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time to turn our attention to basketball. any thoughts on this year?

I believe Minford is loaded. I think the starters will be McCray, Gullion, Stapleton, Rowe and ?

What type of JV team did Minford have last year? The jump to Division 2 could hurt the Falcons but if they have a lot of depth perhaps that would ease the transition.

I went to the Burg/Minford game and a couple Minford folk were saying that McCray may not even play basketball this year because of his football scholarship? I highly doubt that happens but they stated a prior injury to the hand/wrist could have him sitting out basketball season to risk further injury. Lets hope not, kid is a very fun player to watch.

I don't know the specifics, but with the club that Jared was rocking on Friday in the Valley game, I would think it would be tough for that hand to be ready at the beginning of the season.

The good news is, the first match up with conference favorite Valley is not until after the first of the year, I believe.

marshallman wrote:time to turn our attention to basketball. any thoughts on this year?

I believe Minford is loaded. I think the starters will be McCray, Gullion, Stapleton, Rowe and ?

No doubt Minford has a lot of young talented players gunning for the fifth spot but no question Justice or Wiseman will be front runners. Both players are much more physical and stronger then most of the younger players for Varsity play.

I know JV had a really good record last year, not sure how many came back?
McCray is playing to put that to rest
Also, for the 5th spot look for Trey Kelley as a possible starter.

Tre Kelly is becoming a very nice player and depending on what rotation Minford is gone with. But with McCray at 5, Gullion 4/3, Rowe 3/2, Stapleton 2/1 with this the fifth man has to be more towards 1 spot and Justice is the best kid for that spot with his speed and defense.

Justice is fast and strong I look for him to contribute significantly. I think he's the 5th starter and can handle the point.

From what I hear McCray will not play until after the first of the year.

Best of luck to Coach Shoe and the Falcons this season. As for the 5th starter, I would bet on Justice if it were my opinion. Scoring should definitely not be a problem for the Falcons. If the Falcons play defense, they could compete for a District title IMHO.

... looking forward to getting a look at the Falcons as they will playing in a tri-scrimmage with Logan in a couple of weeks (I believe it is at Nelsonville) ... so we'll have Nelsonville York, Minford and Logan (please correct me if I am wrong as to the site) ...

My guess is Stapleton or Rowe playing the point. And the other the 2 spot.

marshallman wrote:My guess is Stapleton or Rowe playing the point. And the other the 2 spot.

That is very possible which would change the rotation and with McCray out for the first few games who knows who will be on the floor. I still like Justice it gives you a lot more speed and physical presence on the floor.

This season looks to be an exciting one for the Falcons.
Looks like in the beginning of the season the team will have to adjust without McCray until January.
From what's coming from the gym, it looks like Trey Kelly and Jared Alley will try and fill those big shoes but look for McCray to come back in January with a vengeance!
I agree about Justice, I think with him, Rowe and Stapleton up front you could have a very deadly trio but in the beginning of the year the Falcons are going to need some height in the middle to cover the loss of McCray so not sure if he'll be in the starting line up.
First scrimmage is next Friday 11-15 at Unioto. The Falcons will scrimmage Unioto and last year's State semi-finalist Warren. That looks to be a good one. With McCray out, this will be a chance for the team to start adjusting without the big guy and see what they have.
Looks to be a good season and look for my Falcons to be SOC Champs again this year!
Go Falcons!

Are they front runners for the SOCII?

The SOC runs thru Valley, period.

Minford will be a good team, but I think Valley has to be the favorite. Even though they did split the league title last year, Minford did not beat Valley head to head.

I believe IF Minford is going to win the league, they will HAVE to beat valley this year.

The falcons lost McBee, and are replacing him with young, unproven players. Valley lost Howard and have a boatload of seniors with tons of experience.

Justice at the point would allow Stapleton and Rowe to play off the ball and score more. Justice can also turn your water off on defense.

Not sure who will start nor do I think it really matters. It is gonna take 7 or 8 of them playing together as a team. Each can contribute in their own way dependent on their skill set. Had the chance to watch some of these kids in the summer playing both AAU and some shoot outs and I saw big improvement in some of them. From what I hear some of them worked really hard in the off season to get better and I think that will show up in the season. Time will tell. Missing the big fella for first month or so is not a positive but this will be a fun team to watch.

The Falcons have 4 SOCII games in the first 3 weeks of the season. Without maybe 75% of their scoring from last year, they will have to find out really fast who will step up or they may have a couple early losses in the SOC before they even get to Valley or get their true starting lineup back. Gullion is a nice player and capable of putting up some points, but he will have to want the ball and want to be the leader to do that.

From what I have seen over the summer, it should be another great season for the Falcons!! They have developed some fine players. No doubt the Falcons will miss McCray until January. Alley and Kelley will need to step it up underneath. I agree that with Justice on defense, he's going to give someone fits! He is a great defender! The Falcons will be a threat in the SOC II. It's going to take teamwork boys so LET'S GET TO WORK!

GO FALCONS!!

Gonna take a look at the Falcons tomorrow night at their meet the teams. I know I won't see much but I'm ready for the season to start.
Anxious to hear how they do on Friday at Unioto. I hear there's a chance that McCray could possibly be back in December.
If Kelly and Alley are both playing underneath they are gonna have to play tough. I think with Gullion, Rowe, and Stapleton on the perimeter, they should score with ease. I agree that it's going to take a TEAM effort to win this year but I think this year's team will play very unselfish because they just want to win.