VERMILION — Kurt Habermehl has made history twice in his life with the Vermilion Local Schools system — once as a student and again as an employee.
The first time he did it was in 1991, when he was a member of the best boys basketball team in Vermilion High School history as far as record is concerned.
The Sailors went 21-3 that season. Habermehl was an integral part of the club, although he was usually overshadowed in the box scores by teammates such as Andy Huffman, Ron Leshinski and Beau Laslo. Vermilion was the outright champion of the old Erie Shore Conference that year.
But the 1991 team didn’t win the Division II district championship.
That’s where Habermehl, in his ninth season as head coach of his alma mater, has made history again. Vermilion will make its first-ever appearance in a regional tournament tonight when the Sailors take a 17-6 record to Bowling Green State University to face Lexington (19-4) in a semifinal.
Vermilion reached the milestone Friday when the Sailors beat Bay 56-54 in overtime. It was the first time the Sailors had gotten to a district title game since the ’91 season when, coincidentally, they met Lexington in the championship.
“Here we are again,” Habermehl said. “That was the farthest we’d ever been and we lose to Lexington. Now we’re one step farther and, ironically, we have them again.”
Vermilion was one more hurdle the Minutemen cleared on their way to a Division II state championship in ’91. Lexington won, 70-49. And what does Habermehl remember about that clash?
“I remember Jamie Feick,” he said. “He was this big 6-8 guy Lexington had who went on to play in the the NBA.”
Feick was Lexington’s go-to guy, and the Minutemen went to him a lot in the fourth quarter of that game. He scored 11 points in the closing period as Lexington pulled away by outscoring the Sailors 24-8 in the final seven minutes. Habermehl, a senior guard, had four points on two field goals.
“I remember we had kept it close for three quarters, but we ran out of steam,” Habermehl said.
Feick played four years at Michigan State University before spending five years with the 76ers, Bucks and Nets in the NBA.
Lexington has no Jamie Feick this season; no superstar who’ll carry the team on his back. Neither do the Sailors. In fact, the teams that will face each other at Anderson Arena tonight are eerily similar.
Both have balanced scoring. Lexington’s top point producer, sophomore guard Courtney Avery, averages 12.7 per game. Two other Minutemen, seniors Michael Grist (12.5 points, 8.8 rebounds a game) and Tyler Munro (11.2) average in double figures. Avery and Grist were first-team All-Ohio Cardinal Conference selections. Munro was a second-team All-OCC pick.
Both teams have good size. Four of Lexington’s starters are 6-foot-2 or bigger. Five of Vermilion’s top seven players go 6-2 or taller. Both teams love to run, although neither resembles a ballet troupe in sneakers.
“If I had one word to describe this team, that word would be ‘determined,’” Habermehl said of his outfit. “We’re not pretty, but we’re effective. The players give it everything they have. We lost a lot of seniors from last year, so no one was sure what to expect out of these guys.”
Vermilion has only two seniors among its top eight players. The junior class dominates the roster.
“The juniors have stepped up in a big way,” Habermehl said. “A lot of juniors got some valuable experience this year. We’re looking for a bright future.”
Like Lexington, Vermilion’s leading scorer is a sophomore. Nick Farley averages 11.3 a game. Derek Hoebing, a 6-7 junior, is next at 10.5 points a game. Andy Pena (8.4), Matt Liljegren (7.2) and Justin Turner (6.9) round out the starting five.
And the two teams rely heavily on their benches. Tim Clark is third in scoring (8.6) and leads Vermilion in rebounding at 7.2 per game, just ahead of Hoebing (7.1). Derek Barbato has come off the bench to give the Sailors 6.2 points a game this season.
“Depth is going to be important in this game,” Lexington coach Grant Weaver said. “We have eight players who average at least five (points) a game and they have seven players who average at least six.
“Depth allows us to be more physical, and I’m sure it’s the same for them, too.”
Similarities between the teams do not end on paper. The paths Lexington and Vermilion took to get to the regional mirrored each other.
The Sailors found themselves trailing by double figures in the second halves of both district tournament games before rallying for overtime victories against Holy Name and Bay. The Minutemen didn’t have to play extra minutes, but did have to overcome major deficits.
Shelby led by eight points early in the third period of the Ashland district championship before the Minutemen put together a 9-0 burst. Norwalk was ahead 32-25 at halftime of the semifinal until Lexington went on a 22-0 run between the third and fourth quarters.
Lexington has a rich basketball tradition. The 1991 team gave the school its second state title in three seasons. But the Minutemen hadn’t been to a regional in 12 years.
“They had gone through some struggles,” Weaver said. “We coaches are all Lexington graduates and we take a lot of pride in the program and want to see it do well. Winning the conference (co-champion with Mansfield at 11-3) was a big step for us, obviously. Mansfield has dominated the Cardinal just like they used to dominate the Heartland (a defunct conference that once included both Vermilion and Lexington).”
It’s all new for Vermilion.
“The atmosphere at school is unbelievable,” Liljegren said. “Everyone stops you and that’s all they want to talk about. We expect to have a big crowd at BG.”
“A lot of people talk to me and they’re saying stuff like, ‘Hey, good job’ or ‘Good luck Thursday,’ and I don’t even know some of these people,” said Pena, the Sailors’ other senior starter. “There’s not a lot of pressure on us, but at the same time there is. We just want to get out there and play. I think it will be fun.”
Contact Steve Byrne at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

TONIGHT

WHO: Vermilion vs. Lexington
TIME: 6:30
WHERE: Bowling Green State University
RADIO: WEOL 930-AM, WDLW 1380-AM

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