Boys Hoops Notes: Graham on 3-game win streak

Falcons struggled on offense in early part of season.

Randy Hilt Graham's Grant Goddard drives the ball around Urbana's Connor Johns. Contributed photo by Randy Hilt

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By Michael Cooper, Staff Writer 10:31 PM Monday, January 23, 2012

ST. PARIS — After starting the season 3-4, the Graham High School boys basketball team has won three in a row with victories over Northwestern, Kenton Ridge and Benjamin Logan.

“Our kids have done a good job of staying with it,” said Falcons coach Brook Cupps said. “We struggled early on. Our schedule is going to get pretty tough on us in the next few weeks. We don’t talk about winning and losing, we just talk about what we can do to reach the potential of this group.”

Defensively, the Falcons (6-4, 4-2 Central Buckeye Conference Mad River Division) are as strong as ever, allowing 42.9 points per game this season.

“Guys have started to understand a little bit more how this team has to play and how each of them have to fit together to make this team successful,” Cupps said. “We’ve had a better sense of urgency with our upperclassmen in practice. They get the idea that it’s their last go-round, and they want to make the most of it.”

The Falcons have struggled to score this season. They’re still adjusting to new roles after losing star guard Nick VanHoose to graduation last spring.

“We’ve got to get it from several different guys,” Cupps said. “We just don’t have much room for error on the offensive side.”

In the next few weeks, they’ll face several tough nonconference games against Wilmington, Blair Academy, N.J., and Columbus DeSales.

They’re also still getting everyone’s best shot within the CBC Mad River Division, where they’ve won seven straight titles.

“That’s where you want to be,” Cupps said. “We’ve got good kids. They’ll fight and do everything we ask them to do.”

Graham begins a three-game road trip tonight at Tippecanoe at 7:30 p.m.

Conference races: Tecumseh (9-3, 5-1) and Shawnee (8-3, 5-1) remain atop the CBC Kenton Trail Division. The Arrows travel to pesky Stebbins on Friday, while Shawnee hosts county rival Kenton Ridge.

In the CBC Mad River Division, Urbana (9-1, 5-0) holds a 1½-game lead over Graham.

In the Ohio Heritage Conference, Greeneview (9-4, 7-1 OHC) hold a 1-game lead over Mechanicsburg (8-4, 6-2 OHC). They were scheduled to play last Friday, but the game was postponed to Feb. 14 due to inclement weather.

Rare streak: Greeneview lost back-to-back games last week for the first time in two years. They lost to Norcross, Ga. 56-53 at the annual Flyin’ to the Hoop showcase last Monday, then fell to Madeira 62-58 on Saturday. They hadn’t suffered a two-game losing streak since falling to Catholic Central and Southeastern in January of 2010.

Never too early: Tournament time is quickly approaching. The Southwest District website will open for comments from coaches next Sunday, while the tournament draw will be held on Feb. 6.

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