Coach Grillo gathered his fifth grade troops and made the game plan clear: Do whatever you can to let the other players score.

His players, who would soon become champions, all nodded.

Each had spent years in Judge Robert Grillo's Vinton County Youth Basketball League, one that values sportsmanship and personal responsibility over athletic success. Each understood without further explanation that their game meant more than what was displayed on the scoreboard.

A few players on the opposing Meigs squad are developmentally disabled and had never scored before. Meigs Coach Clinton Stanley was determined to give all kids on the team playing time throughout the season, but he especially wanted each to have a chance to score just once.

"Sometimes there's more to it than just who wins the game," Stanley said, recalling Grillo's willingness to help.

Vinton County cleared a lane down low. A player banked one home and the whole crowd erupted in cheers.

Soon after, the other player scored his bucket.

"That was a better moment than winning the championship, just teaching those life lessons," Grillo said.

Vinton County secured not just one title, but two. The sixth grade girls team came into the three-day Hocking Valley Basketball League Tournament undefeated and coasted to a championship as well. Grillo called Billy Bartoe and Jason Williams' coaching of that team the best he'd seen in decades of local youth basketball.

Yes, it was an all-around fantastic weekend for Vinton County basketball. Along with the two championships on Sunday, the fourth and sixth grade boys teams were also top seeds in their brackets and could have conceivably added two more trophies.

The Vikings high school varsity team won back-to-back games at home also, featuring a roster of youth basketball league alums like Tristan Bartoe. Tristan's older brother, Dylan, is a former player in Grillo's league who is among the many who come back to referee and help out with the kids.

Yes, this is the community involvement so treasured and revered. The Vinton County Local School District offers gymnasiums for the league to thrive and grow to nearly three dozen teams. Parents cheer on their kids and oftentimes the opponents' kids, for they know the support is welcomed (and sometimes needed) no matter the source.

There is even the "L'il Poms" cheerleading group, which might be miniature in size but is much bigger in spirit. They yell for the teams to score no matter who has the ball. Do they care who is winning?

Does anybody?

That isn't to say these championships are not celebrated. Success may not be demanded, but in Vinton County it certainly is never ignored.

So the teams gathered after the final buzzer and enjoyed their victories. The next day, Grillo said practically no one could pry the trophy away from his best friend and Assistant Coach Randy Houghland.

Grillo, a juvenile court judge, has a familiar saying that he would rather see the kids on the basketball court than in his court.

With hundreds of players storming the Vinton County gyms each weekend in winter, his goal has never looked brighter.