Fort Loramie girls hoops coach Carla Siegel is entering her 24th campaign as the Redskins bench boss and needs only nine more wins to reach 500, a plateau attained by only 17 girls and 42 boys coaches in Ohio. That milestone will be met this season which begins next week, but when?

Game nine is at Houston on Dec. 22. Number ten is five days later in Columbus against Walnut Ridge on a neutral court. A home contest with Russia two days later had to be moved. Then 11 and 12 are both at home to begin the new year, with a road game and two at home to follow.

Carla will have a new JV coach this season following the retirement of Phil Barhorst after 15 years and almost 250 victories. His replacement will simply change seats as veteran assistant Jason Shatto takes over. Shatto was also previously a Loramie player and boys head coach.

Doenges

Adam Doenges has resigned after a dozen seasons and the second longest head-coaching tenure in Sidney High School football history. I enjoyed working with him and feel he put his players first. I’m glad he’s staying in the school system.

Meanwhile, SHS Athletic Director Mitch Hoying has quickly embarked on a thorough search for the next head coach. He wants the new guy hired by the end of 2022.

Piqua not hosting

I mentioned last week that Divisions VI and VII are both playing neutral site games on Saturday nights, and that has now become an immediate issue. The top facilities in this small school football hotbed are all needed this Saturday but Piqua isn’t available. Consequently, New Bremen and Ansonia will play at Greenville where the stadium is in renovation transition. Expanded and updated seating is yet to be installed. This is a curious choice by the OHSAA.

Piqua was available on Friday but wasn’t needed for any of the divisions seeing action. It will be in play on both nights for next weekend’s regional finals, according to site manager Chip Hare. A year from now, Troy Memorial Stadium and its 10,000 seats will also be in the playoff mix following the installation of synthetic turf.

Sidney Memorial Stadium will have a big crowd on Saturday night for the D-VII backyard rivalry rematch between Fort Loramie and Minster. The winner will meet either Ansonia or New Bremen a week later in the regional finals, possibly also in Sidney.

Kevin Johns

Former Piqua and University of Dayton quarterback Kevin Johns has been a longtime assistant coach in the NCAA ‘s top division, most notably at Northwestern and Indiana. Recently he was offensive coordinator at Memphis before taking a similar post this year at Duke, where the 6-3 bowl eligible Blue Devils are having a fine season with Kevin’s offense performing well. For more info: goduke.com.

Andre Gordon

Sidney’s Andre Gordon has entered his fourth basketball campaign at Texas A&M and could still play a fifth season a year from now. His court time diminished a season ago and I hope that trend doesn’t continue. However, the Aggies have brought in five transfers, three of whom are guards just like Andre.

Many of his games are televised on readily available networks. For more info: 12thman.com.