trojandave wrote: ↑Tue Feb 12, 2019 1:03 pm Going undefeated is a tremendous accomplishment, and it's not Wheelersburg's fault that the SOC II is not that strong this year. The non-conference schedule is not real difficult, but I give the Burg credit for at least leaving the SE district for a couple of games up north. Normally, East Liverpool is normally better than what they showed vs. the Pirates. The Potters are in the top 20 all time in Ohio for wins.
The down side of going undefeated in the regular season is that the pressure of playing in the tournament and staying undefeated makes some teams play not to lose, something they haven't experienced to that point of the season.
Unioto was 24-0 in the 2015 D2 regional, playing a Walnut Ridge team that I felt was not nearly as good as the Shermans (I was at the game), but in the final 2 minutes the Tanks missed a bunch of FT's and it cost them dearly in a 46-45 loss. Not saying that Unioto felt the pressure of staying undefeated, but missing those FT's might have been a sign of it.
Wheelersburg upset undefeated 20-0 Chesapeake at Rock Hill in the D3 sectional tournament (I can't remember what year--early 2000's?....I was at the game). I believe Chris Ellis was one of the stars of that Burg team.
Wheelersburg was undefeated going into the 1988 D3 regional final vs. New Philadelphia Tusky Valley. Tusky Valley upset the 24-0 Pirates.
In 1980, Waverly upset previously undefeated 23-0 Dresden Tri-Valley in the Class AA regional semifinals 48-45. Onno Steger was a star player for the Tigers that year. Waverly lost to Portsmouth in the regional final 49-48. Portsmouth advanced to the state with 5 regular season losses.
In 1979, Portsmouth was 21-0 and had won 29 games in a row dating back to the 1978 state championship season (8 games in the 78 tourney and 21 in 79). It was the longest winning streak in PHS history. The Trojans played Ironton in the Class AA district final that year, with PHS already having beaten the Fighting Tigers 71-57 the last game of the regular season. In the district championship, though, IHS won 54-52 on two Dickie James FT's with 4 seconds left. One of the starters on that 1979 Ironton team was SEOPS member 79Tiger.
It's tough to get to the state undefeated.......if Wheelersburg were to accomplish that, it would be a rare feat indeed. It's very possible that it could happen for the Pirates. But there will be at least one game along the way that won't be decided until the last minute or two.
I think Burg has actually knocked 20-0 Chesapeake out of the sectionals twice over the years. the first one was I believe in 1992, with Chris Ellis and Cris Carter. Story of that tourney run was Coach Lovenguth decided to finally start a Freshman by the name of Jonathon Eaton and with him at the guard position Burg went on an amazing run losing to Sugarcreek Garaway and 7'2" Jason Terry in the Regional final. Big play in that game was when Garaway brought a seldom used player into the game (told to me by a Garaway fan) and he started a fight with Burg PG Cris Carter and Burg went to pieces after that. I remember 6'4" Ellis had Terry by the neck during the fight and it was just an ugly scene that was a definite setup. Burg went into the tourney that year either 10-10 or 9-11.
The second time they beat Peake in the sectionals was the one year Andrew Bendolph played for Burg. Barrick finally turned him loose in that game and man did he go off. I believe he had around 31 and Peake had no answer for him. I think Burg lost in the District final to Huntington Ross.
