Standings: Where do local basketball teams stack up?

As we head into the month of February, basketball is nearing the tournament draws, but more importantly, there are some close league races this season once again. SBCLast year in the SBC River, Calvert, Hopewell-Loudon and Old Fort shared the boys league title. So far this season, H-L and Old Fort are tied at the top with a loss apiece (H-L topped OF 62-56 in 2OT in Bascom), while Calvert (13-4, 11-2) lurks with two losses, but is very well still in it as it still has a trip to Old Fort later this season. This week might go a long way in determining the SBC River on the boys side. H-L (13-2, 12-1) visits Old Fort (13-2, 12-1) Friday in what is the game of the year in Seneca County to this point. If H-L sweeps the Stockaders, the Chieftains have just four league games remaining (St. Joe, SMCC, Woodmore, Danbury), who all have a combined league record of 13-36.The Stockaders have H-L and Calvert both at home, so they are certainly in control of their destiny.On the girls side, Gibsonburg (15-1, 13-0) has had an impressive season to this point – led by freshman phenom Elly Evarts (21.5 ppg). The Golden Bears have a two-game lead over Danbury with five league games to go. Locally, Lakota (12-4, 9-4) was hot for the last two months after beginning the season 0-3, but a tough loss to Gibsonburg has all but ended the defense of the league title for the Raiders.Old Fort (8-6, 7-4) and Calvert (8-7, 7-6) are close behind the Raiders with no such challenge to the top echelon of the league, but could be dangerous teams in the tournament, especially the young Senecas. All-Ohio guard Alyssa Rishty can still fill up a stat sheet, but the key is other younger players stepping up, which has happened over the past few weeks.Sticking with the SBC, the Lake Divisions are also close, but not so much locally for the A-T teams. In the girls race, Norwalk and Bellevue are tied atop the standings both at 6-1. Bellevue won the head-to-head matchup 56-33, but the two play again at the end of the season.TC's going through a rebuilding season after losing a ton of seniors from Jaycie Foos' squad. There have been some flashes of the type of team it could be this season, but to compete in such a Bellevue-dominated conference, it's not there yet. With some promising young talent, though, we'll see what the future holds for the Tornadoes (7-8, 1-4).On the boys side, it's almost a forgone conclusion that Sandusky is going to be champions once again, after topping Columbian for a second time last week. The Blue Streaks (12-1, 6-0) have a three-game lead on Bellevue (12-3, 3-3), TC (8-7, 3-3) and Norwalk (9-6, 3-3) at this point, so chances are pretty high for a Blue Streak repeat.Coming into the season, I knew the Tornadoes would look different after having the school's all-time leading scorer graduate. I was pleasantly surprised with how they started the season 6-1. But it's been tough sledding since that hot start, struggling to find ways to win games. TC is always in a game, but winning them have escaped TC of late as it currently is riding a four-game skid. A trip to rival Bellevue Friday might just be the jolt the Tornadoes need...N10After a tremendous win on the road at Carey Friday night, Seneca East made the N10 boys race very interesting with a few weeks remaining in the season. SE (11-3, 7-2), who has only one basketball title in the last 40 years, is tied with Colonel Crawford (12-4, 7-2) and the Blue Devils (9-5, 7-2). Wynford (12-4, 5-4) and Mohawk (10-5, 5-4) are dangerous teams, but probably are out of title contention at this point.SE has trips to Upper Sandusky and Buckeye Central this week, while Carey and Colonel Crawford square off Saturday, so we'll see if there is a shakeup or not after this weekend.On the girls side, the N10 title might run through North Robinson as Colonel Crawford (16-1, 9-1) currently holds a two-game advantage over Carey (14-3, 8-3), including a 42-38 victory Saturday at Carey.Upper Sandusky (10-6, 6-4) and Mohawk (8-7, 5-5) are interesting teams, but are out of the race. And lastly, you have to give props to coach George Parks, who has Seneca East (6-10, 5-6) back to being a competitive program after winning a single game last year.NBCFostoria's boys are having an outstanding season. First, senior Machi Johnson tallied his 1,000th career point and then coach Thom Loomis picked up his 100th career win last weekend. Those are nice individual accomplishments, but the Redmen are in a good position to win a NBC title, currently in first place at 11-3 overall and 6-2 in the league. Fostoria topped Eastwood (7-6, 6-2) in overtime and it has a one-game edge over Oak Harbor (8-5, 5-3) and Genoa (10-4, 5-3) at this point. The Redmen still have contests at Genoa and Oak Harbor before a home date with Eastwood in the second to last game of the season. We'll see how the talented Redmen fare.On the girls side of the NBC, Oak Harbor (13-3) and Genoa (9-5, 8-2) are tied for the lead both with two-game leads over Maumee and Eastwood. Fostoria is 7-9 overall and 6-5 in the league.It certainly is shaping up to be another exciting finish to the basketball season.