'It's great to be with all these guys'

ARLINGTON – Few boys basketball players in the area can impact a game like Arlington senior Calvin Willow.Willow, listed at 6-foot-10, was a state high jump champion in his sophomore year. He emerged as a force on the basketball court last winter, helping the Red Devils to the Division VII state semifinal.Willow has been even better this year. He concluded the regular season averaging 18.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.7 blocks a game, and was named the Blanchard Valley Conference's Player of the Year.With Willow leading the way, the Red Devils have been terrific over the last six weeks.Arlington has won 15 games in a row, finished second in the BVC with a 9-1 league mark and is 19-3 overall.The Red Devils look every bit as formidable as they did a season ago.But Arlington faced challenges, specifically at the beginning of the season.Through the first seven games of their schedule, the Red Devils were just 4-3.Some of that was Arlington playing tough teams. Arlington lost consecutive games in December, to Van Buren and Indian Lake.The Black Knights won the BVC; Indian Lake won 17 games and a conference title.Still, the Red Devils – who lost 2025 all-BVC selections Jase Vermillion and Brady Griggs to graduation – were figuring things out."In practice, we all came together and talked about what we wanted to accomplish this year," said Ayden Cavinee, a senior. "Once we figured that out, we knew we needed to be our best, and that's what we've been doing."Since then, different players have been stepping up for the Red Devils."It's no secret of how teams are going to defend Calvin," said Arlington coach Jason Vermillion. "The last two months, since our December where we learned a lot of things in our losses, the supporting cast has just been phenomenal."It starts with Cavinee, who averages 14 points and 2.7 steals a contest. Cavinee scored 21 in Arlington's win over Arcadia Friday."Ayden's taken his game, over the past three, four weeks to a different level, which has definitely helped us," coach Vermillion said.Cavinee – who also averages 3.2 assists a game – made sure to dish out the credit for his success to others."I thank all the coaches. The coaches have really pushed me to be my best," said Cavinee, a first-team all-BVC selection, "and I thank all the players for playing as a team, getting me open shots."Three other Arlington players, seniors Trenton Heacock (second team), Drew Metzger (honorable mention) and Hunter Rausch (honorable mention) earned all league honors."Those other guys, outside of Ayden and Calvin, have just been awesome," Vermillion said. "The losses…taught us a lot of lessons. The seniors had to get together and get connected, because we're not as united as we are now. Kudos to them."That sentiment was echoed by Arlington's players."It's great to be with all these guys," Willow said. "Couldn't ask for a better group.""We've got a lot of seniors, so we've been growing up together our whole lives," Cavinee said. "I think this group is really close knit, and we can get it done."Arlington's will try to get it done starting Thursday, when it hosts another BVC team, Vanlue, in the postseason opener.As well as his team has been playing, coach Vermillion said the Red Devils won't be looking past anyone. He added after beating Arcadia that the Red Devils were "still learning" and have things to improve upon. "Vanlue's over here Thursday, and they're gonna compete," he said. "We're gonna have to make sure that we're clean. We've got to be clean in what we do."Tipoff for the Division VII tournament game will be at 6 p.m.