ALBRIGHT: Giving everything, even when you owe nothing

January 20, 2020

These have been good times for Magnolia’s volleyball and girls’ basketball programs. The simultaneous high levels of success have kept the party going even through the cold months. And it might be coincidence or it might not, but Kyndra Pilant has participated on both teams since her arrival as a freshman. Her time has been the Blue Eagles’ time. So it is safe to say Pilant owed Magnolia absolutely squat this year. Let’s add zero, zip, zilch, and nada, while we are at it. For those who judge by accomplishments, she has you covered. Her smile adorns some of the biggest ...

ALBRIGHT: Is anything going to matter in Class A girls’ basketball?

January 17, 2020

Surprise, surprise? Defending Class A state champion Huntington St. Joe’s basketball machine powerfully churns out Ws, once again. The loss of two NCAA Divison I basketball players to graduation? Yeah it hurt, but proved little in the way of a speed bump. Shannon Lewis’ plug in of transfer Grace Huston alongside senior Bailee Adkins recently helped complete a 13-0 early season run and earned them the unanimous No. 1 ranking in Class A, so far. The two Division I players melded with the unmatched depth of the Irish and recently extended the state’s longest winning streak to ...

ALBRIGHT: Lance Binegar takes over as the Williamstown football coach? 

January 7, 2020

This column may be a little late, but here are 13 possibile happenings for the Mid-Ohio Valley sports world in 2020. Will they be wrong or will they be right, who knows? This is the joy in making predictions: 1. Lance Binegar assumes command of the Williamstown football machine. Yellowjacket fever biting Parkersburg Catholic continues into the foreseeable future. Binegar’s team building and successful turnaround as Crusader head man doesn’t go ignored in Class A’s highest profile coaching search. The promising young coach keeps the Yellowjacket train churning hard down the ...

ALBRIGHT: Leslie Huffman’s growth officially gives Parkersburg Catholic a Big 3

January 3, 2020

They needed an offensive spark, and it could have come from anyone. The list of choices wasn’t long, but most of them were veterans of the hardwood, by now. Based on how Parkersburg Catholic coach Marty Vierheller talked about Paige Stotts in the offseason it could have been her. Or, ...

ALBRIGHT: Gilmer girls claim top moment of decade in MOV

December 30, 2019

Upon further review, watching the post-game jubilation proved just as entertaining as the game. The girls in the blue jerseys with red numbers were crying, high-fiving and celebrating at center court. The 6-foot-4 center hugging her generously reported 5-foot-4 friend stood out like an unbalanced joy-filled beacon. All of them looked to the crowd for their family members. They all waved back and forth as the sea of blue shirts cheered wildly and jumped up and down in emphatic celebratory fashion. This was the good time the elementary, middle and high school had emptied out for. ...

ALBRIGHT: Girl power rocked the hardwood in the 2010s

December 29, 2019

Can Mid-Ohio Valley sports fans please get another decade of high school girls’ basketball just like this one? No one needs a break from the constant barrage of talent. Enthusiasts like me being repeatedly punched in the face has never felt so good. There was no hide-and-seek. One simply didn’t have time to put hands up to block the onslaught. These annual eye-opening and blink-and-you-might-miss-them moments happened in Class AAA. They happened in Class AA. They happened in Class A, and they happened in Ohio. Give us more Titans or anyone conquering Goliath, while the ...