At this time a little over five years ago

The 2008-09 Cavaliers were awesome. The 2008-09 Lehman boys basketball team was awesome. Zac Schmitz, Nathan Horstmen, Brian Adams, Max Cartwright and Dan Westerheide, who attended Holy Angels in Jr. High, went undefeated during the Holy Angels days and Corbin Peltier were seniors. Bruce Vanover was in his 2nd year as head coach and this team was poised to make it to regionals. I remember being at the Anna regional semi final in 2008 and saw Schmitz and Adam Freytag, who was a sophomore at that time at the game and told them, “You guys are going to be good enough to be playing at this time next year”. The season got off to an awesome start, they went undefeated through their first 9 games, before playing Jackson Center, who beat them by 6. They won the Piqua Holiday tournament thanks to the heroics of Dan Westerheide. Lehman finished the regular season at 18-2, losing to Jackson Center and Ft. Loramie. Went undefeated at the Schlater Gymnasium for the first time in the gyms then 12 year history. They squared off against Triad in their first tournament game and won by 7 in a game that was closer then anyone thought. Then raced past Tournament tough Botkins and held off Mechanisburg in the sectional final. Late in that game, Zac Schmitz sprained his ankle. Injuries are always apart of sports, Keith Bogans (2003 Kentucky vs Wisconsin), Carson Palmer (2005 Bengals vs Steelers), Kenyon Martin ( 2000 Cincinnati vs Memphis). If Bogans and Palmer do not get hurt in their respective games, Kentucky wins the 2003 National Championship and the Bengals make it to Super Bowl XL. Lehman squared off against Cincinnati summit Country Day. The Cavaliers lost 53-50, ending their season at 21-3. For a basketball program that had only won 3 tournament games from 1989-2004, to making it to the District Finals in 2005, 2007 and 2009 is an awesome accomplishment. Lehman has had some pretty decent basketball teams during the 1989-2004 time frame, but could not get over the hump: 1995 (14-7), 1999 (10-11), 2003 (10-11), 2006 (11-10) all were one and dones. In 1995, Lehman lost to eventual Regional runner up Russia and in 2006 lost to eventual regional runner up Houston in the first tournament game.

At this time in 1999... a difficult end to a great season for Lehman Boys Basketball

It was a Monday evening in 1999. The Lehman Cavaliers boys basketball team just concluded a successful 10-10 regular season under first year Head Coach Jerry Fries. The 1998-99 Lehman Boys Basketball Team was good: Bryan Tobe, Eric Hewitt, Ben Kohlhorst, Tommy Middleton, Kyle Goubeaux were seniors, Jake Sinclair, Tony Staley, Tony Cianciolo, Ryan Ratermann, Sam Mikolajewski were juniors and Matt Hare and Derek Orlik were sophomores. There was no time to rest for the Cavaliers after their regular season finale as they faced off against the Greenview Rams in the Division 4 Sectional Tournament at UD Arena. The winner would get 12 days of practice before their next game, a week from the coming Friday. Greenview led us by 3 at the half and it was a hard fought game for the second half. In the 4th quarter, the game was tied and Lehman was in possession. Sam Mikolajewski missed a jumper and then Tony Cianciolo missed a lay-up after a steal. Greenview hit a three to put them up 3 with 2:30 minutes left and then we missed a shot and they made two free throws. After a Middleton basket that cut the lead to 2, Greenview missed a free throw. Middleton got a three blocked right in front of the Lehman bench and there was no foul called. Greenview then made one of its next two foul shots. Bryan Tobe grabbed the rebound, there was 5 seconds left and we were out of timeouts. Goubeaux and Middleton were open on the wings. Tobe got to the mid court stripe and launched desperation three that was off as the horn sounded. Greenview beat us 42-39, ending our season at 10-11. I have been in a lot of Locker Rooms in my lifetime. That post game Locker Room at UD Arena was emotional. Bryan Tobe could not compose himself. The seniors were crushed, Sam Mikolajewski was crying. I have said this for a long time and I will say this again, the 1998-99 Lehman Boys basketball team was good enough to win a district championship and they didn’t. They were better then a 10-11 team. Middleton and Goubeaux were the best senior backcourt we had since Aaron Nuss and Mitch Hoying from the 1994-95 season, Henry Stolly’s first year. To go from 7 wins combined the previous two years to 10 in 1998-99, was a tremendous accomplishment, we should have won more.

How awesome would it be if these guys were in charge of NFL Teams

With John Elway running the Broncos. How awesome would it be if these guys were running these teams San Francisco: Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, Roger Craig Buffalo: Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, Bruce Smith Miami: Dan Marino, Mark Clayton, Mark Duper, Zach Thomas Dallas: Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Russell Maryland Green Bay: Brett Favre, Antonio Freeman, Dorsey Levens, LeRoy Butler Chicago: Brian Urlacher, Mike Brown Cleveland: Bernie Kosar, Kevin Mack, Webster Slaughter, Clay Matthews

At this time in 1999

A First at Schlater Gymnasium It was about this time in 1999 that the Lehman Boys hosted Mercer County and MAC Power St. Henry in boys basketball. Jerry Fries was having a successful first season as Lehman Head Coach. Lehman was good: Tommy Middleton, Kyle Goubeaux, Bryan Tobe, Eric Hewitt and Ben Kohlhorst were seniors, Ryan Ratermann, Sam Mikolajewski, Tony Staley, Tony Cianciolo and Jake Sinclair were the juniors and Derrick Orlik and Matt Hare were sophomores. The game did not get off to a great start for Lehman, Ryan Ratermann sprained his ankle in pre-game warm ups. St. Henry jumped out to a 17 point lead in the 3rd quarter and then the Cavaliers went to the 3 pointer. Middleton, Goubeaux, Tobe, Cianciolo and Staley hit threes to help Lehman claw their way back into the game. St. Henry led Lehman by one late and Tommy Middleton got fouled on a drive to the basket with 12 seconds left. I remember St. Henry’s coach called time out to ice Tommy. Middleton calmly sank both free throws to give Lehman a one point lead. St. Henry came back down the court and defensive plays by Eric Hewitt and Sam Mikolajewski helped Lehman preserve a one point win. I have said this since 1999 and I will say this again. The 1998-99 Lehman Boys Basketball team was good enough to win a District Championship and they did not. Lehman fell in their first tournament game to Greenview 42-39 at UD.

Great QB's playing for the AFC title and Division Opponents square off for NFC title

Peyton and Brady square off in the AFC title game. The third time these two legends will square off for the AFC Crown. Meanwhile the Seahawks and 49ers will battle for the NFC title marking the first time since the 2010 season that Division opponents square off to go to the Super Bowl. A fun filled weekend coming up in Sports

BCS ends with a Bang

It's only fitting that one of the worst systems in sports, ends with a thriller. Miami Florida-Ohio State was a thriller, Michigan-Alabama was a thriller and USC-Texas was a thriller, but this game topped them all. Congrats to Florida State. A well earned and hard fought title. RIP BCS.

On this night in 2003, Seger sets Lehman Scoring record

On this night in 2003, The Lehman Boys Basketball team traveled to Pasco to take on the Fairlawn Jets. It was a snowy Midwest Ohio night, almost like today. The game got off to a great start for senior Justin Seger, who scored at will down low as Lehman built an early lead. The Jets were lead by Tyler Everett and Andy Francis and they would not let the Jets go away quietly. The Jets made a game of it, but Seger was too much for Lehman as he scored a school record 47 points in a hard fought 78-73 Lehman victory.