Whetstone High School girls volleyball coach Errole Rembert knows which team is the favorite to win the City League-North Division.

"The cream of the crop right now is Centennial," he said. "After that, it's going to be between us and Northland. We'll battle it out for second and third, along with Brookhaven, (Columbus) East and (Columbus) International.

"The competition is pretty even now with Centennial about a step ahead of all of us."

Whetstone was 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the City-North before playing International on Sept. 11. The Braves opened Aug. 28 by beating Linden-McKinley 25-8, 25-8, 25-10 in a league match. They then defeated Northland 24-26, 26-24, 23-25, 25-10, 15-3 on Aug. 30 and lost to Centennial 25-18, 25-16, 25-17 on Sept. 6 in league play.

"We're playing well," Rembert said. "But Centennial is a very good team. They've got size, they move the ball, they hit well, they block well, they communicate. But we look forward to that second-round game."

Whetstone, which plays host to Centennial in the second round of league play Oct. 9, split a pair of matches on Sept. 8, falling to Toledo Emmanuel Christian 25-19, 18-25, 15-7 and beating host Toledo Rogers 16-25, 26-24, 15-3.

"We're doing better than I thought we would at this point," Rembert said. "I'll take it."

The Braves are led by senior captains Audrey Bollas, Brianna Clemens and Danielle Fisher.

"The three of them make good leaders on and off the floor and help keep people fired up," Rembert said. "They're keeping people in line and, if they keep it up, we'll be fine."

Bollas and Clemens are middle hitters and Fisher is an outside hitter.

Also on the team are seniors Lainey Foster (outside hitter), Jackie Matros (back row) and Lauren Peck (back row), juniors Ali Adelsberger (setter), Ellie Downie (outside hitter), Katie Elekes (middle hitter/back row), Addie Ortman (outside hitter) and Val Vokac (back row), and sophomores Chloe Lillash (back row), Tanya Radabaugh (back row), Lisa Vo (back row) and Maddie Wilming (setter).

Football team has yet to reach potential

First-year football coach Don Poff has gotten a good read on his team through three games.

The Braves dropped to 1-2 with a 56-12 loss to Columbus Academy on Sept. 7. They opened with a 71-28 loss to Hilliard Darby on Aug. 24 but rebounded to beat Africentric 84-26 on Aug. 31.

"We're not playing to our potential right now," he said. "We have a lot of athletic kids and there's a lot of potential on the football field. Right now, we're not there.

"I told the kids it's not as much about winning and losing as it is about playing to our potential. If we play our best, the wins and losses will take care of themselves."

Poff believes the Braves can correct their mistakes and perform better, but he said he may end up tinkering with his lineup.

"We're going to have to work extra hard in practice," he said.

"We've got a plan in place. There could be some personnel changes. Hopefully, it motivates them and gives them some competitiveness."

Junior quarterback Ramroth Finnegan has been leading the way for the offense. He was 44-for-74 passing for 500 yards and four touchdowns against Darby and was 27-for-49 passing for 423 yards and five touchdowns against Africentric.

Against Academy, Finnegan accounted for both of the Braves' touchdowns, rushing for one (2 yards) and passing for the other (30 yards).

"He's doing a great job," Poff said. "Learning a new offense over the summer is a difficult thing to do. He's matured quite a bit and he'll continue to do that."

Whetstone begins City-North play Friday, Sept. 14, at home against Mifflin. The Punchers, who beat the Braves 35-7 last season, improved to 2-1 with a 25-20 win over Watkins Memorial on Sept. 7.

"We want to win," Poff said. "(Mifflin has) a great coach and a good staff. I'm sure they have a lot of athletes over there. They'll be ready to go."