DeSales Roundup
Hockey team enjoying breakout season
Chad Janszen of DeSales controls the puck in front of Watterson’s Jae Suk Bae during a game Jan. 28 at Chiller Easton. The Stallions make their Blue Jackets Cup debut against Dublin Jerome on Thursday, Feb. 9, at the OhioHealth Ice Haus. Buy This Photo
Maybe DeSales High School hockey coach Bob Heine’s vision of making his program a bastion of success, as several other sports at the school tend to be, is getting closer.
For the first time in their five-year history, the Stallions clinched a Blue Jackets Cup berth, as they defeated Thomas Worthington 5-3 on Feb. 4 at Chiller Easton to clinch the Capital Hockey Conference-Blue Division championship.
“‘Benchmark’ is an ideal word,” Heine said. “When I came into this program four years ago, the goal was to get better every single year. We’ve seen marked improvement. This is our first 20-win season here, our first Blue Jackets Cup, a ton of firsts, and we have a lot of younger kids coming in now who want to play and are interested in the future of the program. We’re building a program DeSales can be proud of.”
Despite a 5-4 loss to Dublin Jerome on Feb. 3, the Stallions edged closer to the championship that night when second-place Worthington Kilbourne lost 8-0 to Dublin Coffman.
Against Thomas, freshman Grant Howard scored the eventual winning goal 57 seconds into the third period, and sophomore Hunter Chapman added an insurance goal with two minutes to play.
The Stallions finished 9-6-0-1 (19 points) in the CHC-Blue, ahead of Kilbourne (6-9-0-1, 13), Dublin Scioto (2-14, 4) and Watterson (0-14-0-2, 2).
DeSales heads into the Blue Jackets Cup, which runs Thursday, Feb. 9, through Sunday, Feb. 12, at the Chiller facilities and the OhioHealth Ice Haus, at 20-13-1 overall. The Stallions open against Jerome at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, at the Ice Haus.
“We’re very excited to go to the Blue Jackets Cup for the first time. This is an exciting moment,” said senior Chad Janszen, who has been in the program for four years. “It’s been a bumpy road. We’ve progressed through the years. We’ve gotten a lot better.”
The Stallions’ jubilation was tempered somewhat when freshman Holden Chapman sustained an injury to his left knee with 3.3 seconds to play against Thomas. His status for the Blue Jackets Cup was not immediately known.
DeSales is 13-5 since a three-game losing streak against Olentangy Orange (4-1 on Dec. 30), Upper Arlington (4-3 on Dec. 31) and defending Blue Jackets Cup champion Olentangy Liberty (10-2 on Jan. 1).
“It’s come down to chemistry and hard work,” Heine said. “No one’s cared about getting the credit. If you look at the growth from November to now, it’s been all about character, commitment, hard work and building a foundation.”
•The girls basketball team had a fruitful weekend, clinching a share of the CCL championship with a 45-33 win over Watterson on Feb. 4, then receiving the seventh seed in the Division II district tournament the next day.
Kelsey Albanese had 20 points, Miranda Johnson scored 10 and Tyler Craig had five points and 14 rebounds to pace the Stallions against Watterson. DeSales had the chance to clinch the league title outright Feb. 8 with a win over Hartley. Watterson had won the previous four league championships.
“To be able to beat them twice in a year, that doesn’t happen much against Watterson,” said coach Brian Cromwell, whose team beat the Eagles 36-25 on Jan. 7. “They’re a great program. They’ve won the CCL four years in a row and to have that win at their place is great for our girls.”
DeSales, which closes the regular season Saturday, Feb. 11, at Chillicothe Unioto, will open the postseason against Licking Heights at 7:45 p.m. Feb. 16 at Delaware. The Stallions and Hornets did not play during the regular season.
Sophomore point guard Dameras Whitlock and junior guard Alyssa Stanley have been solid on the perimeter for the Hornets, feeding inside players Courtney Jones, Madelyne Mynatt and Brandi Hunt. The Hornets are 8-11 overall and 8-5 in the MSL-Cardinal Division entering their regular season finale Friday, Feb. 10, at Fisher Catholic.
“You always look to hit your stride late in the year and I hope that’s what we’re doing now,” Cromwell said. “We got a good draw. This district is going to be fun. There are a lot of good teams in it. ... There are 10 or 12 teams that have the chance to really compete for the district (title). It’s always been a tough area.”
The DeSales-Licking Heights winner will play Caledonia River Valley in the second round at 7:45 p.m. Feb. 24 at Delaware.
•Sophomore forward Bryan Stopar of the boys basketball team scored a career-high 19 points in a 61-54 win over Hilliard Davidson on Jan. 28, but that wasn’t the only thing about the victory that was encouraging to coach Blair Albright.
Darrien Scott had 14 points and 13 rebounds to go with Brennan Schlabig’s 13 points and senior forward Charles Chandler’s 11. Stopar was 9-for-10 from the floor.
“We had 30 points at halftime that night, which was nice. Our offense came a little easier,” said Albright, whose team is 7-9 overall and 1-5 in the CCL. “We haven’t had too many games with that balance and execution. We’ve always emphasized how important it is for us to get the ball inside. Even our perimeter players move the ball well once that happens.”
Their performances have been especially important in the absence of senior guard Marcus Harris, who sustained a high ankle sprain Jan. 20 against Watterson. Albright expects Harris to return sometime this weekend, when the Stallions play host to Ready on Friday, Feb. 10, and to Zanesville on Saturday, Feb. 11.
“The first two games without him were the first two in which we’d been outrebounded all year,” Albright said. “We’re at the point of the season now where our goals are more long-term. We’re looking toward the tournament to see what we can do there, so we don’t see a reason to rush him back.”
