League Preview – Ohio Valley Athletic Conference (4A)

There’s a lot of movement in Class 4A this year. League champion Martins Ferry dropped down to 3A and runner-up Beaver Local lost its all-Ohio big to graduation. But, the runner-up from 3A Union Local and the 5A champion Indian Creek have both moved into what figures to be a competitive division at the top. <strong>5 Players to Watch:</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="157703" first="Reagan" last="Vinskovich"]</strong>, 6-1, 2023, Union Local <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="212636" first="Taylar" last="Slaughter"]</strong>, 5-6 2021, Cambridge <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="212633" first="Taylor" last="Jones"]</strong>, 5-10, 2021, Indian Creek- Class of 2021 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="157710" first="Torre" last="Kildow"]</strong>, 5-10, 2023, Union Local <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="159000" first="Kylie" last="Kiger"]</strong>, 5-8, 2021, Indian Creek <strong>4 Sleepers</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="159359" first="McKayla" last="Dunkle"]</strong>, 6-1, 2022, Harrison Central <strong>Alysea Fiedorczyk</strong>, 5-3, 2022, Edison <strong>Elizabeth Kolkowski</strong>, 6-0, 2022, Beaver Local <strong>Reece Enochs</strong>, 5-4, 2021, Oak Glen <strong>4 Thoughts:</strong> Indian Creek returns four starters, plus its first player off the bench. These five seniors, led by Jones and Kiger, have won 56 games during the varsity careers. Still, after a 22-2 regular season, the postseason left an unpleasant taste in their mouths following an unexpected early exit in the sectional finale. Union Local returns all five starters. In fact, it returns everyone as the Jets experienced much success last season despite nary a senior on the roster. The starting lineup, while experienced, is still relatively young with only one senior—point guard Casey Kildow—leading a pair of sophomores and juniors. Tony Sorge takes the reigns at Beaver Local following seven years of Stephanie Coie at the helm. The Beavers lost five seniors, including double-double machines [player_tooltip player_id="89281" first="Jenna" last="Riccardo"], playing currently at Division II West Liberty, along with Madison Cline. He has a couple of solid pieces to work with and is eager to keep the Beavers continuing their winning ways. Of the 10 teams in 4A, only East Liverpool has yet to win an OVAC championship in girls’ basketball. The conference started staging a four-team tournament to find its champion in 2008. St. Clairsville (six titles), Oak Glen(three), and Weir (one) have yet to win a crown during the tournament-era. <strong>3 Big Games:</strong> Steubenville at Beaver Local – Dec. 30 Fort Frye at Union Local – Dec. 5 Warren at Cambridge – Jan. 9 <strong>2 Fun Facts:</strong> Edison is also undergoing a leadership change as Mark Smyth is taking over for Jon Visser. Smyth’s name should resonate with Wildcats’ fans for a number of reasons. As a player, he excelled at multiple sports and wound up as a star pitcher for the West Liberty Hilltoppers. His dad, Ron, was also the longtime head girls’ basketball coach at Edison. Class 4A features a number of multi-sport standouts. The Kildow sisters were both recently named all-Ohio in volleyball, with Torre earning a third-team spot, while Enochs from Oak Glen is a multi-time all-West Virginia soccer honoree and state player of the year candidate. <strong>1 League Champion Prediction:</strong> Union Local