After missing six months, Loffing is making up for lost time this winter as he and his teammates pursue a second Ohio Heritage Conference North Division title in three seasons.
“It feels good to be back with the team,” Loffing said. “It’s the only sport I play, the sport I love. It’s just great to spend time with my friends and be able to play.”
The senior has scored in double figures in all but four games this season, averaging 13.9 points and 4.8 rebounds — scar and all.
“I’m just trying to be patient,” Loffing said. “I let my teammates get me the ball in places and I just try to execute when I can.”
After missing six months, Loffing was rusty, said Tigers coach Darrin Leichty.
“We knew he’d get there because he’s put a ton of time into it,” Leichty said. “I think he was a little bit discouraged early on because it wasn’t going quite as quick as he wanted. He just keeps on attacking. You can see it — he leaves it all out there on the floor.”
Loffing spent the summer and fall perfecting his shot as he continued to come back from the shoulder injury. He’s shooting 50 percent from the field and 84 percent from the free throw line.
“I just tried to work on my form a little better,” Loffing said. “I just tried to straighten out my shot and keep it running smoothly.”
Loffing was a varsity player as a sophomore, helping the Tigers win the OHC North title. He hopes they can pull out another title with his senior teammates.
“It would mean a lot to win it this year because I feel like I’m one of the leaders of the team,” Loffing said. “It would be nice to finally get over the hump and do it with my team.”
Loffing is one of seven seniors on the Tigers squad, including leading scorer Holden Nease (15.6 ppg), Eli McGill, Jack Eggleston, Noah Wilcoxon, Gavin Harrison and Trevor Woodruff.
“They’re a very close group,” Leichty said. “That’s what’s special about them. The thing I just rave about is that my girls come into practice, the other coaches’ kids come in and the play with those kids. They’re not being told to do it, they legit want to be around the kids and the school. They volunteer for stuff and that’s setting a great example for the program.”
The Tigers earned a key OHC North victory on Tuesday, beating West Jefferson 54-53 in overtime. Nease hit the first of two free throws with 0.7 seconds remaining to seal the win for the Tigers.
“I was 100 percent confident (he would make it),” Loffing said.
The victory gave West Liberty-Salem (13-5, 10-4) a one-game lead on Fairbanks (10-10, 9-5) in the title race with two games remaining.
“We’re continuing to play as a team,” Loffing said. “We fought through some adversity early in the season, and had a couple losses. We’re starting to turn it around and I hope we can make a good run in the tournament.”
The Tigers know it won’t be easy. In 2018, they earned three comeback victories, including overcoming an 18-point second half deficit against West Jefferson, to win the league title.
“It’s the same kind of thing,” Leichty said. “We’re trying to finish this out. Everybody wants to knock us off. West Jeff does a great job down there. It’s starting to become a great rivalry.”
The Tigers need one victory to clinch at least a share of the league title. They host Mechanicsburg (5-11, 4-10) on Friday and host Triad (2-16, 1-13) — two teams playing better down the stretch who always play the Tigers tough, Leichty said.
“There’s just nothing easy,” he said.
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