounding to the level I’d like.”
One big reason for the latter issue is the graduation of 6-foot-6 post player Bradey Krichbaum, a second-team All-Ohioan who finished with 914 points and 683 rebounds for his career at Hillsdale.
Krichbaum garnered college basketball interest from some smaller schools, but opted to attend Ashland University.
With no initial plans to play for the Eagles, he ended up on the roster as a walk-on after Ferguson had a chance conversation with AU head coach John Ellenwood during a shootout in June.
Ferguson said he was excited to see Krichbaum continue his career after playing a crucial role for two of the best teams in Hillsdale history the past two years (combined 39-15 record his junior and senior years at HHS).
“I miss him a lot and we’ve built a really nice relationship,” Ferguson said. “I’m very proud that he’s playing at AU and getting better every day. … He’s an enormous loss, and we knew he would be. It changes the entire dynamic of what we’re doing (as a team).”
The 6-3 Lewis and his brother, 6-2 junior Knox Lewis (12 ppg), have been Hillsdale’s top guys on the boards so far at 7.0 rebounds per game. Senior 6-5 post Gage Barker also is beginning to see increased minutes down low.
Ferguson said he’s been coaching the Lewis brothers since they were in second grade and he’s not at all surprised to see them stepping in to fill the void left by Krichbaum.
“I know them very well and it’s been a joy to coach them,” he said. “They’re big, strong kids. … They play to win and they’re competitors.”
The 6-1 McFadden (11 ppg) and returning 5-10 All-Ohio junior guard Troy Bennett (10 ppg) give the Falcons five players averaging double-digit points.
Lowen Ferguson, meanwhile, is pacing Hillsdale in assists (4.0 pg) and steals (3.0 pg) while taking the leadership leap coach Ferguson said will be necessary from his point guard if the Falcons are to keep up their winning ways.
“He understands the game better than most people that I know – regardless of their age,” coach Ferguson said. “With his court knowledge, he’s truly another coach on the floor.
“His big jump this year is going to come from the leadership side. As a freshman, it’s tough to do that.”
Two years ago, Hillsdale won its first sectional crown since 2016 during an 18-7 season. Last year’s 19-7, district-champion finish – its first in 24 years – gave the program what likely were its first back-to-back seasons ever with at least 18 wins.
Ferguson, a 1995 Hillsdale graduate whose next win will be his 40th, believes a successful trip to the Sunshine State to close out 2025 could go a long way in keeping up that momentum.
“Most of these kids haven’t been on an airplane before and they’re very excited. Regardless of how we do this season as a team, there will be a day to look back on this trip and I think it will mean a lot to them.
“One of the goals is to show them that the world’s a little bigger than just right here in northeast Ohio.”
For those interested, games from the Lowman Law Firm Basketball Invitational are scheduled to be broadcast live on YouTube.
