The Portage Trail Conference features perfection at the top of the County and Metro divisions girls basketball standings.
Woodridge and Ravenna both finished 20-0 regular seasons on Wednesday night with victories to up their respective league marks to 14-0.
“It is a great accomplishment to go 20-0,” Woodridge coach Chris Esterak said. “It is the first time in our school history, and it is not an easy task.”
The Bulldogs defeated Waterloo 63-53 in a PTC County game and the Ravens beat Springfield 56-14 in a PTC Metro game to remain undefeated.
“From the get-go this summer I knew I had a special bunch of kids,” Esterak said. “I had everybody basically returning other than Morgan Thompson who has been a phenomenal addition to the team as a freshman and key scorer, and junior Kapri Watson, who was a move-in that has brought some additional elements to the team.”
Senior She’Kiera Brooks continues to be consistent performer for the Bulldogs at point guard, and junior center Lizzie Wilkinson is a presence near the basket.
“From Day One we knew this could be a special team,” Esterak said. “We have taken it a game at a time and a quarter at a time. I couldn’t be more proud of these young ladies. They have persevered through some injuries and some ups and downs to go 20-0.”
Esterak said Woodridge’s previous best regular-season mark was 18-2 in the 1999-2000 season.
Woodridge opens its postseason with a Division II sectional game against Revere at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Nordonia High School.
Ravenna starts its postseason with a Division II sectional game against Niles McKinley at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Austintown Fitch High School.
“We have had three great years in a row with 19-1, 19-1 and 20-0 records in the regular season,” Ravenna coach Sonny Tilden said. “The seniors have been great. Seniors DiAndra Gibson and Malorie Gibson have been amazing along with junior Moe Moe Smith.”
Spectator information
Questions have come up as to why Firestone is hosting the City Series playoff title game instead of East, which won the regular-season title.
Joe Howard, the Akron Public School Program Manager of Interscholastic Athletics, said the location of the game “was predetermined as of last July,” because that was when permits were submitted to hold events in buildings.
“We are going with the Firestone gym because it is the biggest in terms of seating capacity, the easiest to secure and has the largest parking lot,” Howard said.
All fans are asked to enter at the front entrance off Rampart Ave.
Michael Beaven can be reached at 330-996-3829 or mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the high school blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/varsity_letters/. Also follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MBeavenABJ. Follow ABJ sports on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sports.abj.
