When you talk about strong tradition, you’re talking about the rich history of basketball in Tuscarawas County. The gyms are always packed with fans and the play on the court is some of the best you’ll find in the Buckeye State.
Here’s a look at the teams that should provide another highly entertaining boys basketball season in Tuscarawas County this winter:
Indian Valley's Ryker Williams and his almost 14 points per game returns for the Braves in 2025-26.Indian Valley Braves
2024-25: Overall record: 21-5 (10-2 in IVC South, finished second to league champion Hiland. Defeated Cambridge 70-38 for D4 sectional championship. Defeated John Glenn 65-54 in D4 district semifinal. Lost 56-44 to eventual state champion Zanesville Maysville in district title game.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCoach: Ty Miller (fifth season)
Key returners: Ryker Williams (5-11, PG, Jr., 13.8 ppg., returning Division IV All-Ohioan, two-year letterman), Colt James (6-3, PF, C, Jr., 10.8 ppg., returning Division IV All-Ohioan, letterman), Deagan Beaber (6-0, Sr., letterman), Cam Enama (5-7, G, Soph., letterman), Kylan McDonald (Jr., letterman)
Coach's quote: “Every year is kind of a new challenge in and of itself. We won a lot of games the last two years — we’re 42-10 the last two years — and have gone to the district final the last two years, and lost to the defending state champs last year, and we were up eight at halftime. So, I know for our guys it’s trying to get over that hump of getting out of the district and getting to the regional. Our motto for this year is “The Standard” and really, it’s just emphasizing every single day of playing up to that standard.”
Promising newcomers: “We’ve got a lot of guys competing for time, just like everybody does,” said Miller. “Right now, obviously, we’re without our football kids, which kind of hurts, but it’s also a good chance for other kids to step up and start to carve out some roles and do some things that are out of their comfort zone a little bit, and we’re excited about those kids all trying to earn their time.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementNon-league schedule: Miller said Indian Valley has scheduled creatively to give itself a better opportunity in postseason tournament seeding.
“Especially with the formula for determining your ranking in the tournament, we tried to get rid of as many small schools on our schedule that we can and tried to schedule up as much as we can,” he said. “We play Dover and Philly, like we always have, but we added Steubenville, Tri-Valley and Watkins Memorial, which is a Division I school. We’re just really trying to go out and schedule some bigger schools and make sure we’re not hurting ourselves for that postseason ranking.”
Schedule adjustment: With many football players on the basketball team, Miller also said his team has adjusted its early season schedule accordingly.
“We’ve scheduled really lite on the front end,” he said. “Our game with Hiland, we moved it to February. I think we only play four or five games before Christmas, and we kind of planned for that.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe breakdown: Indian Valley has been outstanding the past two years while reaching the D4 district title games both seasons. Despite losing some talented starters to graduation, the Braves return five letter-winners, including Beaber, Williams, James, Enama and McDonald to lead them this winter. Look for the Braves to be one of the top D4 teams in the Eastern District again.
“We’ve got a really good group of kids,” said Miller. “Even with just one senior, we’ve got really good leadership with a lot of kids that are veterans that have been in our program a while, so I’m just excited to see them compete every day in practice and every night on the court.”
Garaway Pirates
2024-25: Overall record: 19-7 (8-4 in IVC South). Defeated Meadowbrook 64-39 for a D5 sectional championship. Defeated Bellaire 64-45 in D5 district semifinal. Won D5 district title with 52-51 win over Coshocton. Lost to eventual state qualifier Minford 66-43 in D5 regional semifinal game.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCoach: Terry Rowe (10th season)
Key returners: Kingman Bear (6-2, P, Sr., letterman), Jaxon Garber (6-2, W, Sr., letterman), Lofton Numbers (5-10, G, Sr., letterman), Tanner Rowe (6-2, W, P, Sr., letterman), Micah Yoder (5-11, G, Sr., letterman)
Coach's quote: “We have no starters (back). We have five letter-winners, but we only have like 11 points (returning) from last year’s varsity. We lost quite a few players and a lot of points off that team. We’ve got a good schedule, so we’ve got to get better every day.”
Promising newcomers: “We’re still trying to work that out,” Rowe said. “I think we’ve got some juniors and sophomores that have really improved this year. They might be able to step up and help us. We’re kind of going through that process right now, because we’ve got some guys (coming off) football, so we don’t have the full roster yet, so that’s a process.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe breakdown: Garaway is inexperienced, but one just knows that with its great tradition in the sport the Pirates will improve throughout the season and be a top challenger, as always, in the D5 postseason tournament under Rowe.
The Pirates, who always play a tough non-league schedule, will face a new opponent, Coshocton, this season in the Conotton Valley Classic.
“We want to get better, and hopefully by February, we’re a good basketball team,” Rowe said. “That’s kind of the process. We’re probably going to take our lumps in December a little bit, but we want to progress and get better. I hope we stay healthy and just keep progressing.”
Tuscarawas Central Catholic Saints
2024-25: Overall record: 5-16 (1-11 in IVC North). Lost to Conotton Valley 37-35 in D7 sectional tournament game.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCoach: Chris Debo (first season)
Key returners: Dylan Dummermuth (6-0, G, Sr., letterman), Gavin Rankin (6-5, C, F, Sr., letterman)
Coach's quote: “I have two lettermen coming back (in Dylan Dummermuth and Gavin Rankin. They’ve been working really hard, really the whole team has, and I’m really excited with what we’ve got. We had a great summer, I’ve got 19 kids out, I thought we had 22, but two guys got hurt and the other guy is wrestling, but we have 19 and we only had 11 last year, so we’ll have a full JV and varsity (team).
“I told them (in terms of goals), obviously we’re going to try to win every game, that’s what we’re trying to do, but we’re wanting to win the right way and win in the classroom. We just don’t want to get outworked — if we don’t get outworked in any game this year, we’re going to win a lot of games.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementPromising newcomers: Cal Stewart (6-0, Sr.)
The breakdown: Debo, who has been coaching at many levels for 22 years and has enjoyed success, is looking forward to building the Saints’ program, led by senior lettermen in Dummermuth and Rankin. Having both a JV and varsity team is also going to be key moving forward for the TCC program in the future. The Saints have a youthful team as 16 of of the 19 members of the varsity and junior varsity rosters are underclassmen, including a combined 11 freshmen and sophomore players.
“I’m excited for the opportunity,” said Debo. “They call us head coaches, but we’re really head servants, and it’s our job to get those kids ready to go, not only on the court, but in life, and I’m really excited about that.”
More: Chris Debo tabbed to lead TCC boys basketball program
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMore: Neidenthal lands 'dream job' to lead Strasburg boys basketball
Tusky Valley Trojans
2024-25: Overall record: 6-17 (2-10 in IVC South). Lost to River View 46-42 in D5 sectional championship game.
Coach: Terry Sites (ninth season)
Key returners: Cole Kuykendall (6-3, G, Sr., captain, returning D5 All-Ohioan who averaged 13.5 points-per-game), Brody May (6-3, G, captain, Sr., returning D5 All-Ohioan who averaged 12.5 points-per-game), Izaak Matthews (5-10, G, captain, Sr.), Barrett Bandy (6-3, F, Sr.), Landon Fletcher (6-1, G, Sr.), Peyton Lake (6-4, F, Sr.), Jayden Allen (6-0, F, Sr.), Spencer Miller (6-2, F, Jr.), Landon Souers (6-0, G, Jr.), Tanner Wood (6-2, F, Jr.)
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCoach's quote: “We have several lettermen back. I’ve got seven seniors and a lot of experience. Not a lot of experience (going into) last year, but the byproduct of that is they built a lot of experience from last year — a lot of minutes. We’re looking pretty good from an experience standpoint. (Senior All-Ohioan) Cole Kuykendall is going to be a big contributor for us. I also think we’ve got a pretty good base from a youth standpoint, so we’re looking pretty good from that standpoint.”
Promising newcomers: Blake Markle (5-8, G, Soph.), Alijah Levengood (6-1, G, Fr.)
The breakdown: Tusky Valley went through a youth movement a year ago, and now a year later, features one of the most experienced teams in the tough IVC South, led by returning Honorable Mention All-Ohioans from last season in Cole Kuykendall (13.0 ppg.) and Brody May (12.5 ppg.). The Trojans will be looking to turn some of those close losses of a season ago into wins this winter.
The Trojans open the season Tuesday, Dec. 3 at Carrollton, which is one of the new teams on Tusky Valley’s schedule.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Honestly, our goals are just to practice hard every day and let the other things kind of take care of themselves,” Sites said. “We’re just excited to go, and like I said, the guys have been practicing pretty hard and I feel like we’re in a good place.”
Claymont Mustangs
2024-25: Overall record: 6-17 (2-10 in IVC South). Lost 74-35 to eventual state champion Zanesville Maysville in D4 sectional championship game.
Coach: Gary Watkins (eighth season)
Key returners: Carson Golec (5-10, SF, PF, Sr., letterman), Myles Wolf (5-11, Sr., letterman), Cole Murray (Jr., letterman), Brady Fox (5-10, Jr., letterman), Jackson Jinks (6-3, Jr., letterman), Jamar Lyles (Jr., letterman), Mason Houston (Sr.), Domanick Jolliff (Sr.), Aaron Grandison (Sr.)
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCoach's quote: “We have six lettermen back and we just want to go out and compete every night,” said Watkins, one of the greatest players in Claymont history during his playing career with the Mustangs. “I know that sounds easy, but we’ve got goals: They walk out in our lobby, and they see our records up there — we’re always looking at defensive records and things like that. I just want them to go out and compete and have some fun doing it. When you’re in high school, that’s kind of the name of the game.”
Promising newcomers: “We have about 28 guys in the program and we’ve had some guys spend some time in the offseason,” said Watkins. “A lot of them know there’s six returning lettermen, so they’ve picked it up this offseason. I don’t want to draw names yet, but there’s a lot of guys vying for positions. We’ve had some competitive practices.”
The breakdown: With six returning letter-winners, Claymont will be one of the most experienced teams in the challenging Inter Valley Conference South Division. The Mustangs have a lot of talented, multi-sport athletes, as evidenced by its highly improved season (a 6-4 playoff team) in football. Look for the Mustangs to turn many of their close losses from last season into wins this time around. They lost six games by a combined 27 points last winter.
The Mustangs have added some new teams to their 2025-2026 schedule.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“We have (picked up) Tuslaw and Meadowbrook,” said Watkins. “We have a showcase at our place midseason and we’re playing Meadowbrook, and there’s some other games in the IVC South Showcase at our place at the end of the year, and it’s always an exciting time. There’s good basketball down in Claymont.”
Newcomerstown's Gavin Smith, left, gets in the face of Strasburg's Ryan Becker last season. Both players return for 2025-26.Strasburg Tigers
2024-25: Overall record: 12-11 (7-5 in IVC North). Lost 57-27 to eventual district champion Steubenville Catholic Central in D7 sectional championship game.
Coach: Bob Neidenthal (first season)
Key returners: Gage Moore (6-2, G, Sr. who averaged 14.3 points-per-game and earned D7 Special Mention All-Ohio, three-year letterman), Ryan Becker (6-2, G, Jr., who averaged 10.4 points-per-game last season and earned Honorable Mention D7 All-Ohio, two-year letterman), Gage Bonifant (6-1, G, Sr., two-year letterman), Lucas Gopp (6-1, F, Soph., one-year letterman), Brody Baughman (5-10, G, Soph., one-year letterman)
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCoach's quote: “We have five lettermen returning, and I have a four-year starter in Gage Moore. He has over 1,000 points for his career. Ryan Becker and Gage Bonifant are two-year lettermen, and Lucas Gopp and Brady Baughman are one-year lettermen, and they were freshmen last year and both played significant minutes for us, so hopefully, they can take another step.”
Promising newcomers: “We have a bunch of young sophomores that are going to be force fed in minutes,” said Neidenthal. “They will be role players and hopefully keep us glued together while the other guys (starters) are resting.”
Non-league schedule: “We have Chippewa early in the year, and we have West Holmes to start out with, and those are going to be tough teams we’re going to have to compete with early,” said Neidenthal.
The breakdown: Strasburg returns a veteran team and will look to build on last year’s record, led by a pair of returning All-Ohioans in Moore and Becker. The Tigers should be one of the top contenders in the IVC North.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Hopefully, we can surpass that (last year’s record),” said Neidenthal. “As long as we continue to play hard and continue to get better every day, I’ll be happy. It’s just going to be a stepping stone process. I just want my guys to compete and never give up. Just play hard — that’s the main thing.”
Newcomerstown Trojans
2024-25: Overall record: 4-18 (3-9 in IVC North). Lost to Hiland 94-29 in D6 sectional championship game.
Coach: Jacob Rine (first season)
Key returners: Tanner Smith (5-10, G, Sr. captain), Javyn Lafferty (6-0, G, Sr., captain), Jaxon Smith (6-0, C, Sr.), Ian Warmoth (5-10, G, Sr.), Trenton Wright (6-1, F, Sr.), Krishar McCormick (5-10, F, Sr.), Gavin Smith (6-3, F, Sr.), Braylon Kerr (6-0, F, Sr.), Logan Metts (6-2, C, Sr.), Henry Brode (5-9, G, Jr.)
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCoach's quote: “We have a lot of (lettermen). We have nine seniors coming back. One leader is Javyn Lafferty, he’s been leading the way over the summer workouts, and the other one comes from football in Tanner Smith.”
Promising newcomers: J.J. Justice (6-0, F, Soph.), Trenton Brookover (5-8, G, Soph.), Gavin Cooper (6-2, F, Soph.), Bryce Gibbs (6-1, C, Soph.)
“We have a pretty deep sophomore class,” said Rine. “There’s about four of them in there that will get a lot of varsity time, one of them might even start.”
Non-league schedule: “We’ve got West Holmes, we didn’t play them last year, and they’re pretty good,” said the Newcomerstown coach. “We also play Tuslaw, who we played last year, but they’re another good team and we have to (play at) Tuslaw this year.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe breakdown: With an experienced, senior-laden group, look for the Trojans to be improved this season as Rine stresses an emphasis on the defensive end.
“The goals this year are to be a hard-nosed basketball team,” he said. “We’re emphasizing a lot of defense. We did not emphasize defense too much last year, but this year will be a different story. I just hope this is a flip-flop from last year— we’re going to be a lot tougher and a lot more aggressive this year.”
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Ohio high school boys basketball previews for Tuscarawas County
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