High School Basketball: Bethel girls in midst of ‘really special year’

“I told her it’s my first year and the first year’s the most important because that’s where you set the standard,” South said. “And I told her how much it meant to me, and so she made it happen.”

Lyons spoke to the team for 45 minutes. Being introduced as the school’s greatest player, a 2,000-point scorer at Bethel and at Old Dominion – a premier college program at the time – and member of the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame got their attention. She also played for Team USA in the 1989 World University Games and played professionally in Japan.

What followed Lyons’ speech and South’s culture-establishing ideas is the winningest season since Lyons led the 1986 team to a Class A state championship. The Bees are 19-2 – the most wins since the ‘86 team went 27-0.

“I’ve really tried to emphasize that winning is a byproduct of doing everything else right,” South said of the practice habits, teamwork and preparation he pushes. “I always tell our team the game is won before game day.”

South is 21 and a junior education major at Dayton. He took over a program that won 14 games last season and graduated seven seniors, including 1,000-point scorers Kenna Gray and Liv Reittinger.

“When I got hired, they told me it would be a rebuilding year and we’d probably win five or six games,” South said. “But it’s been really cool because we’ve proved everybody wrong.”

The Bees are also on the verge of winning their first league title since 1986. If they defeat Troy Christian on Monday, the Bees will finish 12-2 in the Three Rivers Conference and guarantee at least a share of the league crown.

Bethel’s leading scorers are juniors Karley Moore and Kerigan Calhoun. Moore leads the TRC in scoring (16.4), assists (3.4) and steals (5.1). Calhoun averages 11.1 points and has made 53 3-pointers. Leah Heffner is the lone senior starter. Maddie Montgomery and Emma Evans are freshman starters.

The Bees are a No. 4 seed in the upcoming Division III tournament and would likely have to beat No. 2 Waynesville to reach the district finals.

“This has been a really special year and I’m really proud of the type of season we’re having,” South said.

Girls tournament: Sectional games begin Thursday at sites across the Miami Valley. Complete brackets can be found at ohsaa.org/SWDAB.

Top seeds among area schools:

· Division I: No. 1 Centerville, No. 2 Springboro, No. 3 Bellbrook, No. 4 Vandalia Butler.

· Division II: No. 1 Alter (Middletown bracket), Carroll (Tecumseh bracket); No. 2 Trotwood-Madison (Tecumseh); No. 3 Valley View (Middletown); No. 4 Tippecanoe (Tecumseh), Oakwood (Middletown).

· Division III: No. 1 Arcanum, No. 2 Waynesville, No. 3 Greenon, No. 4 Bethel.

· Division IV: No. 1 Tri-Village (Trotwood), No. 1 Fort Loramie (Sidney); No. 2 Covington (Trotwood); No. 3 Legacy Christian (Monroe); No. 4 Cedarville (Monroe)

GWOC showdown: Unbeaten and top-ranked Centerville travels to Fairmont on Saturday with the GWOC boys title on the line. Each team has two more league games remaining next week. Wayne (9-2) plays both teams and remains in the hunt.

The Elks (18-0, 11-0) own a 34-game winning streak and a 48-36 win over the fourth-ranked Firebirds (17-1, 10-1) in December. Fairmont trailed by one with four minutes left in the game.

Centerville’s pursuit of second straight Division I state title has run a gauntlet of top teams in Ohio and beyond. The Elks’ latest victory was 67-63 on Monday over Vertical Academy of North Carolina. Vertical was led by 2023 five-star guard Mikey Williams, who scored 18 points. Centerville was led by its big three of Gabe Cupps (21 points), Rich Rolf (20) and Tom House (14).

Fairmont has won 11 straight since the loss at Centerville. The Firebirds are led in scoring by Anthony Johnson (17.5) and Dasan Doucet (15.7), who just received an offer from Division II Mercyhurst in Erie, Pennsylvania.

The game was originally scheduled for Friday but moved to Saturday night at Trent Arena due to schools being closed Friday.