OHIO — It’s been 61 years since the New Boston boys’ basketball team made the state semifinals.
But that hasn’t stopped the Tigers from making some noise in this year’s OHSAA tournament.
This is the team’s first appearance in the semifinals since 1960.
Jon Wickline. (Tino Bovenzi / Spectrum News 1)
And somehow, despite the passing of six decades, there’s one man who’s been connected to the team long enough to have seen the last time the team made it this far.
Jon Wickline, 85, has served as the Tigers’ PA announcer for more than 50 years. He said he’s seen a lot change and a lot of good teams come and go through the years — but none as good as this year’s team.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for these kids. They don’t know how important they are to this community and what this team has did for this community,” Wickline said.
Across town, the boys are practicing at Shawnee State University to get acclimated to the bigger stage they will face at UD Arena.
Head Coach Adam Cox said he’s excited for his guys to show the state what they are made of, but also is excited for the local community who are so close to the team.
“The community has really rallied around us,” Cox said. “We’re just a small village with under 2,000 people and just have 18 seniors in the class of 2021, seven of them are boys and four of them are on the basketball team. It just makes it really special for everybody and the village is really proud of us.”
Head Coach Adam Cox. (Tino Bovenzi / Spectrum News 1)
Senior guard Tanner Voiers said it hasn’t been an easy year by any stretch of the imagination, especially dealing with the pandemic, but he added the team is full of fighters.
“We just fought through everything, and this team is definitely one of the best I’ve been on — the best,” Voiers said. “But we’re just looking forward to going up there and competing. And we know that we’re going to fight.”
Cox said he knows his guys are ready for the task at hand.
“Some of these kids were born for this moment — Kyle and Tanner and Devon and Chase — our seniors have really stepped up. I just told them that we’re not happy just to be here and not get this far to be this far. Let’s go ahead and give our best effort to win the whole thing.”
Senior forward Kyle Sexton said the team wants nothing more than to make New Boston proud.
“I wanna win for myself, but just doing it for the village, like they deserve it so much,” Sexton said. “They’re insane, they love us, they support us, win or loss. I just wanna do it for them.”
And the community is hoping for the same.
“With a little luck, I’d like for us to win two more games and be state champions,” Wickline said.
New Boston (24-2) faces Columbus Grove (24-2) Friday at 2:45 p.m. for a chance to play in the OHSAA Division IV State Championship on Sunday at UD Arena in Dayton. The semifinal game will be aired on channel 1314 and streamed on the Spectrum News 1 app and website.
