- WEEKLY POLL
It was an historic night Tuesday at Genoa Christian
By J. Patrick Eaken
Press Sports Editor
sports@presspublications.com
History was made Tuesday night at Genoa Christian Community Academy. GCCA played its first high school basketball game, ever. I was there and got to be a participant.
The game was a throwback to when Genoa area residents would pack the decades-old facility for high school games. My participation in Tuesday night’s historic episode was as an official.
The gym was packed with over 100 screaming fans. GCCA learning director Monica Church stated that the “whole church must have showed up.” Even Michigan-based Tri-County Christian, the opponent, brought a large fan base, including a man from Hudson, Mich. who brought cow bells.
“We had a lot of people from the church it looked like. I liked the support,” said Church.
“We enjoyed it,” said Genoa Christian coach Arnie Sutter. “I was impressed with how the kids got cheering for the players and all that.”
“The only thing that was mentioned was the scoreboard, and we’re trying to put that together,” said Sutter, a former Genoa Comet and high school and collegiate basketball coach.
Church and Sutter are confident they will have the old electronic scoreboard working soon. During Tuesday night’s game, a manual scoreboard was employed, making it a bit tough for the three officials, including myself, to communicate. There was no horn, either, but we managed.
The Genoa-Tri-County game was scheduled for 7 p.m., and at 5 p.m. I received a telephone call from Church that officials were still needed. Being a former registered official, I decided to adorn the stripes and whistle and help out.
Personally, I was a bit exhausted and dehydrated after the game, because at 47 years of age, I had not been on a court for nearly a decade. It was fun for the officials as well, though.
“Maybe that’s a wake-up call,” Sutter warned.
Sutter stands proud of the evening’s activities.
“With 30 years experience, you would hope that I would be able to organize something,” exclaimed Sutter. “Monica and Pastor (Tim) Davies let us run the show, and Monica took on some last minute things, and we’re probably going to be charging admission now to pay for referees and other things.”
The GCCA team, composed of one junior, Chris Clapsaddle, and the rest freshman and sophomores, took on the Tri-County junior varsity, and the visiting Patriots won, 59-46.
The 6’3 Clapsaddle led Genoa Christian with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and two assists. Tyler Sweeny and Ben Davies scored 12 points and had three assists each for GCCA, and Damon Garza had two points. Dan Clapsaddle, Jake Clapsaddle, Jim Posse, and Brady Cooper combined for seven rebounds and three steals.
The event was a reminder of days gone past, played on a small floor reminiscent of those of the mid-20 th Century. My cousin, Greg Miller, played on such a floor in the early 1970s at Grover Hill (now Wayne Trace). Greg routinely scored 40 points and Grover Hill routinely reached the century mark in one of the last of the “cracker box” gyms used for varsity games.
I remember playing in Genoa’s gym about the time my cousin Greg was playing varsity ball in Paulding County. I was on Eastwood’s seventh grade team at the time.
One game in particular stands out as the only contest I remember in detail these days, and it was in that gym. I was a second-team player, and teammate and now state senator Randy Gardner told me it was the best game I had played.
After I scored four points and provided several assists to Gardner and another teammate, former Owens coach Jim Welling, we escaped with a narrow victory. My scholastic career ended after my junior varsity season, but the memories live on.
For Sutter, the GCCA game was a throwback to the days when he actually played high school basketball in that gym for the Genoa Comets. Although his freshman season was the last season the Comets used it as the high school’s home court, he grew up watching varsity games there.
Sutter remembers packed crowds, the smell of popcorn, and the balcony seats filling up.
“You’d have to get there about five o’clock to get a seat,” Sutter said.
Former Press sports editor Rick Waldron, now recovering from open heart surgery, was not able to make it Tuesday night to the GCCA gym, where he also once played. But Waldron, now a Christian ministry radio general manager who lives across the street from the school, is recovering nicely and hopes to be at the next game, whenever that may be.
“I made my high school debut and exit on that court,” e-mailed Waldron. “I was a 20-20-20 guy. Only got in when we were up 20 points, down 20, and then only the last 20 seconds.”
“Kudos to (school founders Pastor) Tim and Jeanne Davies, Coach Sutter, and all the kids who have made the commitment,” Waldron continued. “I’m sure they all realize this is a marathon and not a sprint. They’ll be just fine.”
Looking for Games
Genoa Christian only has one other game scheduled at the time of this writing, and that is Feb. 10 in Adrian against the Tri-County jayvees again. However, Coach Sutter, after working with his players the last three months, hopes to get about six games with small public or parochial schools in the area yet this season.
“You know, you learn each time,” said Sutter. “I think the program will grow. We’re hoping to get more players and more students into the school. Monica is going to have a track program, and they’ve even had a couple calls because of your publication inquiring about girls’ basketball for the next year and maybe girls’ volleyball or something like that. Mainly, because they know the school wants to grow.”
“I’m waiting for basketball season to be over. I’m a little bit more involved with this than I thought I was going to be,” responded Church, the track coach.
Sutter has been around parochial schools before, and he’s witnessing the growing popularity of Christian schools. Most have home-based curriculums which can be adapted for a family’s needs.
“Because of the problems with funding and things like that in public schools, it is the ratio of student to teacher. What’s neat is to go and watch Monica and her assistants in operation at the school. There is a lot of individual attention — the kids help each other. That’s what’s impressive.”
Sutter reviews first “season” at Genoa Christian
By Jeffrey D. Norwalk
Special to
The Press
sports@presspublications.com
Basketball inventor Dr. James Naismith would have been very proud of the Genoa Christian team this “season.” The season, however, ended up consisting of only one game.
The largely-inexperienced team made up of only one naturally-gifted senior, a core group of up-and-coming freshmen, two promising eighth-graders, and one impressionable seventh-grader which was brought together for tryouts for the first time this past September.
The rookie Crusaders struggled to find opponents this winter, had three of the four games they could schedule cancelled due to bad weather, and didn’t even come close to winning the their one and only opportunity in a 20-point loss to the Tri-County Christian Patriots junior varsity.
Genoa Christian did leave the court together this year with the fundamental knowledge of the game, which is probably what Dr. Naismith had in mind when he first put a round, orange ball through a hole in a New England YMCA over 100 years ago.
“I definitely think this team had a lot of fun in that first game against the Tri-County Patriots,” allows now-veteran Genoa Christian coach Arnie Sutter.
Sutter once knew the magic of running the unique Genoa Christian floor himself, back when the church was still Genoa’s high school, and he played jayvee ball for the Comets.
“Not only did we fill that old gym with all 35 kids who go to the school, their parents, and administrators, but I also think we impressed the Tri-County fans, since we did player introductions and everything, which is usually not done at local JV games.”
“There was this one point where we even had a chance to win the game, when we cut the Patriot lead down to like seven points,” he says of the 67-47 Tri-County win.
“When we first got together with these kids last fall, we knew we weren’t necessarily playing basketball to win this season, but instead to get the program started, and to teach the kids how to dribble the ball, pass it, shoot it, be in position, and play good, sound man-to-man defense, which all school officials agreed with back when this thing began.
“Really, I think in high school sports today, there’s too much emphasis placed on winning. There’s so much pressure put on the kids, with drills and tests to get better at this, and faster at that,” he lobbies, “but that’s never been our goal.”
“At Genoa Christian,” continues Sutter, “our goal with this first team was to get these kids to learn and enjoy the game of basketball, while building camaraderie among the players and interest throughout the community for years to come, and I think on those things these kids developed well. That first game with Tri-County was just a beginning for us, and I think the interest is now there, so we’ll be back.”
If there had to be one highlight of Genoa Christian’s extremely-abbreviated season, it would undoubtedly have to be the emergence of senior center and top Crusader Chris Clapsaddle, who along with Coach Sutter was one of the key architects of the new program.
Clapsaddle, who had limited experience in organized sports, helped to lay the foundation for future team leaders to come with his unselfish sense of leadership, his strong, physical play in the paint, and his sheer athleticism up and down the floor. He also gave Crusader fans something to flex their muscles about in the Tri-County game when he powered in 22 points and snatched 12 rebounds for his first career double-double.
Three of the four core freshmen are Tyler Sweeny, point guard, Perrysburg; Ben Davies, off guard, Genoa; and Damon Garza, small forward, Genoa. Sutter says they could well be looking to step into Clapsaddle’s soon-to-be-vacated shoes, where they’ll likely assume leadership roles with this team for years to come.
Sutter says Sweeny plays like the “Flash on the floor” and is the Crusaders’ main playmaker and assist man, with Davies contributing as a sound defender, and Garza acting as a solid presence down low.
There were promising flashes shown by underclassmen Brady Cooper and Jimmy Posey of Northwood and Genoa. The coach knows the two can only get better the more they watch Sweeny, Davies, and Garza, and continue to log minutes off the bench.
Who could forget the presences of the other two cogs in the promising Clapsaddle trifecta? Younger brothers Jake and Dan, the former of whom plays center and is an eighth grader, and the latter of whom is the team’s fourth freshman, could become the team’s leading scorer and big time threat in 2008, having backed up 6’2 Chris at center in 2007.
“All of those freshmen guys are good team leaders, and Davies, Garza, and Sweeny all know how to take charge of the younger guys,” scouts the elder Clapsaddle.
Genoa Christian is looking to play at least 10 games next year, and against opponents such as the familiar Tri-County Patriots (Adrian, Mich.), Put-In-Bay High School, Lima Temple Christian, Living Word, and Toledo area schools Apostolic Christian and Monclova Christian, “so there’s no doubt that Genoa Christian will be back,” said Chris.
“Bringing people into the gym from the school, filling up the stands, and getting people excited about the team was the best part,” Clapsaddle says, “though when we first started playing together, we were all a bunch of ball hogs. Playing together as a team and learning some skills was pretty nice, too.”
Somewhere, way up in the balcony seats at 303 Fourth Street in Genoa, Dr. Naismith is watching.
Genoa Christian enters second year of basketball
Coach: Arnie Sutter, second year.
Last Year: 0-1.
Key Players: Ben Davies, 5’9, So., G; Jake Clapsaddle, 6’2, Fr., P; Tyler Sweeney, 5’10, So., G; Damon Garza, 5’10, So., F; Dan Clapsaddle, 5’10, So., F.
Forecast: The Academy, which has about 35 students in grades 1-12, features a second-year program under veteran coach Sutter.
The team had six or seven scrimmages a year ago and lost its only official game to Tri-County from Adrian, Mich.
“We’re not officially involved in any league or any sanctions,” Sutter said.
His squad has eight games on this year’s schedule and hopes to add a few more. The Academy plays junior varsity teams from Pine View Christian ( Mich.), ( Toledo) Apostolic Christian, and possibly Monclova Christian.
Sutter is looking for more games, and, like Put-in-Bay High School, believes his team could play with Suburban Lakes League freshman teams and other public/private school freshman or junior varsity teams.
The Crusaders play home games in their building on Route 163, which was once the former Genoa high school and middle school building. They are willing to travel, and do have games scheduled in Michigan and Toledo.
Sutter, a former Elmwood and college coach, can be reached at 419-836-7707 or 419-340-0935, or through Monica Church, who is athletic director at Genoa Christian Community Academy, at 419-855-4187.
“We’re playing a junior varsity schedule,” Sutter said. “My oldest kids are sophomores this year. Of the 10 kids I have, four of them are home-schoolers in the area and the other six go to the Academy.”
The Crusaders lost their home opener earlier this week, 50-36, to Pine View from Ypsilanti, Mich. Davies scored 19 points and Jake Clapsaddle had 10 rebounds.
The academy has first-year players in 5’10 junior forward Shawn Kevker, eighth-grader Alexis Deleon, Brady Cooper, who just started practicing due to injury, and sixth-graders Benjamin Church and Tyler Pierce.
“The kids who all played last year are all pretty good (players),” Sutter said. “Jake Clapsaddle is our inside person and a good rebounder. Tyler is our point guard and had a real nice game (in the opener). He had about four 3-pointers. Damon is kind of our leader on the floor.
“The kids are just trying to find themselves. We only had one scrimmage, so they're just learning. We’re trying to teach them a few things and have fun. I’m retired and I taught 30 years and coached 30 years and this was an opportunity for me to give back. This is a really neat program and they work hard and want to learn and are very respectful.”
Sutter’s assistant coaches are Ben Church and Bob Younker, student managers are Samuel Church and Noah Garza, and stat ladies are Kariah Church and Kaitlin Church. GCCA is had an up-to-date electronic scoreboard which has yet to be installed in its gymnasium.
This GCCA preview was written by contributing writer Mark Griffin and Sports Editor J. Patrick Eaken, who also served as an official at two GCCA home games and is looking for a volunteer partner for the remaining three. Please call The Press if interested.
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