SHL Pre-season

[TribeManiac10]

Im an soc guy but over the summer I saw North Adams, Peelbes,Fayetville ,Fairfield ,West Union all play . Fairfield when I saw them the best team of those but it's only summer .

Beau Justice, who will probably be one of the top 2 scorers on next year's Peebles roster has been out a portion of the summer(Waverly shootout,etc.) though. He was looking strong in some of the AAU tournaments he was able to play in to this point and we will be a much better team with him in the lineup. I would agree that Fairfield looks poised to win a league title however.

[theuglytruth]

North Adams has to be the clear favorite, they are returning everyone, and they have two guards in King and Carroll who will be in their fourth year of varsity basketball! There is no way NA shouldnt win the big division! That being said I am going to go with NA being the favorite and Eastern being the dark horse! They have two good scorers in Lawson and Scott and everyone else will pride themselves in DEFENSE! Lets no forget Rob Beucler is a mastermind at running offense around one main guy (see Brett Beucler 2005). If Lawson gets shut down it will be because he misses shots and will let his emotions overcome him! It wont be because he doesnt get looks! and will we see the freshman Marcus Day before the year is over? Im going to take North Adams getting out to an early lead but Eastern coming on late and either sharing the league title or taking it outright! I also look for Lynchburg and Peebles to knock a couple of these teams off. I see Peebles competing nicely with great guard play but struggling to find some offense if they see a good match up zone that finds Justice! I see Peebles winning nearly all the games they are supposed to win and sneaking in with some good wins. They do have the best PG in the league. They will go as far as Arey and Justice take them. Lynchburg seems to be deep and and could be an intriguing contender with some nice young talent. They are at the top of the league to stay for the next few years, will we see heralded freshmen Devin Pierson next year? I don't care if West Union brought in Phil Jackson this year they are still going to be last in the big division! That being said look for West Union to improve significantly and a team you actually have to execute against this year, and for them to climb the rankings the next few years and be a contender with-in the next 3 years since they have hopefully found some stability in Trent H! They do have a nice sophomore!
BIG
1. North Adams
2a Eastern
2b Peebles
3 Lynchburg
4 West Union


In the small division, even with a coaching replacement Fairfield has to be the favorite. They have a lot of nice players coming back! and a nice JV team coming up.
Whiteoak should be a definite contender! Its guaranteed that they will get production from Seip and Taggert, their season comes down to the play of Gage Carraher. If this team challenges themselves and comes together it could make a push for the league title. I could see them being at the top of the small division or in 4th behind Feyettville and Ripley but still ahead of Manchester.
Not a doubt in my mind Ripley will have a couple kids come out of no where and shoot the ball well! Im sure they will be a team that can knock you off if you dont come to play!
Fayettville has one of the top 5 scorers in the league in Iles but what do they have to go with him? the Lykins boys? Please!!!this team wins if Iles gets 30+ and they arent playing NA, Eastern or Peebles
I dont care how many District titles Manchester has they will struggle terribly this year! West Union may FINALLY get some revenge.
SMALL
1 Fairfield
2 Whiteoak
3a Ripley
3b Fayetteville
4 Manchester

POY is SHL would do one
1 CHASE LAWSON

Honorable Mentions: Trent Arey (PHS), Doc Seip (WHS), Q. Williams(FHS-leesburg), Iles(FHS-Perry), Taggert (WHS), Justice(PHS), King (NAHS), Waits (LCHS), Inman (LCHS), Carroll (NAHS), Bales (NAHS), Frost (WUHS), Scott (EHS)

..........and that my friends, is the UGLY TRUTH!!!!!!!!!!

[TribeManiac10]

North Adams has to be the clear favorite, they are returning everyone, and they have two guards in King and Carroll who will be in their fourth year of varsity basketball! There is no way NA shouldnt win the big division! That being said I am going to go with NA being the favorite and Eastern being the dark horse! They have two good scorers in Lawson and Scott and everyone else will pride themselves in DEFENSE! Lets no forget Rob Beucler is a mastermind at running offense around one main guy (see Brett Beucler 2005). If Lawson gets shut down it will be because he misses shots and will let his emotions overcome him! It wont be because he doesnt get looks! and will we see the freshman Marcus Day before the year is over? Im going to take North Adams getting out to an early lead but Eastern coming on late and either sharing the league title or taking it outright! I also look for Lynchburg and Peebles to knock a couple of these teams off. I see Peebles competing nicely with great guard play but struggling to find some offense if they see a good match up zone that finds Justice! I see Peebles winning nearly all the games they are supposed to win and sneaking in with some good wins. They do have the best PG in the league. They will go as far as Arey and Justice take them. Lynchburg seems to be deep and and could be an intriguing contender with some nice young talent. They are at the top of the league to stay for the next few years, will we see heralded freshmen Devin Pierson next year? I don't care if West Union brought in Phil Jackson this year they are still going to be last in the big division! That being said look for West Union to improve significantly and a team you actually have to execute against this year, and for them to climb the rankings the next few years and be a contender with-in the next 3 years since they have hopefully found some stability in Trent H! They do have a nice sophomore!
BIG
1. North Adams
2a Eastern
2b Peebles
3 Lynchburg
4 West Union


In the small division, even with a coaching replacement Fairfield has to be the favorite. They have a lot of nice players coming back! and a nice JV team coming up.
Whiteoak should be a definite contender! Its guaranteed that they will get production from Seip and Taggert, their season comes down to the play of Gage Carraher. If this team challenges themselves and comes together it could make a push for the league title. I could see them being at the top of the small division or in 4th behind Feyettville and Ripley but still ahead of Manchester.
Not a doubt in my mind Ripley will have a couple kids come out of no where and shoot the ball well! Im sure they will be a team that can knock you off if you dont come to play!
Fayettville has one of the top 5 scorers in the league in Iles but what do they have to go with him? the Lykins boys? Please!!!this team wins if Iles gets 30+ and they arent playing NA, Eastern or Peebles
I dont care how many District titles Manchester has they will struggle terribly this year! West Union may FINALLY get some revenge.
SMALL
1 Fairfield
2 Whiteoak
3a Ripley
3b Fayetteville
4 Manchester

POY is SHL would do one
1 CHASE LAWSON

Honorable Mentions: Trent Arey (PHS), Doc Seip (WHS), Q. Williams(FHS-leesburg), Iles(FHS-Perry), Taggert (WHS), Justice(PHS), King (NAHS), Waits (LCHS), Inman (LCHS), Carroll (NAHS), Bales (NAHS), Frost (WUHS), Scott (EHS)

..........and that my friends, is the UGLY TRUTH!!!!!!!!!!

I agree with pretty much everything you said, including the list of players(all of which I expect to make the all-league team). After watching North Adams this summer I think they might be the favorites but it is very close. Peebles returns 4 starters and adds two players who didn't play last season that will see good time in 6'2" Jonathon Pryor and 6'1" Stone Crothers. Both are very quick and athletic which will help us tremendously on the wing on the defensive side of the ball. Our major troubles this year will be guarding bigger post players and getting offensive rebounds which is why I think North Adams provides a tall challenge, literally, for us.

[kg23]

I enjoy watching SHL bball games as much as the next guy, and its always pretty competitive, but its not where it used to be and the same can be said about other SHL sports also, not just basketball. Sure, when compared to schools within 30-40 miles of of adams and brown county it may appear to be an equal, but if you move around the state a bit....(Cinci, Columbus, Cleveland) you'll quickly discover that there is much better basketball to be watched. Nothing against the SHL, its good for what it is, and thats why they don't play D1 or D2 schools, because they simply dont have the same type of athletes. Its a great league but lets not get ahead of ourselves and start believing its anywhere near being a top league...

[TribeManiac10]

I enjoy watching SHL bball games as much as the next guy, and its always pretty competitive, but its not where it used to be and the same can be said about other SHL sports also, not just basketball. Sure, when compared to schools within 30-40 miles of of adams and brown county it may appear to be an equal, but if you move around the state a bit....(Cinci, Columbus, Cleveland) you'll quickly discover that there is much better basketball to be watched. Nothing against the SHL, its good for what it is, and thats why they don't play D1 or D2 schools, because they simply dont have the same type of athletes. Its a great league but lets not get ahead of ourselves and start believing its anywhere near being a top league...

Im not sure how that is relevant. Every league in the southeast looks like crap compared to the GCL in Cincinnati or the Columbus City League(even though Peebles gave D1 Walnut Ridge all they wanted last preseason). Also, 3 years ago Peebles beat D1 Groveport Madison in an exhibition game. We do not play D1 schools because we cannot afford four hour round trips to Columbus and Cincinnati on a regular basis. The only large school near us is D1 Western Brown and Peebles/Eastern/North Adams/Ripley all would have/did beat them consistently the past 5yrs. Obviously small schools(often less than 100 boys) from a fairly poor rural area like the teams in the SHL can't compete consistently against inner city schools with 800+ boys or private schools like Summit country day/ Bishop Hartley who can hand pick players from families who can afford aau, etc from a young age. We are one of the best leagues in the southeast despite being one of the smallest. I'm not sure why is important to get in a pissing contest with the rest of the state.

[Ushoot2Ishoot3]

Kg 23 decent point, I follow your thinking. although it is one of the richest histories in basketball leagues and the blood line of great not mediocre players are great as well, as far as Cinci leagues with their layup type scoring, minimal offense sets AAU type play, Inner city leagues arent SUper , they just have more kids. It is more of an accomplishment to win a battle with a few brave warriors. Sprinkle SHL with 8 to 10 6'8" to 7'0 athletes year every and city leagues never win a game versus SHL, shooters are to great.

[sox]

Tribe, I like you more and more as I read some of your posts. You always offer a well-balanced insight into the league. In regards to KG23's comments, I couldn't say it better than TribeManiac10 did. I have coached and been involved with a lot of travel teams (mainly softball) with my kids. We have played with Lakota, Lebanon, Glen Este, Mount Notre Dame Academy, etc, etc, etc throughout the years and kids in this area can compete with the bigger schools. Its always unique when you can get 5 kids of a high caliber on a basketball team. Which is what the larger schools are able to do (Lakota....900 kids per grade, most SHL schools....1000-1300 kids K-12). That being said, do we need to compare this league to the rest of the state???