COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ramon Spears had the look of a mad man after a less than stellar practice just a few weeks before the beginning of the 2014-15 basketball season. With several upperclassmen players jawing at each other toward the end of the session, Spears kicked everyone out of the gym and ended the practice abruptly.

One of the players in question was a senior that Spears was looking for big things out of.

"He's the type of guy that I need to get from here to here," Spears said while moving his hand higher in the air. "I need guys that can help me beat the Walnut Ridges, the Africentrics, the Eastmoors."

Two years later, Spears' South Bulldogs accomplished those first two goals in an undefeated start to the 2016-17 season. While the 2014-15 season yielded South's first district title in nearly 30 years, Spears' South group this year might end up being his most successful.

The lone undefeated team remaining in the City League South, Spears' Bulldogs head to Linden on Thursday in a battle of the unblemished. Equally unscathed, Linden is the lone unbeaten in the City League North, an accomplishment that would seem like a fairy tale at this point in the season just six years ago.

For South and Linden, the 2010-11 season was not one to remember. Both programs, which are two of the City League's most storied, yielded just one win each. With 38 combined losses between the two, South and Linden were as low as they have ever been just six years ago. 

Nothing will make you feel further from success than overwhelming levels of adversity. For South and Linden, this was the mentality of each program in the early 2010s. It hadn't always been this way, however. 

After all, South and Linden were two of Columbus' most dominant programs in the 1960s. South won its first and only state championship in 1965, while Linden followed in 1967. 45 years later, the two programs couldn't be found anywhere near the top of the City League.

Behind the provision of two fiery coaches, albeit different coaching styles, South and Linden are churning out wins and incredible results, while uplifting the surrounding poverty-stricken communities to new heights.

It hasn't always been this fun though. Success is hard, but sustaining it is a completely different animal. 

"We felt the program was turning around during the first year even though we were 1-19," Spears said of the first time he felt the Bulldogs were establishing a winning pedgree. "Despite our record, it was the things we were doing. We never stopped playing. We practiced hard. The way the grades and academics went up. We knew it was changing."

In a dream situation at South, Spears had the opportunity of a lifetime to coach at a place he was all too familiar with.

Spending four years as the junior varsity coach at Walnut Ridge under Jason Bates, Spears felt a special connection every time he came back to South to coach against the Bulldogs. Seeing the same people in the building that were there when Spears was a player and student for the Bulldogs in the late 1980s, the South alum kept his ear to the street for any potential opening.

Spears opportunity came prior to the 2010-11 season. 

"It was a dream come true to go back to the school you graduated from," Spears said. "Living, working and going to school on the south side, it was really a dream come true."

And while Spears was satisfied with his first head coaching gig, the new South coach had a mountain of work to do. Working to change what Spears called a "losing culture," the young coach instilled a stamp on his program that has had lasting effects.

What some would call, "Spears' way or the highway," the coach has stuck to his guns. That type of consistency at the top has paid dividends for Spears' players over the years. 

Spears says his biggest challenges were changing the perception of the school and getting kids to believe in themselves, which was a foreign concept for many of what he calls his "founding fathers."

As Spears' first team bought into something bigger than themselves, the seventh-year coach has continued to keep those forefathers and their principles around his current team.

How did Spears do it at South?

"You have to have a good coaching staff and staff in the building to work with," Spears said of his recipe of success. "You have to work from the kids' perspective, you have to help and support them. 

"But most importantly, you have to have a stamp on your program to show what you are all about. The ones that buy in will play. The ones that don't, won't."

The consistency of Spears, whose bald head and chiseled beard can intimidate the toughest of teenagers, has worked for the Bulldog program.

While Spears'  first team went 1-19, South has continued to climb in each year since.

One win in 2010-11 turned into seven wins in 2011-12.

Seven wins in 2011-12 turned into 15 wins in 2012-13.

15 wins in 2012-13 turned into 16 in 2013-14. 

16 wins in 2013-14 turned into 19 wins and a district title in 2014-15.

Winning 19 games for a second-consecutive season last winter, South won the most league games it has in the last decade, notching 11 wins in the City League South during the 2015-16 season.

Spears has 10 former players scattered across different divisions currently playing college basketball.

And while Spears has churned out 81 wins since the conclusion of his first season, the seventh-year South coach still faces some of the same challenges that existed when he arrived as the school's new head basketball coach in 2010.

"The toughest thing I deal with as a coach is balancing out the challenges that one might consider that come with a struggling socioeconomic community," Spears said. "As coach, I work to meet players' needs beyond the court. Whether it be supporting my players physically, emotionally, socially, academically and even financially."

Spears' assistance does not stop at his players. Parents and families have also benefitted from the Bulldogs head man.

"But at the same time, helping all of the teams' stakeholders, such as parents, the school district, and more realize that the wins and losses come with me struggling to strengthen each of these areas of my athletes' lives," Spears said. 

Spears would continue to say, "But the challenge comes with me sometimes providing this support without the amount of backing or understanding needed from these stakeholders, to be successful as a coach and for South to be successful as a team."

With a 50-22 record since the start of the 2013-14 season, South is as good as it has ever been in the last two decades. However, the best could still be yet to come for South.

Out to a 5-0 start this season, including an unblemished 3-0 in conference play with wins over Walnut Ridge, Africentric and Briggs, Spears is excited about this year's team. With south side pride at its highest level in years, Spears reflected on what his proudest moment has been so far.

"We went from 50 people in the stands and five Columbus police officers to 1,000 people and only three officers," Spears said. "Seeing alumni at the school so proud to come back and see a game for the first time in 30 years is why I go so hard. I feel like I am fighting for all those people."

The undefeated Bulldogs will take its unblemished record to Linden-McKinley High School on Thursday to square off against a program that has made an ascension of its own in the last several years.

Coming to Linden as a teacher prior to the 2011-12 school year, Jeremy Stuhlfauth had no idea he would become a head coach as quickly as he did. Coaching at the junior varsity level at Whetstone under the late Kevin Arway, Stuhlfauth was interested when the Linden head coaching job opened up prior to the 2013-14 season.

With many of his students who played basketball clamoring for Stuhlfauth to take the job, the young teacher went ahead and applied. 

"I did not expect to be a head coach that early," Stuhlfauth told 270 Hoops. "A bunch of the players wanted me to take it, so the kids' excitement really drove me into taking it."

Accepting the position, Stuhlfauth had a lot of work to do to bring Linden, who won state titles in 1967 and 1977, back to a winning level.

"The biggest challenges were breaking bad habits," Stuhlfauth said. "We had to get kids to understand the discipline it takes to build a winning program."

Things as simple as arriving to practice on time were critical for Stuhlfauth and Linden early on. What Stuhlfauth called "basic fundamental bad habits" had to be broken.

"On top of breaking the culture that had been there, we had to get the respect of the players and parents," Stuhlfauth said. "I had to get them to realize that I did in fact know what I was doing and that I wasn't doing it for myself but for the kids."

The next challenge for Stuhlfauth and Linden was teaching his players how to win. Early on, Stuhlfauth's Linden teams would often blow leads, simply because they didn't know how to play from ahead and close out a game. 

"What we had to do was maintain that level of play and understand how to play with confidence and how to win," Stuhlfauth said. "They get it now."

Taking over a program that had won five games combined in the three seasons prior to his arrival, Stuhlfauth won five in his first season, including four league games, which doubled the amount from the three years previous.

5-18 in 2013-14 turned into a double-digit win total the next winter, as Linden turned the tide, finishing at 11-12 in 2014-15, including 6-8 in league play.

The 2015-16 season would be one where Stuhlfauth's early teachings had finally began to take full shape.

Stuhlfauth started to see the major signs of a comeback last January in a road matchup at the City North juggernaut Northland. While Linden would not win that game, the Panthers took Northland to the brink, which signaled a shift for Stuhlfauth's team.

"You could see the fight in the team and that they believed that they could play with anyone," Stuhlfauth said. "Once we got to the tournament game, we were able to just dominate."

Stuhlfauth's crowning moment came last season as Linden hosted its first-ever tournament game. Hosting rival East, who the Panthers had already beaten twice last season, Stuhlfauth and his team had the challenge of beating the same team three times on its hands.

"We played as well as we could have," Stuhlfauth said. "We accomplished two season long goals of hosting and then winning a tournament game."

The Panthers would end up finishing 12-11 last winter, advancing to the district semifinals where Linden would fall in a tough battle against top-seeded Whitehall.

For all the success Linden has enjoyed recently, the Panthers have overcome some hefty challenges that come with the territory of a poverty stricken school. 

"It's not just coaching basketball," Stuhlfauth said. "I am helping kids deal with so much more than the game. We have to make sure our kids get home safe. There is so much more responsibility and we do that little bit of extra stuff to make them feel like they are part of something special and that were are there for them no matter what."

Stuhlfauth has designated assistant coach Al Wilson to work solely with college placement. As Wilson contacts schools all across the country, in addition to creating highlight films and staying on top of stats, Linden basketball has created an environment where success is possible both on and off the court.

"We work hard for anyone, even if it is not basketball," Stuhlfauth said. "We are on top of their ACT scores, their graduation progress and grades. Our goal is for them to get to college. And college will set them up for success."

As Linden has continued an inspiring rise in the City League, including a decade-best 12 wins last season, the Panthers' best days could still be ahead of them. 

"Linden is being turned around at every level," Stuhlfauth said. "From our middle school program to our JV teams, we let our guys know that they are the building blocks for keeping this foundation going."

With talent all throughout the Linden pipeline, Stuhlfauth's challenge is keeping those talented preps in the Panther maroon and white. 

"While other schools may do outside-in recruiting, we do a lot of in-house recruiting because we have the athletes," Stuhlfauth said. "We have solid, solid sophomores and not to mention, next year we return everyone but one or two people."

Out to a 4-0 start this season, Linden has went unblemished in three City League North games, including a double-overtime thriller on the road at Mifflin. The win at Mifflin earlier this month was one of Stuhlfauth's proudest moments. While some of his earlier teams may have blown a lead late, Stuhlfauth's current team showed the will to fight and close out a tough game, despite all adversity faced. 

Overcoming adversity is something Stuhlfauth's players are accustomed to, which has been a building block to the reviving Linden program. 

"We have some guys that come from some very tough, tough situations," Stuhlfauth said. 

And while Stuhlfauth says discipline and accountability have been the major keys to Linden's turnaround, he has been careful to still make basketball enjoyable for his players.

"You have to let the kids have fun," Stuhlfauth said. "At the end of the day, it is an outlet for them to escape for two hours and enjoy time with their friends."

With Thursday's crosstown City League matchup looming against fellow undefeated South, Stuhlfauth is hoping his players' two hours together result in a monumental victory.