Grose guides Marysville to OCC title

MARYSVILLE — Just surviving as a member of the Ohio Capital Conference is one thing. Winning the division is special. That's what the Marysville High School boys basketball team did this winter, as it won the six-team Central Division, the first time the school has attained that goal in the 10-year tenure of 1996 Norwalk graduate Ryan Grose.It's just the second time in 20 years the school has won a basketball championship, and the second time in Grose's tenure the school has won 15 games."It's a test every night when playing against both our six-team division, and then cross-over games with teams from the other four divisions," the 41-year-old Grose said.Winning the Central title also got Grose the league's Coach of the Year honor."Originally we had just four division but, because of football, the OCC went to five," Grose said. "We now have four divisions of six teams and one of eight schools."Marysville played Dublin Coffman, Upper Arlington, Hilliard Davidson, Grove City Central Crossing and Columbus Westland, finishing 8-2 in the Central and 15-9 overall."Actually, it was a three-way tie in the end between us, Coffman and Upper Arlington," Grose said. "We beat Hilliard Davidson in overtime the last night of the regular season, and Upper Arlington beat Coffman to bring about the three-way tie."Marysville ran the table in the first round, but then lost close decisions to Coffman and Upper Arlington in the second half of the season.Next year is a realignment year, however. The OCC does that every four years, so teams will face a new string of opponents in the massive league. Marysville will play Thomas Worthington, Olentangy High, Olentangy-Berlin, Hilliard Darby and Dublin Jerome in the newly-aligned Central next season. That means starting new rivalries, and it doesn't sit well with the son of former Norwalk boys basketball coach and athletic director Mike Grose."Rivalry games like those between Dublin Coffman and Marysville are good for both fans and student body," he said. "I think we have beaten them six times in the 16 home-and-away games we have played in recent years. Considering how good they have been, that's very respectable."We know Thomas Worthington, Olentangy and Darby fairly well," he added. "Jerome is just down the road, so that's an easy trip. Berlin is a brand new school. We have some open gyms with many of those teams, so it will work out."Marysville also plays Olentangy Liberty frequently as a cross-over game. That is the school coached by former Willard head coach Greg Nossaman (1999-08)."Noss comes to our place next season" Grose said. "It's always a very competitive game with Liberty. We should be competitive no matter who we face. We got it done this year with four seniors and four juniors. I would say that two of those juniors were keys to our success."Grose said it wasn't his most talented team, but one that still pushed through to a league title."It takes athletes with common interests more so than size," he said. "They were all-in as far as work ethics and taking to coaching. Parents also have a lot to do with it as does size. In our tournament loss to Chillicothe in the sectional finals, they had a starting back line of 6-foot-8 (Wright State) 6-6 (Cedarville) and 6-4 — and that had a lot to do with our not being able to get any runs going against them."Grose was inducted into the NHS Hall of Fame on Jan. 18 this year. He is one of 10 players in program history with 1,000-plus points, and still ranks among the top 10 in career rebounds. He went on to play collegiately at Wright State University and Walsh University, with coaching stops as an assistant at both the University of Findlay and Notre Dame College (South Euclid).