CLEVELAND — For Kevin O'Connell, sports are a big part of his life. 

What You Need To Know

  • The McDonald High School girls basketball team last played in the semi-finals in 1991

  • McDonald Local Schools Superintendent Kevin O'Connell was in attendance at the game in 1991

  • O'Connell is looking forward to supporting the girls as they work to win a title

"Being up in Northeast Ohio I grew up as a Cavs fan. College, I always rooted for Ohio State. So for me, I'll watch almost any sport," O'Connell said.

​O'Connell is the superintendent of McDonald Local Schools, and he's in Dayton to support the girls' basketball team as they play in the Division IV semi-finals. It's sort of a full-circle moment for O'Connell as he watched the girls' team play in the semi-finals three decades ago.

"The one thing I remember clearly is just the amazing amount of community support. It almost felt like everyone in the entire village had went down to Columbus for that game," he said.O'Connell was a high school freshman back in 1991 and remembers attending the game with his family and watching the girls give it their all.

"It was a great game back and forth the whole way," he said. "We did come up a little bit on the short side but just the community support and what that meant to everybody down there."

O'Connell said the community is showing the same support for the girls in this tournament.

"We had 500, I think, at the game and we're expecting probably 600 or more."

Now as superintendent, he's looking forward to watching a new generation of teammates play for a championship title.

"Just opening tip. Get the game started and, you know, just to have these kids experience this."

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