Is Waterford the premier D-IV program in the state?

[fortdawg]

I don't have all the Regional and State appearances but they have to be numerous.
They have done it at a Public School which means he has to coach who lives in the area and walks through the doors.
I know they have at least one State Championship.
The guy has racked all this up while staying at one school so no one can accuse him of chasing talent for W's
I am impressed and wish them nothing but success in the State Tourney.
Bring one home for the TVC!

[Tomcat Queen]

He knows how to work the refs to. That's something our coaches need to learn. They need to have Howie teach them how to do that. Premier in the state? No. But for sure in SEO they are.

[enigmaax]

I don't have all the Regional and State appearances but they have to be numerous.
They have done it at a Public School which means he has to coach who lives in the area and walks through the doors.
I know they have at least one State Championship.
The guy has racked all this up while staying at one school so no one can accuse him of chasing talent for W's
I am impressed and wish them nothing but success in the State Tourney.
Bring one home for the TVC!

Fort Loramie has won 3 of the last 8 Division IV titles. Minster went back-to-back a few years ago. Both teams were also in the Final Four when the 2020 tournament was canceled. Waterford is up there, but those two schools probably have a slight edge.

[bsee12345]

This runs in cycles- Waterford has had a good run the last few years and in SEO they are where most other schools want to be. However, state wise I do not think they are there yet. As mentioned Fort Loramie, Minster- also Tri-Village that has been to regionals alot only to state 1 or 2 times. Berlin Hiland is a couple steps above Waterford in terms of premier - however they bounce between D3 and D4.

[fortdawg]

I don't have their record for the last 15 years but it seems like they have a ticket to the Regionals during that span.
Thanks for the mention of the other teams with better records.
I think it's cool that a TVC team gets mentioned with the creme de la creme of girls basketball in D-IV.
Good luck to the Wildcats at the State.

[enigmaax]

I don't have their record for the last 15 years but it seems like they have a ticket to the Regionals during that span.
Thanks for the mention of the other teams with better records.
I think it's cool that a TVC team gets mentioned with the creme de la creme of girls basketball in D-IV.
Good luck to the Wildcats at the State.

This makes 6 of the last 8 state appearances and prior to that I believe they had gone to 8 out of 9 regional tournaments.

I want to say that going back to maybe 2004 (Garrett Powers set a pretty good foundation for the program in a few years as coach right before Close took the reigns), they’ve won or shared all but maybe 2 or 3 TVC titles. Trimble had a pretty good team in those early years and maybe even knocked Waterford out of the District tournament the year before they made their first regional. Africentric & Harvest Prep were roadblocks to state for a few years. Then there was Eastern with their nice run (those two met in a few District/Regional games) before Waterford really took over the region.

[91raider97bobcat]

Coach Close took over beginning in the 2005-06 season. Since then:

2005-06 Sweet 16, lost to Africentric
2006-07 Sweet 16, lost to Africentric
2007-08 Elite 8, lost to Africentric
2008-09 Sweet 16, lost to Africentric
2009-10 Elite 8, lost to Harvest Prep
2010-11 Sweet 16, lost to Eastern
2011-12 District Final, lost to Eastern (only 1 SE team made it to regionals that year)
2012-13 Sweet 16, lost to Newark Catholic
2013-14 Sweet 16, lost to Eastern
2014-15 State Runner Up, lost to Fort Loramie
2015-16 State Champion
2016-17 State Runner Up, lost to Hiland
2017-18 Final 4, lost to Minster
2018-19 District Final, lost to Peebles
2019-20 District Semis, lost to Peebles
2020-21 Final 4, lost to McDonald
2021-22 ??

That's 14 regional and 6 state appearances in 17 years

[vcgrad]

Every school in SE Ohio would love to have a run like that.
Go win another state title for the TVC and SE OHIO!!!!

[enigmaax]

Coach Close took over beginning in the 2005-06 season. Since then:

2005-06 Sweet 16, lost to Africentric
2006-07 Sweet 16, lost to Africentric
2007-08 Elite 8, lost to Africentric
2008-09 Sweet 16, lost to Africentric
2009-10 Elite 8, lost to Harvest Prep
2010-11 Sweet 16, lost to Eastern
2011-12 District Final, lost to Eastern (only 1 SE team made it to regionals that year)
2012-13 Sweet 16, lost to Newark Catholic
2013-14 Sweet 16, lost to Eastern
2014-15 State Runner Up, lost to Fort Loramie
2015-16 State Champion
2016-17 State Runner Up, lost to Hiland
2017-18 Final 4, lost to Minster
2018-19 District Final, lost to Peebles
2019-20 District Semis, lost to Peebles
2020-21 Final 4, lost to McDonald
2021-22 ??

That's 14 regional and 6 state appearances in 17 years

Thanks for posting this.

[Calvin]

Coach Close took over beginning in the 2005-06 season. Since then:

2005-06 Sweet 16, lost to Africentric
2006-07 Sweet 16, lost to Africentric
2007-08 Elite 8, lost to Africentric
2008-09 Sweet 16, lost to Africentric
2009-10 Elite 8, lost to Harvest Prep
2010-11 Sweet 16, lost to Eastern
2011-12 District Final, lost to Eastern (only 1 SE team made it to regionals that year)
2012-13 Sweet 16, lost to Newark Catholic
2013-14 Sweet 16, lost to Eastern
2014-15 State Runner Up, lost to Fort Loramie
2015-16 State Champion
2016-17 State Runner Up, lost to Hiland
2017-18 Final 4, lost to Minster
2018-19 District Final, lost to Peebles
2019-20 District Semis, lost to Peebles
2020-21 Final 4, lost to McDonald
2021-22 ??

That's 14 regional and 6 state appearances in 17 years

And some Thimble guy was trying to claim that Howdee Caldwell is a more successful coach than Close.

[Hoopie74]

Good luck ladies in your semi final today.

[rickoshay]

Waterford up 12-10 after one quarter.

[rickoshay]

Buckeye Central leads Waterford 23-17 at halftime.

[rickoshay]

Waterford back in the lead after three 38-30

[Stan Smith]

53-39 final
Wildcats in the Finals!

[rickoshay]

Final
Waterford 53
Buckeye Cent.39

[Whs95fan]

Congrats Waterford, bring it home tomorrow!

[Hoopie74]

Final
Waterford 53
Buckeye Cent.39

Awesome work. Get it done tomorrow.

[Orange and Brown]

Big win today!

[enigmaax]

For the purposes of this conversation, I will point out that since Waterford won its first title in 2016, only Minster has two titles to match them and Waterford has been there 5 times, which no one else can match. With this 2nd title and looking at the last 7-8 years, there is a good case to be made for them as the top program in the state.