Boys basketball: CJ 5-0 after defeat of Alter

In his 34th season as the Chaminade Julienne High School boys basketball coach, Joe Staley long ago separated himself from the rest of his coaching brethren. But that longevity isn’t the only reason.

“I like being in Division II,” said Staley following Sunday’s 63-58 defeat of rival Alter at Centerville. “Those two years we were in Division III, it just didn’t feel right. Our kids felt that way, too.”

»» PHOTOS: CJ vs. Alter boys basketball

CJ is among many statewide private-school programs to be bumped up a division in basketball due to the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s competitive balance formula. That hasn’t gone over well with most affected coaches, but it’s just fine with Staley, who has his best team since advancing to the D-III state final four in 2015.

Jack Nauseef had a trio of 3-pointers for 13 points and Milton Gage, a rare CJ four-year starter, added 12 as the Eagles boosted their perfect start to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the Greater Catholic League Co-Ed North.

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Alter (2-3) still is without returning starters Connor Bazelak and Derek Willits, both of whom are recovering from assorted injuries from Alter’s loss to Chagrin Falls Kenston in the D-III state football championship on Nov. 30. Bazelak (16.1) led the Knights in scoring last season.

“We’re definitely a team of muskets, not machine guns right now,” Alter coach Eric Coulter said. “The positive thing is a lot of young guys are getting court experience in big games. We just have to roll with it.”

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Brady Uhl led the Knights with 20 points and Conor Stolly added 14.

• Morgan Haney of Miami East and Milton-Union’s Kristen Dickison both surpassed 1,000 career points last Saturday.

A senior, Haney tallied 16 points in a 54-41 defeat of Arcanum. She signed with the University of Albany last month to play basketball. Miami East (6-1) is tied for the Cross Country Conference lead with Covington and Tri-Village, all at 4-0.

Dickison had 20 points in Milton-Union’s 42-27 defeat of Madison. She’s also the Bulldogs’ girls soccer all-time leader in goals scored with 98.

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• Guard Kendall Moore has made Belmont an early contender for the Dayton City League boys championship. The senior put 40 points on Meadowdale, hasn’t gone less than 21 points and is averaging 27.1 for coach Art Winston’s Bison. Belmont (3-2) is at Middletown (3-3) on Tuesday and hosts CJ on Saturday.

• Graham had nine individual winners and easily won the 10-team Fairmont wrestling invitational, 444-264 over runner-up Upper Arlington on Saturday. Fairmont senior Nevan Snodgrass won at 170 pounds and was named Most Outstanding for the event. He’s 15-1 with six pins. Fairmont’s Ali Salih (182) also won. He’s 11-0 with eight pins.

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• David Davis (120), Eli Strubler (145), Jarret Winner (195) and Caleb Snyder (285) all won individual titles in leading Miami East to the 15-team Tipp Red Devil wrestling invitational championship, 306.5-179 over runner-up Valley View.

• Greenon had just one champion in Evan Davis (132), but placed high enough in most other weights to win the 19-team Xenia wrestling invitational, 196-185.5 over runner-up Norwayne. Third-place Northmont (175.5) had firsts from Andrew Knick (152), Phillp Tracey (195) and Bryan Heyward (220).

• The Greater Miami Valley Wrestling Association holiday tournament will be held at the Vandalia-Butler Student Activity Center on Dec. 27-28. Fifty teams are committed to the event.

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»» PHOTOS: Butler at Northmont, boys basketball

• Fairborn and Greenville will make their football debuts in the revised Miami Valley League next season with new head coaches. Chris Roark resigned at Fairborn after three seasons. The Skyhawks were 2-8 last season and 8-22 overall under the former Jefferson and Alter head coach.

Aaron Shaffer resigned as Greenville’s coach to become the Green Wave athletic director. Greenville was 3-7 last season and hasn’t won a GWOC game since 2015. Fairborn and Greenville will join eight current GWOC American Conference teams in revising the MVL next fall.

Mike Brown also has resigned as Carlisle’s head football coach after four seasons (21-21 overall). The Indians qualified for the playoffs in his first season and were 7-3 in 2017, but winless last season.

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• Beavercreek girls soccer coach Steve Popp has been named the United Soccer Coaches High School/Youth national coach of the year for large schools. The veteran coach guided Beavercreek to a perfect 24-0-0 record last season. The Beavers defeated Strongsville 4-2 to win the Division I state championship, their first.

A 1972 Carroll grad, Popp was inducted into the Beavercreek athletic hall of fame last August along with current Beavers coaches John Guliano (boys soccer) and Gary Wise (wrestling). Other inductees were Don Board, Eric Gartz and Daniel Lee McClue.

Guliano led Beavercreek’s boys soccer team to the D-I state title in 2017.

»» PHOTOS: Fairmont at Centerville, boys hoop

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• Wednesday through Friday is the early NCAA D-I football signing period. Email information and signing ceremony photos to sports@coxohio.com. The regular signing period for D-I football is Feb. 6 through April 1 and Feb. 6 through Aug. 1 for D-II.

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