Wayne County had some fine winter efforts
- col-aaron-dorksen
- February 19, 2025
- 1031
A few thoughts from the week in sports …
With the high school winter sports regular season over and the postseason upon us, it’s a good time to pause and recap some of the top performers from Wayne County.
It’s been a long time since Wooster had a guard on the boys and girls basketball teams in the same season as good as senior Brady Bowen and junior Brooke Ritchie.
Bowen is second in the county with 19 points a game for the Generals, who enter the tournament at 10-11 (6-6 Ohio Cardinal Conference).
In addition to leading Wooster in points, the 6-foot, 175-pounder is also first on the team in rebounds (5.2), assists (3.4) and steals (2.1) per game.
“Brady has had a season to remember,” said coach Che Richardson, whose team will visit Twinsburg for a Division III sectional final on Feb. 22. “Last year was a coming out party for him, and he topped that.
“He will go down as one of the best basketball players to play at Wooster. He will finish with more than 900 career points. He does a little bit of everything. He can score when needed, and he can run the show when needed. He just is so determined to win that he will make whatever sacrifice is needed.”
Bowen almost always seems to be in control running the team’s offense. His top scoring outputs were against Orrville (34 points) and Madison (30).
An efficient shooter, Bowen is second for Wooster in field goal percentage (49.3%) and free throws (70%, 42-60) while ranking third in 3-point accuracy (31.6%, 36-114)
Teammate Anthony Carmean has also been a big scorer at times, averaging 13.5 points.
Although Bowen’s future is in baseball with a scholarship to Akron, Richardson will always appreciate his efforts on the hardcourt.
“Brady has put the work in the weight room this offseason and that has taken his game to the next level,” Richardson said. “He has cemented a legacy here at Wooster.”
Ritchie was a shooting star on a Wooster girls team that was often overmatched due to a lack of experience. No seniors were in the rotation, and the Generals finished with a 3-20 (1-11 OCC) record.
However, Ritchie certainly did her part as she led the county in scoring with 18.4 points a game. The 5-6 guard put up numbers that rank among the best in the storied program’s history.
Ritchie connected on 79% of her free throws. She made a school record 25 in a row, which is third in county history.
For the season, Ritchie netted 72 3-pointers, which is the second best in a season behind Wayne County Sports Hall of Famer Marcie Alberts (77).
Ritchie’s 34 points against Akron Firestone marked the fifth-best effort in school history. She also scored 33 in a win over Mansfield Senior, including a program-record 25 in the second half, according to coach Alex Kacere.
“Brooke was a leader for us all year,” Kacere said. “She’s a captain, and she led us starting in the offseason. She has a desire to become great at basketball.
“From the sixth game on, Brooke was completely face-guarded and double-teamed, and she still dominated on the offensive end.”
Ritchie led the team in every category for shooting percentages, as well as steals. She was second in assists and rebounds.
Wooster’s JV team had a 14-3 record, and Kacere believes the future is bright.
“We’re really excited to have Brooke coming back, as well as Jay-cee Hackett, who scored 10 points a game for us,” Kacere said. “We return basically all of our letterwinners. It’s gonna be a really fun team to coach.”
WCAL REWIND – Norwayne won the Wayne County Athletic League boys title, finishing the regular season 20-2 and 14-0 in the league. Tyson Hess (16.6 ppg), Braden West (15.1) and Parker Metsker (10) lead a balanced Bobcats’ attack. Smithville (19-3, 12-2), Hillsdale (16-6, 9-5) and Dalton (12-10, 8-6) were also extremely competitive most nights.
The Smithville girls (21-3, 12-2) won the title after outlasting Norwayne (21-3, 11-3) and Chippewa (17-8, 11-3).
The Smithies’ Madi Singer (12.7), Aly Wickens (12.4) and Leah Keib (11.3) form a standout trio.
PAC REWIND – Triway (13-9, 8-4) closed the regular season with an emotional 73-64 home win over Orrville (12-8, 7-5) and tied for second in the PAC.
The Red Riders’ Kodah Allen leads the county in scoring at 22.6 points per game, while Bruin Flinner (15.4) paces the Titans.
Allen, only a junior, topped 1,000 career points this season.
In the PAC girls race, Triway (10-14, 6-6) was fourth, followed by Orrville (8-15, 4-8).
EXTRA POINTS — The OHSAA has gone to seven divisions for basketball for the first time this winter. It will be interesting to see how that affects area teams.
*330stats on Instagram has done a nice job compiling and posting basketball statistics leaders from the area. Some info from their page was used for this column.
WAYNEDALE MAT DYNASTY CONTINUES – Congratulations go out to Waynedale for placing third in the Div. III state duals recently and following that up with a 14th straight WCAL wrestling title.
Senior 138-pounder Caden Schmeltzer became the 13th grappler in WCAL history to win four straight championships.
Aaron Dorksen can be emailed at aarondorksen24@gmail.com.