CANAL WINCHESTER, Ohio -- The Capital division of the Ohio Capital Conference has been owned by one team and one team only over the last two years.

Newark.

This year? We may have a changing of the guard.

Coach Lyndell Snyder has led Canal Winchester to a surprise 15-0 start, highlighted by their 67-61 win over Newark. That win snapped Newark’s 24-game conference win streak and signaled that the Indians could be the surprise favorite in the conference.

Up to this point, Canal Winchester has been dominant on both sides of the ball. Offensively, they are averaging 77 points per game and have put up at least 80 points on seven different occasions. Defensively, they are only allowing 57 points per game. In the four games since defeating Newark on Jan. 11, Canal has outscored opponents 377-244. 

The undefeated start hasn’t been a surprise to everyone. Not their head coach at least.

Snyder knew this team had a chance to be special based on what he saw over the summer.

“We had a lot of kids in the summer and spring really dedicate time and effort into the program,” he said. “Four of my five starters don’t play football, so I got to work with four of my guys a lot. I knew this year could be special when we had some shootouts this summer.”

The team got off to hot start and had some solid wins (Big Walnut, Dublin Scioto, Bloom-Carroll) that caught the attention of people, but the highlight of the season came in a span of three days.

Taking down Chillicothe and Newark between Jan. 9-11, Canal Winchester passed the biggest test of its season thus far. The win over Newark signaled the first time an OCC-Capital opponent had played within six points of the Wildcats, let alone beat them, since the beginning of the 2016-17 season.

“Our kids were really excited to play [Newark] because if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best, and Newark is the best in our league,” he said. “The feeling was great and the kids were really excited. They were extremely happy with the outcome of the game, but as a coach I told them to enjoy it because we played Worthington Kilbourne the next night so we only had one evening to let that sink in. We had to refocus on the next ballgame.”

Focusing on the next game only has been the mindset all season for this team. Coach Snyder has preached how important the next game, and only the next game, is. He understands that anyone can beat them and everyone is going to give their best effort against them.

It’s hard to see anyone beating this team right now though because they have been so dominant both offensively and defensively.

“Offensively we like to run some open-post and pass and cut,” he said. “We have some kids with a very high basketball IQ. They see the floor really well and pass up good shots for great shots. That’s what makes this team special.”

“Defensively really depends on the team we are playing and the matchup”, he said. “If they have three-point shooters we like to run them off the three-point line. We like to make shooters pull-up for shots instead of getting their feet set. Obviously we want to communicate on defense and that’s a major goal we have in practice each day.”

It also helps to have highly-talented guys like Bilal Sow, Brady Snyder and Cole Metzler.

Through the first 14 games, those three combined are averaging 54 points per game. Metzler has been a double-double machine as the Indians’ workhorse in the post, while Sow and Snyder are each averaging just over 19 points per game. 

“Those three have gone above and beyond my expectations,” he said. “Brady is our senior leader. He is a tremendous basketball player with a high motor. He can play from the tip to the horn at the end and just go nonstop. He’s the best shooter we have in the program. Cole is a great rebounder. He had 17 rebounds against Hamilton Township. Bilal is a great kid to coach, an extremely coachable kid. Let’s just say I’m glad he’s playing for Canal Winchester.”

And, like every coach knows, in order to be a true championship-caliber team, you need to have some X-factors. Defense is one thing that Coach Snyder has been preaching, and that’s where the two other starters come into play.

“Avery Musick is our starting two-man who is a defensive specialist,” he said. “He guards the other team’s best player. Zach Miles, who people kind of forget about, is a 6-foot-6 three-man. If people take away Cole, Bilal and Brady, Zach is going to have to be the guy to step up and make some shots for us.”

He also highlighted seniors Jake Howard and Brennan Cook as two guys who have accepted their role and played well off the bench. Snyder knew it would be tough to not start the seniors, but their high character and motor have helped Canal get off to this undefeated start.

The 15-game winning streak has created some new goals for the team.

“Our ultimate goal is to win the next day. Win the next practice, win the next day, and when the next game comes win the game,” he said. “Our next goal is to now win the league. With Newark being there for so long, and they are so good, that turned into a great one for us because it made us one step closer to our goal. Our third goal is to play for a district title. Those are the three we talk about.”

Win the next game is their ultimate goal because Coach Snyder said a team like Big Walnut is good enough to beat them. Well, the approach paid off as Sow had 30 points and Metzler had 25 to lead them to an 89-69 victory on Jan. 18. This victory helped them already surpass last year’s win total of 13 games.

Based on their philosophy, Canal Winchester won’t be looking ahead to Feb. 5 when they head to Pickerington North for its stiffest non-league test yet. If the Indians can get through a Panthers team that is as talented as any in the area, Canal Winchester will have officially proved itself to the rest of the area before the granddaddy of them all 10 days later.

Travelling to a hostile Newark environment for what will likely be the conference title game, the Indians will take that ‘next game’ mentality into Jim Allen Gymnasium, a place no team in the OCC-Capital has been victorious in. 

Canal Winchester can no longer sneak up on anyone, as the Indians have officially arrived in the OCC.