By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

For 13 years, the Kent Roosevelt girls basketball team has shared a genuine friendship with Hattie Larlham.

The Rough Riders and the center for children with disabilities have partnered on a weekly program, which dates back to 2012, that has transformed from a community-service activity to a loving relationship.

“We wrapped up our time for this season there last week. It is always awesome,” Foreman said. “We do it every Thursday night during the season, November through February. It has become a way of life for our program.

“We have so many friends there now that we have grown to know and love over the years,” Foreman added. “It is really hard to put into words how close and engaged our players get with the residents there. Our players actively engage with the residents and show them love and support — and they get that back in return from them.

“We do crafts together and even play volleyball and baseball. This way of life for our program helps our players see each other and others in a different light that shows there is so much more than just basketball. We even have some former players who have gone on to work at Hattie.”

Each season, Roosevelt invites five residents to come to one of its home games. Those friends are announced as “honorary starters” for the game, bringing smiles and love from all angles.

“It is truly something that is just as much a part of what we do as anything on the basketball floor,” Foreman said.

BEST WEEKEND EVER

Rootstown High School athletic director Keith Waesch, a Rovers graduate, has been around the school’s athletic program for more than 40 years as a student, coach and administrator, and he feels that this past weekend may have been the most successful three-day stretch in athletics in the history of the school.

It would be hard to argue with him.

Consider the following:

   • The boys bowling team advanced to the Division II state championships.

   • The girls bowling team qualified for the Division II state championships.

   • The boys wrestling team won the Rootstown Division III sectional championship, including five individual champions.

   • The girls wrestling team, in just its second year as a varsity sport, finished sixth out of 32 schools at its sectional tournament, with six individual girls qualifying for the district tournament.

   • The girls basketball team won the school’s second district championship in school history, advancing to Wednesday’s regional semifinal against Canton Central Catholic. The previous district title for the Rovers came in 2008 — a team coached by Tom Deighan.

“Not a bad weekend for our student-athletes,” Waesch said.

RUNNING HELP AT WATERLOO

Student-athletes at Waterloo volunteered to help coordinate the PTO’s “Fun Run” event for the district’s elementary students. Included in the volunteer help were David Lindsay, Alexis Henry, Hunter Mangus and Dalton Braybon.

All funds from the event benefits the Waterloo PTO.

AUTOGRAPHS FOR BRENDA GIEBEL

Rootstown’s Brenda Giebel has been on a mission since the start of the high school wrestling season.

After her daughter, Madison Giebel, was featured in the Portage Sports High School Wrestling Preview magazine as part of a group feature photo, the proud supporter of her daughter and girls wrestling set out to get each girl included in the photo to add their autograph.

From tournament to tournament, Brenda collected signatures, and she finally completed her quest last weekend.

The photo includes (left to right) Crestwood’s Arabella Stier, Kent Roosevelt’s Penny Edwards, Rootstown’s Madison Giebel, Mogadore’s MJ Shellenbarger, Mogadore’s Kai Gaetjens, Crestwood’s Luci Hess, Field’s Carly Eldreth and Mogadore’s Elizabeth Terry.

BEN CURTIS ANNOUNCES CLUB 283

Kent Roosevelt boys golf head coach Ben Curtis, who is also well known for his time as a golfer at Kent State and on professional tours, winning the 2003 British Open, announced last week that his Ben Curtis Golf Academy was opening Club 283.

Club 283, which is located at 4946 Darrow Road in Stow, features state-of-the-art golf simulators, as well as expert coaching through private lessons.

If you are curious on why it is called “Club 283”… it is a clever nod to Curtis’ 2003 Open championship. In that tournament, Curtis shot rounds of 72-72-70-69 for a winning score of 283.

RAHE’S HISTORIC CAREER

Field High School girls basketball standout Delilah Rahe ended her career with eight school records, including:

   • Career points: 1,644

   • Career rebounds: 1,014

   • Career blocked shots: 115

   • Career field goals: 623

   • Career steals: 326

   • Single-season steals: 101

   • Single-season rebounds: 295

   • Single-game field goals: 16

Her career point total ranks 10th all-time in Portage County history and her career rebounds currently rank as the sixth-most in county history.

GIRLS BASKETBALL DISTRICT TITLES

It was a special Saturday for Portage County girls basketball teams last weekend.

Three celebrated district championships to advance to the regional level of the OHSAA’s tourney.

   • The Streetsboro Rockets defeated Field, in a battle between two Portage County programs, 60-48, to win their second consecutive district crown — and the second in Rockets school history. Next up for Streetsboro is a Division IV regional semifinal showdown with Canfield. The game is scheduled for Wednesday at 8 p.m. at the Canton Memorial Field House.

   • The Rootstown Rovers defeated LaBrae, 57-53, for the program’s second-ever district title. The first in school history came in 2008 for a Rovers team that was coached by Tom Deighan and featured Ashley Christani, Monica Mims, Alyssa Trocchio, Aileen Fair, Lauren Shaw, Sammy Tuttle, Paige Berger, Kelcie Goodpaster and Lauren Hughes. Next up for the Rovers is a Division VI regional semifinal showdown with Canton Central Catholic. The game is scheduled for Wednesday at 8 p.m. at Lake High School.

   • The Mogadore Wildcats defeated Maplewood, 49-45, to capture the program’s eighth district crown, joining teams from 1984, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009 and 2013. Next up for the Wildcats is their Division VII regional semifinal showdown with Berlin Center Western Reserve. The game is scheduled for Thursday at 8 p.m. at Perry High School.

SUPERSTARS IN THE CLASSROOM

A round of applause for the Kent Roosevelt High School winter student-athletes.

Collectively, they posted an exceptional 3.66 cumulative grade-point average for the second quarter.

To balance all of the academic expectations, while still performing at a high level athletically, requires daily dedication, time management and accountability.

Well done, Rough Riders!

STARS ALIGNING ON APRIL 18

Portage Sports announced earlier this week that its 2nd annual High School Basketball All-Star Games will be hosted at Ravenna High School on Friday, April 18.

The Girls All-Star Game is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. and the Boys All-Star Game is set for 7 p.m.

General admission is $5, with free admission for children and senior citizens.

New this year, we have extended our invitation to Portage County cheerleaders, who will be there to root for each of the four teams playing.

Rosters and additional information about the games will be released in the coming weeks.

We look forward to celebrating some great players from the 2024-25 season!