MANSFIELD — Even though Mother Nature put the deep-freeze on the high school basketball season this weekend, the conference title chases are beginning to heat up.
The winter storm that roared through the area during the past 36 hours temporarily put the season on ice, but the pause in action will allow fans to catch up on what’s going on around the area.
So without further ado, here’s a look at the races for conference championships — and a few other compelling storylines — as the regular season draws to a close.
Ohio Cardinal Conference
The chase for the Ohio Cardinal Conference championship is more wide open than ever, dating to the league’s inception in 2003.
Ashland and Lexington share the driver’s seat at 6-3, but neither the Arrows nor the Minutemen have an easy path to the title.
Ashland has lost two in a row since forward Luke Jurjevic suffered a knee injury in an overtime win over Madison on Jan. 21. The rugged 6-foot-5 senior was averaging 10.5 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. Senior guard Luke Denbow became the program’s career scoring leader earlier this season and took over the top spot in career assists in last week’s 81-72 home loss to Wooster.
Two of Ashland’s final three OCC games are on the road. The Arrows head to Mount Vernon next Friday and visit West Holmes on Feb. 15 before hosting Mansfield Senior to close out the regular season.
Like Ashland, Lexington will play two of its remaining OCC games on the road. The Minutemen host Wooster on Tuesday before closing out the OCC schedule at West Holmes next Friday and at Mount Vernon on Feb. 16.
West Holmes (5-4), Mount Vernon (5-5), Wooster (5-5) and Madison (4-5) all are within striking distance. Mount Vernon’s final two OCC games are at home, where the Yellow Jackets are a perfect 4-0.
Both West Holmes and Wooster got off to slow starts because of extended playoff runs during football season, but have heated up recently. The Knights have won five of their past seven after opening the season 3-6. The Generals have won three in a row and seven of nine after staggering to a 1-6 start.
Not to be outdone, Madison has won 9 of its previous 11 games after a 2-4 start.
Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference
The Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title chase is a three-horse race with Shelby (9-1) and River Valley (9-1) leading Marion Harding (8-2) by a game with four to play.
The Whippets are scheduled to host River Valley on Saturday, weather permitting. The Vikings beat Shelby 59-48 on Dec. 21. Saturday’s game will go a long way in determining the MOAC champ, although River Valley still has to play Marion Harding a second time.
Saturday’s showdown between the Whippets and Vikings features the top two scorers in the MOAC. Shelby’s Alex Bruskotter averages a conference-best 20.1 points a game and is tied with teammate Jeremy Holloway for the league lead in rebounding (7.9 rpg). River Valley’s Carson Smith averages 17.8 points a game.
Mid-Buckeye Conference
Lucas and Kidron Central Christian split their two regular season meetings and both have one conference loss. The Cubs are still in first place at 8-1, with KCC trailing by two games in the win column at 6-1.
Kidron still has to travel to Mansfield Christian (3-5) on Saturday and Crestline (5-3) on Feb. 17. The Bulldogs, who pushed Lucas before falling 52-46 at the Cub Cave in mid-January, had won five in a row before this week’s 52-46 setback to Northmor.
Firelands Conference
Western Reserve has a two-game lead over South Central and Monroeville in the chase for the Firelands Conference crown. The Roughriders can lock up at least a share of the FC title with a win over South Central on Monday.
Crestview looked like it would be in the mix for the FC title early, but the Cougars dropped out of contention with four straight conference losses. Crestview avenged an earlier loss to South Central last weekend and could do the same against Monroeville on Tuesday and Mapleton on Feb. 18.
Northern 10 Athletic Conference
Colonel Crawford took over the top spot in Division III in this week’s Associated Press state poll and are alone atop the N10 standings at 11-0. Upper Sandusky is (9-1) is a game back in the loss column and will visit Colonel Crawford in the regular season finale on Feb. 18.
The Eagles will face their biggest challenge of the season Sunday when they meet Waverly at Smithville High School in the Battle at the Berkey. Waverly (14-3) is ranked eighth in Division II in this week’s state poll.
