By Ryan Ernst
Cincinnati Enquirer

Last basketball season, the Winton Woods senior trio of DeForrest Riley, Robert Hite and Byron Fields led the Warriors to a runner-up finish in the state Division I tournament. The players lost only four games in their prep careers and went 59-1 in the regular season.

In college, however, they are learning to lose. Fortunately for them, they're learning that lesson on the court and not on the bench.

Riley's Penn State team is 2-6, but the 6-foot-6 swingman has started four games and is averaging 8.1 points a game.

Hite's Miami Hurricanes were 4-3 going into Saturday night's game with Florida. He had started every game and was averaging 9.6 points and 5.0 rebounds a game. Wednesday night he came two rebounds shy of the program's first triple-double.

Fields, at Wofford College (3-5), has become the team's sixth man and averages 5.0 points and 2.2 rebounds a game.

He keeps tabs on his former teammates' progress and said the impact the freshmen are making with their new teams is a credit to their alma mater.

"It says a whole lot about the system we were in and the coaching we got at Winton Woods," Fields said. "Coach (David Lumpkin) had us all playing roles, and that's why it worked. You can't come into college and score a bunch of points, you have to play a role."

Hite agrees. "The staff at Winton Woods did a great job with us," he said. "Everything they did just helped us get ready for the next step."

For Hite and Riley, the more heavily recruited of the trio, the opportunity to contribute right away led them to their respective schools. But the on-court adjustments came as a shock.

"I talk to (Riley) every week. We both had tough times adjusting, but we're strong and we'll overcome it," Hite said. "It's a faster, stronger game, but we're getting there."

After being held scoreless while coming off the bench in Penn State's first three games, Riley had his coming-out party in a 79-70 loss at Clemson. In his first start, hit six 3-pointers on his way to 18 points.

Fields, on a trip back from a win at Virginia Tech, was there.

"I saw him hitting all those 3s against Clemson and I told all my teammates, 'I grew up playing with him,'" Fields said.

Although Fields has seen his friends on TV more than he has talked to them, the trio will get a reunion at an upcoming Winton Woods game over winter break. The Warriors were off to a 4-3 start going into Saturday night's game with Dixie Heights.

"They're just young right now," Hite said. "They don't really have any established leaders. When we're home, we're gonna go to a game and see where their heads are at."

Others

Mount St. oseph defensive lineman Pat McAtee, an Elder alumnus, was selected to the Football Gazette All-North Region first team.

Georgetown soccer player and Anderson graduate Lizzie Brown finished her senior season as a first-team selection for the Mid-South Conference and all-region teams. Brown was also an NAIA All-America honorable mention.

Xavier soccer player Tiest Sondaal was named Ohio Player of the Year. Teammates Brian Schaeper (Moeller) and Steven Barten joined him on the All-Ohio team.

Lakota East product Jamie Hilen, playing soccer at Mount Vernon Nazarene, was named a National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association honorable mention selection.

Purdue defensive tackle Brent Grover, a Highlands graduate, was named to The Sporting News All-Big Ten freshman team.

E-mail rernst@enquirer.com