Friday Night Below the Lancaster-Dixon Line ...

[pfloyd]

... we are in the final 2 weeks & change of regular season action , next Sunday we have the OHSAA & MaxPreps Seedings released to determine "who plays who and where" kicking off "sectional play" or they call 'em District 1st Round & Quarter finals play ... 3 weeks from the 1st round/District Quarter Final tipoffs we will be crowning state champs in 7 divisions for the first time ever ... Friday night's matchups are all barometer games for teams to figure-out "Where do they stand ? and where can we get to before the post season begins on Feb. 17th ? " ...

... I'm looking down thru my menu of games for Friday night , this is what I'm seeing :

Chillicothe @ Washington CH:

The Chillicothe Cavaliers of Coach Beard have made themselves viable players in the post season in that they have beaten Hillsboro x2, gave solid efforts vs Miami Trace losing @ MT by 9, losing the return trip to Chilli by 2 (52-54) ... on the road at the Warren Coliseum the Cavs played to a 3pt loss in OT 59-62 ... the Cavs have good vibes playing both Warren and Miami Trace ... more than likely CHS will be the 4 or 5 seed - either way they will play the likely #1 seed Warren in the District Quarter finals ...

Washington CH with no real signature wins on their resume over top tier teams ... wins vs a young Fairfield Union squad/split of games with Hillsboro/ win over Vinton County / 2 wins over McClain ... still sitting at around the #7 spot in the seeding thru last week ... a win vs Chillicothe Friday night would do a lot for the Blue Lion mentality heading into the post season ... I have Jackson sitting at the #2 with Washington CH meeting Jackson for a 3rd in the post season District semi final, with another matchup in the regular season on the horizon, JHS got the W in the Apple City 30-29 ...

Symmes Valley @ Northwest :

Symmes Valley LOOKS like they will be in the #4 spot in D6 ... best W's for SV right now is the win at WestLA ... good wins vs Coal Grove & Rock Hill out of the OVC - but vs the upper echelon of teams on their schedule the Vikings haven't gotten that signature W losing to Notre Dame, Fairland, Eastern Pike, Minford, West when West was at full strength ... this is the first of 2 games vs NW within a week, followed by games at vs Eastern Pike & Western ... the Mohawks have not be THE regional final of last season, graduation, transfer portal ... Northwest does have some signature wins on the season vs upper level teams ... beating Eastern Pike and Valley ... Northwest looking to move up the seeding chart, as I have them at #11 which have them taking on Ironton in the district quarterfinals ...

Unioto @ Zane Trace

... SVC battle of the big dawgs ... Unioto having just lost big to Jackson, at home, has to be trying to figure out if they are as good as their record or is their record more a reflection of the quality of teams they have played ie. the SVC isn't as strong top to bottom as in past years ... with the loss to Jackson Tuesday I view this as a must win for the U to get in the right mindset heading into the post season - a win would give the Shermans imo a 19 win regular season - ZT is the toughest remaining opponent on the schedule ... a Win gives the U sole possession of 1st place in the league with Piketon at home and Paint Valley on the road both getable W's ... best wins for the U in the season - Zane Trace (minus Landon Jarrell) /@ Washington CH/ @ Circleville/ vs D7 Fairfield Leesburg 53-49 at the U ... losses to the big boys : current #2 in D3 Miami Trace @ MT , 46-60 vs Jackson at the U on Tuesday the worst loss being to 7-10 Westfall on the road 58-61 ... if the U stays at the #4 in the D4 seeding it will be in all likelihood GAHS in the district quarterfinals, the winner of Circleville vs VC in the District semi which would have them on the path to meet up with Meigs in a District Final at the Convo ... a Sherman win on Friday vs ZT gets the right mindset ... Zane Trace with the SVC being not as challenging this season- the U being THE other team (in the top 15 in the district overall/ current ranked in the Elite 8 at #7 but lost to # 10 Jackson Tuesday night) having lost to Unioto in their first matchup makes this one a must win for ZT with the league/seeding implications ... ZT's losses so far are at the hands of Unioto and undefeated Miami Trace ... Jackson will entertain the Pioneers next Tuesday 2/4 in Jackson ... ZTs non-conference schedule other than Miami Trace has been pedestrian with the Jackson game looming on the horizon ... only 3 teams on the ZT non-conference schedule to have winning records 14-0 Miami Trace a 41-51 loss, Circleville at 10-5 a 51-35 win the opening day of the season , and Jackson at 12-3 yet to be played ... besides Unioto & Zane Trace the only other team in the SVC with a winning record is Southeastern at 11-6 ... Zane Trace is on track to get to the Convo where they would in all likelihood meet up with Minford in a D5 District final ...

South Webster @ Minford

... the Big Daddy of them all Friday night ... Minford at 12-1 hosting South Webster 13-0 ... the Falcons only loss was at the hands of current #1 in the SE District 15-2 Warren Local 69-71 on a neutral court at SSU ... let's set it up:

Minford:

Myles Montgomery ... 23.9 ppg
Ashton Reeder ........ 3.1ppg
Kade Glockner ........ 3 ppg
Bennett Kayser ....... 24.9 ppg
Jackson Shoemaker .. 9.6ppg

Starting lineup tale of the tape ... 6' 1.5"

Bench:

Colt Donahoe ... 6-3 ... 2.7 ppg
Curtis Glenn .... 6-0 ... 2.1 ppg
Ty Borland ...... 6-3 ... 1 ppg

South Webster:

Christian White ..... 5.7 ppg
Owen Mault ......... 4.1 ppg
Hunter Barnard ..... 11.4 ppg
Dylan Shupert ....... 16.2 ppg
Eli Roberts ........... 23 ppg

Starting lineup tale of the tape ... 6' 1.2"

Bench:

Beau Stephens ... 6-2 .... 7.7 ppg
Brycin McClintic ... 6-1 ... 6.2 ppg

... both teams will be seeded #1 in their respective divisions ... this one is all about SOC II league play , wait until 2/18 bragging rights , the fact these players have competed vs each other for years and years ... the Big 3 for Minford are coming around scoring wise with Shoemaker now being that perimeter threat we expected all season ... Glockner IS shooting the ball where teams must now commit defense to account for him ... Reeder IS a scoring threat off the dribble where he attacks the rim ... Defense is and has always been a part of the formula for Falcon success ... South Webster is a tale of 2 teams that can play within the same 32 minutes ... SW WITH Roberts and SW WITHOUT Roberts ... w/ Roberts ... relies on the 6-8 Roberts to get "his" from the perimeter ... stretch the floor, give Roberts his looks which at 6-8 allows him to shoot literally over the D ... w/o Roberts - SW is still an Elite 8 team in my opinion ... better motion to the offense, opens the doors for Barnard/Shupert/Stephens/McClintic to create and score ...

... no predictions from me, as these games tend to take go in spurts with the flow of the MOJO going with the turnovers in the game ... when Roberts is on the floor I look for Minford to push the ball (what's new) force the 6-8 Roberts to "run the floor" or it will be Minford 5 on 4 ... I'll be watching the Kayser vs Roberts matchup for sure ... Kayser brings energy at both ends of the floor for 32 minutes , we'll see if Roberts can keep up with the pace of play ... I'll keep an eye on "bench points" as well ... so many variables , and only 32 minutes of game clock ... going to enjoy this one from the Cheap Seats ...