Giving his Max-imum effort

"We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons." — Jim RohnOne, two, three, four .....Borrowing from a quote by noted author and motivational speaker Jim Rohn, Findlay High boys basketball coach Jim Rucki wrapped up Wednesday's practice with the message that putting in a little extra time and effort to work on something, say free throws, a player might eliminate the painful regret of missing said free throws in a key game.Max Roth was one of the players taking that message to heart.... Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen...Then his competitive nature took over."It's always been there," Roth said of the competitive drive that has underscored a banner senior season and an outstanding career at Findlay High."Sports has been a big part of my life, so it's all been about going out there and doing whatever it takes to get it done. I've been competitive my whole life. I want to win at everything."... Twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five ...Roth's final numbers have yet to be tallied. They are, though, impressive.Already the school's all-time career leader in steals (he surpassed Ben Roethlisberger's total of 127 earlier this season), Roth is also ninth in career scoring (1,004 points). When Findlay takes the floor Friday at Toledo St. Francis in its regular-season finale, it will be Roth's 88th varsity game, tied with Luke Kraus (2006-08) for fourth all-time.While it is numbers that often define an athlete's career, Roth's focus, whatever the sport, was on W's. Nowhere was that more evident than in football. Findlay's starting quarterback as a sophomore and junior, Roth was asked to move to wide receiver with the emergence of Ryan Montgomery, a multi-talented freshman who has already received several scholarship offers from elite college programs.Instead of making an issue of the switch, Roth made first-team all-league at his new position, catching 48 passes for 800 yards and seven touchdowns. An all-Ohio punter as a junior, Roth continued to make clutch plays there as well, including faking a punt from deep in its own territory that earned Findlay a first down and clinched a 28-26 win over Miamisburg in the second round of the Division I playoffs."We knew (Montgomery) was coming in and that he was going to be really talented," Roth said."We knew he could do many things that maybe I couldn't, and that if we put him in that position we could win. Being competitive, if I could do something at another position and help the team, I was good with that."... Thirty-six, thirty-seven, thirty-eight...Roth's athletic ability — explosive quickness, great leaping ability — coupled with his competitive nature have given Findlay High's basketball program an added dimension."Max is a good example of a guy who can go out there and just make plays," Rucki said."They say sometimes it's not about the plays but the players, not about the Xs and Os but the Jimmy's and the Joe's. Sometimes you just gotta have somebody make an individual play, and he can do that, on both ends of the floor. He's very explosive, even defensively when he's attacking, stripping guys of the ball."He's had a great year, and made a lot of great individual plays, highlight-reel plays."Roth's most impressive performance came last Friday. With Fremont Ross playing well and Findlay struggling, the Little Giants built a 16-point lead early in the second half. Roth would score 14 points in the third quarter, though, and 14 more in the fourth. His four free throws in the final three seconds completed a 41-point night and capped Findlay's 81-77 win.Most of Roth's points came on dribble-drive slashes to the hoop where his quickness and leaping ability paid off."I don't know where I got that from. It just happens," said Roth, who stands 6-foot-1 but dunks with ease."It's natural, so I take advantage of it."... Forty-four, forty-five, forty-six ...Roth's father Aaron, a University of Findlay Hall of Famer, was an NAIA all-American in basketball at UF. His brother Mason, 10 years his senior, scored over 1,200 points at McComb and was all-Ohio before taking his game to Defiance College."Sports has always been a big thing in my family," said Max, who moved to Findlay when he was in fifth grade. "I knew growing up what I wanted to do and winning was always a big thing for me."Findlay started the 2021-22 season 1-3 overall and 0-3 in the Three Rivers Athletic Conference. Rucki admits it was a trying time."What was especially tough was those losses (to Lima Senior, Toledo St. John's and Toledo Whitmer) were on Friday, Friday and Friday," Rucki said."It wasn't just losing three games. It was over three weeks. We didn't win a game for three full weeks."Findlay ended the skid by beating Springfield, then knocked off state-ranked Toledo Central Catholic on the Irish's home floor."We started late (because of the football playoffs). I was looking at it the other day and a big part of our team missed 17 practices," Rucki said."We beat Springfield to get to 2-3, then came back from 10 down at the half to beat Central Catholic. That kind of turned things around. Even when we were down I thought we had a really good mindset. After that, we just kept getting a little better and a little better."Roth noticed it, too."Practices became a little more intense, more competitive," he said."Once everyone got back into it we knew we could get going, be competitive in the league, play like we should and win some games."Findlay (16-5, 8-5 TRAC) handled St. Francis easily, 69-33, in January. But the Knights (3-17, 2-10 TRAC) are 3-3 after starting the season 0-14, including a 26-point win over Oregon Clay (60-34) last Friday and a one-point loss (57-56) to TRAC champion and state-ranked Lima Senior. St. Francis will also be healthier than they were when the teams first met, with Elvis Syroka, a 5-9 sophomore guard, back in the lineup, along with 6-2 junior Reche Dixon.Findlay will be looking to continue its current run of success, though, and continue to build momentum heading into tournament play next week. And while Roth isn't focusing on individual numbers right now, he and his teammates were following Jim Rohn's saying and Jim Rucki's advice by staying after practice to shoot free throws. .... Fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine, CLUNK.After sinking 59 straight, the ball spun around the rim and out for Roth, who shook his head, smiled and headed for the sideline.Knowing the competitive nature of the guy, after the next practice, he'll be shooting for 60 in a row.