Unioto High School Girls Basketball

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Revised 13-13 girls bracket

last updated May 28, 2009 – 9:45pm

Slammin’ Jammin’ 3-on-3-Tourney Flyer

Slammin’ Jammin’3-on-3-Tourney Rules

Registration- 2009 Slammin Jammin bball tourney

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Kid Friendly Slammin’ Jammin’ All-Ohio Rising Stars 3 on 3 Youth Basketball Tournament

Saturday, May 30^th at Unioto Elementary School

Geared specifically for young players

• Age brackets broken down by age rather than lumped together
• Separate boys and girls division broken down into ages:

5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14

• Lower baskets for younger players
• Reasonable entry fee of $55.00 per team
  • 3 game guarantee
• Awards for winners of each age group

Contact:  Cyndy Driggs at 740-774-1429 for an application form.

May be limited to first 8 teams in an age bracket to return application.

Driggs now sets her sights on the Ron Lovely’s Unioto school record of 205 wins.

Unioto’s Cyndy Driggs picked up career win number 200 at Unioto January 8th as her Lady Shermans pasted Piketon 65-32. 

She now stands at 201 with a big win against Adena the following Saturday. 

Ron Lovely holds the record for most boys basketball coaching wins at 205.

Driggs has 243 total wins, including stints also at Paint Valley and Zane Trace with 14 years as a head coach.

For Janae Driggs, Unioto coaches Cyndy and Jerry Driggs aren’t just Mom and Dad.

They’re coach and Jerry, the same as it is for the rest of the Shermans.

“I guess on my team I don’t really see my parents as my mom and dad. Well, I do, but they’ve got 10 daughters. That is how tight we are. We’re really close,” Janae said.

She isn’t alone.

At the SVC Preview Friday night, three coaches had daughters out on the court, and in Adena coach Lee Snyder’s case, two.

Click Here to read the full article.

Awesome season, Coach Driggs!

SVC Coach of the Year

Unioto coach Cyndy Driggs knows she couldn’t have done it alone. It took plenty of sacrifice and commitment to lead her young Shermans squad to a 13-1 SVC championship season.

“I just think it’s a reflection of your players and how they have bought into your program and have been willing to sacrifice for the good of the team,” said Driggs.

That, and of course, the help of two dedicated assistants.

“Jerry Driggs (husband) is a good motivator. He is in charge of motivation and gets the girls ready to go before games. He’s also in charge of our pressure defense and does a great job. Brooklyn Betts she is just a real asset to the whole program and is very upbeat and knowledgeable about the game. She really has a lot of fun with the kids,” said Driggs.

Driggs is pleased to have had the opportunity to take over the program she ran from 1986-95. Last season she served as Unioto’s eighth grade coach, moving up with a talented freshman class, including her own daughter, Janae.

“We have worked with them the last four years throughout the pewees,” said Driggs.

Her return to the program, up to now, has been successful for all those involved.

“It’s been very nice and a lot of fun. It’s a good program. I came into a good program that has a lot of basketball tradition since the last 20 years,” said Driggs.

As for the team that started their quest for a league title back in April, Driggs has a message for them.

“I want to thank them for all their hard work and dedication and belief in the system that we’ve brought,” she said.

Unioto Girls make All-District

Second Teamers: Shiann Ray , Mackenzie Arledge

3rd Team: Chloe Cotrell

Honorable Mention: Janelle Hougland

Unioto Players make All-SVC

1st Team: Shiann Ray

2nd Team: Mackenzie Arledge

3rd Team: Chloe Cotrell
Honorable Mention: Janelle Hougland, Savannah Fourty

In a locker room filled with tears and disappointment what can a coach really say?
“We tell them to celebrate the season that they’ve had,” said Unioto girls coach Cyndy Driggs, whose team fell to Circleville, 39-28, in the Division II Southeast District Championship Wednesday.

The loss definitely wrapped up a season worthy of celebration. Unioto culminated an overall record of 22-2, including an outright SVC title. Thursday, though, the No. 1 seeded Tigers’ defense sent them packing. “They did everything we wanted them to on defense. Offensively we just didn’t get it done,” said Driggs.Both teams poured out a physical and extremely aggressive performance on the court. The Shermans took the lead early, 6-2, at the end of the first quarter – their last one of the game. Circleville shut out the Tanks in the second quarter going on a 13-0 run to take a 15-6 halftime advantage.

“We didn’t score did we? No, we didn’t score there,” said Driggs. “We like to go to the basket and we aren’t an outstanding outside shooting team and they took that away. They made us do that and they did an excellent job on defense on their end.”

Circleville held Unioto’s Shiann Ray to just five points – something that coach Steve Kalinoski felt was key to his squads success.

“We knew that Ray was obviously a good dribbler and stuff so we knew we had to go in and stop her penetration and make her shoot the outside shot. We did a pretty good job of that,” said senior Casse Mogan, leading the Tigers with 20 points.

Amanda Wade hit a jumper with 5:35 left in the third to give Circleville a 23-8 lead. Unioto finally reached double digits two possessions later off a Janae Driggs putback.

“I think we finally started hitting some shots and got some momentum. Once again stopping Ray’s penetration was the big key for us tonight. It was something we worked hard on all week in practice,” said Kalinoski. “I thought we had several kids guard her tonight with a lot of help. She is an outstanding player and that was the key to the game tonight.

“(Mackenzie) Arledge was another we tried to focus in on. She still had eight points but she is a very good player for a freshman so she has a lot of good years ahead of her. Unioto is a very young team and there are only two seniors. They are going to be a team to reckon with the next several years in this area.”

Heading into the final eight minutes Circleville held strong to a 33-15 lead. The Shermans did all they could defensively to chip away at the lead – but time was running short and shots still weren’t falling.

“We went to the hole it was just a physical game,” said Driggs. “I just think they were a little bit stronger than we were. We just told them they did everything we wanted them to on defense and we need to get back and do somewhat better as a team in the off season. We had to tell our seniors not to focus on this because they have to remember how they have contributed to an outstanding season of Unioto basketball and how they’ve been such tremendous leaders for the future Lady Shermans. To understand it is not about yourself but about the team – they have done a tremendous job in doing that.”

Twenty seconds remained when seniors Janelle Hougland and Savannah Fouty jogged off the court for the final time in a Shermans uniform. Driggs led Unioto with nine points, followed by Arledge with eight. Circleville’s Wade and Kaitlin Graham both followed Mogan with six points.

For the Tigers seniors, the final buzzer marked their second district title in four years. Kalinoski’s squad have high hopes of making it further than the regional semifinals, which ended the Tiger’s 2006 run to eventual state champs Riverview.

“We were here two years ago and we knew that we weren’t going to stop today,” said Mogan. “We aren’t going to stop we are going to keep going.”

As for the Shermans, Hougland presented her youthful teammates with a bit of challenge.

“I told them (the younger girls) that I was proud of them and I hope that when I came back next year I am going to see the exact same thing – except this time we’ll be cutting down the net.”

By Brad Morris–

CHILLICOTHE – What is the perfect cure for the common cold?

In the case of Unioto’s Mackenzie Arledge, scoring 20 points and pulling down nine rebounds was quite the medicine.

“They were a shorter team than us and our plan was to get the ball inside,” Arledge said. “We got together and made shots in the second half, and fortunately I had some chances inside I was able to make.

“I’ve been sick for the last couple days, but I’ve been feeling better. A game like this also helps out.”

Unioto used a 16-7 third quarter to break open a close game with New Lexington en route to a 50-29 win Wednesday at Southeastern High School.

“We had too many turnovers in the first half. We told the girls at halftime that we needed to settle down, handle the ball better and get our offense going,” Unioto coach Cyndy Driggs said. “The girls were able to do each of those things and that was the difference in the second half.”

The Lady Shermans (22-1) advance to the Southeast District Division II championship game Wednesday against Circleville.

Shiann Ray had 13 points and four steals for Unioto, while Janelle Hougland chipped in six.

Katy Stewart led New Lexington (9-15) with 12 points and Martha Kunkler added seven.

New Lex had been playing the role of Cinderella coming into the district semifinal game. With a record of 4-13 at the draw, the eighth-seeded Lady Panthers have since rolled off five wins, including three in the tournament. New Lex upset Alexander sectional top seed Vinton County and then won the sectional title over fourth-seed Warren.

“We won three games last year and everyone thought this would be a rebuilding year for us,” New Lex coach Anthony Stephens said. “Our seniors were hungry to get this thing going, and they came together, played hard and got everyone to buy in.

“The girls started to believe in themselves and played to their potential.

Nex Lex had more magic in store for Unioto at the beginning of the game, rolling off a quick 11-4 lead on the strength of a three-ball and layup by Stewart and two buckets from Kunkler.

“We were aggressive in the first half and took the ball right at them for some good looks,” Stephens said. “Our intensity was good in the first half and we got after it on defense.

“In the second half, they (Unioto) picked up their intensity and we didn’t match it.”

Unioto came back with a 9-0 run, led by Ray scoring the last two buckets to put the Lady Shermans ahead 13-11 after one.

“Shiann did a good job on defense for us,” Driggs said. “On offense, she was able to penetrate with the basketball and create opportunities for herself and her teammates.”

The Lady Shermans led most of the second period, but a three-pointer from Kunkler with a second remaining narrowed the New Lex deficit down to 23-30 at intermission.

Arledge then helped Unioto to take control of the game in the third period, scoring a pair of old-fashioned three-point plays and finishing the quarter with eight points.

Unioto led 39-28 at the end of the third period and outscored New Lex 11-2 to finish off the game.

Show your support for the Lady Shermans by wearing your “Fear the TANK” shirt to the district game on Feb. 14th; Yes, it’s Valentines day, so feel free to bing flowers and chocolate too

Hey, New Lexington, get ready for a heartbreaker…it’s time to meet the TANK! The Lady Shermans are Strong When They Work Diligently Together!