The Coshocton County Beacon April 1, 2020 | Page 17
April 1, 2020
The Beacon • 17
Generals set a new standard after fantastic season
By Dave Mast
What defines a successful
season?
For the Ridgewood Gener-
als basketball team, it would
be meeting some lofty goals,
which the team did, plus a lot
more in fashioning what is
perhaps the most successful
season in school history.
The Generals fell to Proc-
torville Fairland 68-58 in a
tight Div. III regional con-
test in Athens the night before
everything was shut down by
the OHSAA due to COVID-19
virus concerns, so their record-
setting season was officially
over, but the trek to get to game
27 was one to remember.
In that game, the Generals
held a 34-29 lead at the half
and were neck-and-neck with
Fairland in the fourth period.
Early in that final period Fair-
land inched out in front, and
forced to foul late, the Generals
saw their season slip away.
But what a season it was
for Ridgewood. The Gener-
als set a new school mark in
wins, boasting a sparkling 24-3
record. They won the Inter-
Valley Conference South divi-
sion and captured the school’s
first-ever district champion-
ship.
Although it is always tough
to let go of a season that means
so much and is so precious, the
Generals can do so knowing
they have set a new bar for
future Ridgewood basketball
teams.
“At the beginning of the
season, the kids set goals of
winning the IVC, winning sec-
tionals and winning districts,”
said Generals head coach Troy
Dolick. “We accomplished a
lot of goals this season and I
am very proud of these kids for
what they did and the way they
went about doing it. This is a
great group of kids who got
after it every day in practice.
There wasn’t any selfishness
and everyone knew where they
could help us and they went
about doing their jobs.”
The leadership came from a
group of six seniors, including
three starters in Koleton Smith,
Connor Kunze and Trey Stof-
fer, all of whom played key
roles for Dolick. In addition,
senior Kaden Smith dealt with
health issues all season and
Dolick said he never quite got
back to the star player he was
prior to that, but he still con-
tributed mightily. Two other
seniors didn’t log many min-
utes but gave the team a strong
leadership presence.
Dolick said their leadership
Although it is
always tough
to let go of a
season that
means so
much and is
so precious,
the Generals
can do so
knowing they
have set a new
bar for future
Ridgewood
basketball
teams.
as a group was critical to the
team’s success.
The Generals relied on
rebounding and finding outlets
quickly that allowed them to
fly up the floor to create plenty
of great scoring opportuni-
ties. Dolick said they practiced
Dave Mast
Senior Trey Stoffer was a key cog in the Generals basketball machine that made its first regional appear-
ance in school history. Stoffer earned Div. III third team All-Ohio honors by averaging 14 points per
contest, while teammate Koleton Smith was tabbed honorable mention, averaging 13 points a game.
Dave Mast
A blend of youth, featuring sophomore Gabe Tingle, left, and senior leadership, Connor Kunze, right,
helped lead Ridgewood to its best basketball season in school history this past year. The Generals cap-
tured the school’s first district crown.
transition scoring every single
practice and it became second
nature for his team.
The Generals reeled off 19
straight wins to start the season
before dropping a pair late in
the regular season to Div. I
power Massillon and perennial
IVC powerhouse Hiland.
We knew that Hiland game
at their place would be a chal-
lenge and we wanted to chal-
lenge the kids by playing
Massillon late,” Dolick said.
“Those games helped prepare
us for tournament play, which
was exactly what we wanted
and the boys responded well
to that even though we didn’t
play well against Hiland.”
Then came the IVC Show-
case showdown with IVC
North champion Malvern. The
Hornets and Generals knocked
each other around for four
quarters then went one more,
before the Generals seized con-
trol and went on to win a 69-63
thriller that Dolick said got his
players reenergized.
That sent them into the
tournament with some real
momentum, and the Generals
took it to Newcomerstown
7 4 - 2 7 , k n o c k e d o ff We s t
Muskingum 65-43 and took
down a dangerous Tusky Val-
ley team 53-38 before facing
Morgan in the Div. III district
championship game.
Another fantastic team
effort propelled them past
Morgan 65-48 and they had the
school’s first boys’ district title
in basketball.
“I thought the way the kids
responded to those two losses
against a talented and well-
coached Malvern team was
key,” Dolick said. “We were
down in that game and had to
answer and we did.”
Dolick said with Ridge-
wood experiencing great suc-
cess in football and baseball,
it was encouraging to see the
basketball team experience
that same success. He said it
energized the whole school and
he could sense the uptick in
passion for the program.
“We haven’t had a lot of
success in basketball and this
season, I think really will go a
long way in getting more kids
involved and excited about the
program,” Dolick said.
A second-grade teacher in
the Ridgewood School District,
Dolick said he was thrilled to
watch a recent recess that saw
more than two dozen second-
grade kids playing hoops.
“ I t ’s c r e a t e d a b u z z , ”
Dolick said. “Hopefully this
sets the bar higher for our kids.
I told our guys that they have
changed things here at Ridge-
wood for the program.”
In a season featuring a
bizarre end, it will be remem-
bers by Generals faithful not
for a virus that shut down the
season, but rather for the effort
and success this team pro-
duced.
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