By Rob Potter
ROSCOE — January 10, 2003 – Following Monday evening’s victory, Roscoe Coach Becky Ahart took a moment to collect her thoughts.
“It feels good to get that monkey off my back,” she said.
That “monkey” was her 200th career victory. Ahart, who has coached the Lady Devil varsity basketball teams since the 1987-88 season, reached that plateau when Roscoe defeated the Eldred Lady Yellowjackets, 63-40, in a OCIAA Division V contest.
“I didn’t even realize it until today,” she said. “Fred is the one who keeps track of that stuff.”
The Fred she referred to is her husband, Fred Ahart, long-time RCS Athletic Director, football coach and basketball coach.
For a while, though, both the Lady Blue Devils and Lady Yellowjackets struggled to get into the flow of the game. The long holiday break and both teams attempting to get used to the new RCS gymnasium probably factored into the mix as Roscoe (4-2, 2-1 OCIAA) held a 14-10 lead after the first quarter.
In the second eight minutes of play, however, the Lady Devils used a 12-4 scoring run to grab a 26-14 lead midway through the quarter.
Keying that run was senior guard Cheyenne Smith, who scored 10 of her game-high 28 points in the stanza.
“We started to play our game in that quarter,” Becky Ahart said.
Two other Lady Blue Devils reached double figures in the scoring column as Rose Miesner netted 13 points and Christine Rosencranse added a dozen.
Jenna Fredericks scored a team-high 12 points for Eldred (3-4, 2-1 OCIAA), while teammates Jessica Cherry and Lauren Timan each added 11.
“It seemed like they were going at 90 miles per hour and we were only going about 60,” Eldred Coach Frank Kean said. “Roscoe deserves the credit, they played a good ballgame.”
The teams are slated to face each other again on February 13 in Eldred.
Becky Ahart credited all of the young ladies who have played for her over the years as well as scorekeeper Marie Sullivan-Smith for helping her reach the 200-victory mark. She noted that Sullivan-Smith “scored all 200 [victories].”
Of course, Sullivan-Smith also scored Ahart’s 126 losses over the years as well.
One of Ahart’s former players who had a very good view of the milestone victory was daughter and current RCS junior varsity girls’ basketball coach Katie Ahart.
“I think it’s just great,” Katie, a member of the RCS Class of 1997, said of her mother’s 200th win. “She’s a good coach and a lot of good players have played here over the years.”
Following a 52-15 non-league victory over Chester on Wednesday night, Ahart’s varsity won-loss coaching record currently stands at 201-126 and the Lady Devils are 5-2 overall this season.