Pfloyd's Elite 8 of Southern/SouthEast Ohio ... Dec. 16th

[pfloyd]

... as the snow clears or at least slows down Below the Lancaster-Dixon Line we can definitely see a division of the Elite 8 mix ... Zanesville/Chillicothe/Vinton County have established themselves as the cream of the crop and have settled into the top 3 spots on the list ... while the 2nd division teams are proving that every week, every game will be a challenge, that any team can beat any other team on any given night - unless you are playing the top 3 teams on the list - just take your "L" and move on ... Zaneville/Chillicothe/Vinton showed all the components of being the top dogs in Southern/Southeast Ohio ... doing it with defense ... ZHS allowing only 52 ppg ... CHS 28 ppg ... VC 45 ppg ... while the trio at the top all averaged over 70 ppg this past week - led by VC at 79 ppg ... as for the rest of the Elite 8 ??? depends on the night and the opponent AND who has possession of the ball last ...


Pfloyd's Elite 8 in Southern/Southeast Ohio - Dec. 16th ...


1. Zanesville ... added 2 more wins to their handy dandy pocket schedules this past week beating fellow D1 playa Reynoldsburg 77-62 showing a balanced offensive attack with 5 in double figures ... the Blue Devils finished the week by beating up on the Warren Warriors 64-42 at the Warrior Dome ... Logan Aronhalt led the way with 30 pts/ Cedric Harris chipped in 11/7 assts/4 stls / Andre Harris scored a double double with 13 points and 10 rbs ... the ville will take on a couple of visitors to ZHS this week as the Logan Chieftains call on Friday before rival Newark follows up on Saturday night ...


2. Chillicothe ... the Cavs took on SEOAL foe Ironton as their only game this past week ... holding the Tigers to just 28 points while putting up 74 ...Anthony Hitchens outscored IHS by himself with 30 points HIS 2nd straight 30 point game while the Cavs defense held their 2nd opponent in a row to less than 32 points ... looks like "defense" is the name of the game in Chilli town this year ... Coach K has the athletes to get it done this season AGAIN ... this week trips to Jackson followed by a Cincy trip to take on Winton Woods is on the menu ...

3. Vinton County ... moved to 6-0 on the season beating the "havoc ball" Athens team 98-40 before visiting the Eagles Nest beating Belpre 61-50 ... Andrew Eberts led VC with 18/4 threes ... Dustin Guthrie 14 pts/19 rbs ... Jake Prater who is rounding into form chipped in 16 pts ... the Week that IS has VC taking on TVC rival Alexander Friday night before traveling up Rt. 50 to Southeastern HS for a Saturday night special ...

4. Huntington HS/Fairland HS ... both schools kept their records unblemished as they played through the Week that Was ... Huntington beat a very good Piketon ball club ... HHS was led by Josh Kellough's 31 points - can you say POY "again" ??? the BIG game of the week was cancelled due to the weather as Huntington was set to take on Vinton County at the Convo Saturday ... Fairland DID make the trip to the Convo to finish out a clean sweep of both of this week games beating Coal Grove before pummeling Southeastern at the Convo get together 71-34 ... Michael Lamb is the real deal at 6-5 but the BIG story is the play of the Dragons 3 perimeter boyz Matt Bloomfield/Cole Hatfield/Zach Jordan - the boyz run the show, push the ball in transition, play the pressure defense ... excellent starting group on the river for Coach Belville : Jordan/Bloomfield/Hatfield/Lamb/Bumgardner ...


5. North Adams ... the 7-0 Green Devils handed a 20 point loss to 5-2 Lynchburg Clay 84-64 before ending the week beating a previously undefeated Waterford HS team at the Convo 60-55 ... the win Saturday showcased the NA pressure in the 2nd half of the game - NA forced 22 TOs on the night ... offensively the Devils were led by guard Kraig Unger's 27 pts/ followed by #50 Tyler Rothwell/#31 Stephen Sparks ... the Devils starters are all in the neighborhood of 6-4 only one senior in the bunch ... hmmmm very good last year ... undefeated so far this year ... next year ???????? - priceless ... I will need to see the NA gang again before the Race for the Convo begins ...

6. Oak Hill ... finished the week at 1-1 after playing a couple of nailbiters ... beating a very game Minford Falcon team on a last second tip in by Ryan Borden (2 of his 5 points on the game) Kyle Ondera added 17/Jesse Slone 14 and JD Hale 10 points ... Saturday night had "fate" getting even with the Oaks as River Valley nipped OHHS on a 3 pointer at the buzzer - 64-61 in Rio Grande ... Coach Persin goes on the road this week to take on the West Siders of Porstmouth West Tuesday before starting the Christmas break vs the Rebels of South Gallia on the road Saturday night ... the Oaks drop to #6 from the 4 spot ... the Oaks have a BIG stretch of games after the New Year that will tell us what the Oaks are made of Jan. 8 thru Jan 22nd : @ Northwest/ vs Waverly/vs Valley/@ Wheelersburg/vs Minford ...

7. Wheelersburg ... just last week the Pirates of Coach Barrick were reeling from 2 straight losses ... tonight and one week later the Burg has righted the ship, showing the character of the players as they picked up 2 quality wins on the week ... beating an athletic Ironton Tiger team 63-52 before wrapping up the week vs a "flying high" Northwest Mohawk squad beating NWHS 62-49 ... the Burg was led by Drew Spradlin's 20 points/Matt Jenkins 13/ Andy Stegman's 13 ... balanced scoring the key to getting the Pirates back on track ... BIG Game this week for the Orange and Black Pirates as they travel to Waverly to take on the Orange and Black Tigers in the Tuesday night special ...

8. Warren/South Point/Logan Elm ... the Warren Warriors of Coach Maddox waited all week to have #1 Zanesville come calling Friday night ... when they did I'm sure they wanted it to be a much shorter visit than the 32 minutes on the game clock - 64-42 ZHS ... 0-1 on the Week that Was ... the Warriors look to get that "confidence" back as the Bulldogs of Athens come calling Friday evening ... Logan Elm ... the Braves played 2 tough games this past week losing to a 3 headed juggernaut in Adena on a 4 point play to end the game 36-35 ... before beating a skidding Fairfield Union (5-3) team 57-54 ... it doesn't get any easier for Coach Stiverson's boyz as they take on a one loss Circleville team before going to Canal Winchester to play OSU bound 7-footer Mullens & Co. on Saturday night ... finally we welcome to the Elite 8 the South Point Pointers (5-0) ... the Pointers worked their way onto the list this week with a big W over River Valley 67-65 on a last second shot by Zach Woody ... led by Sophomore Todd Mayo's 21/Beau Weed 10/Zach Woody 10/Drew Lynd 8/Corey Taylor 4 pts & 8 Rbs/ Chirs Hughes 3 pts & 5 assts ... this will be an interesting week as my schedule shows SP playing Ironton & Portsmouth both on Tuesday the 18th before taking on South Webster the 22nd - tough week LOL ...


... Treehugger Wannabees ...

Federal Hocking
Greenfield McClain
Westfall
Adena
Chesapeake
WhiteOak
Waterford
Circleville
Piketon
Lynchburg Clay
Reedsville Eastern
Fairfield Union
River Valley
Northwest
Washington Court House
Waverly
Minford
Marietta
Portsmouth East
Ironton


... Teams on the End Table ...

Logan
Portsmouth
Alexander
Belpre
Zane Trace
Peebles
Western
Coal Grove
Rock Hill
Unioto
New Boston


... that's how the "snow effect" Week that Was ended ... could have, would have looked different IF the Saturday afternoon contest between Vinton County and Huntington Ross had been played - someone's undefeated season would have ended , the face of the Elite 8 would be have been altered however slightly ... new week, new games, more surprises? ... we'll be watching from the Cheap Seats as usual ...

[Steely Dan]

pfloyd - Excellent analysis, as always. Very nice work! Appreciate your efforts.

[fhsfan]

Pfloyd,

Great analysis. I agree our guards and starting 5 are good, but I think our depth is the biggest key to Fairland's success. I will disagree with your big 3 being cemented. I would say no one is close to 1 and 2, but I am not sold on VC.

Fairland and Huntington are both solid clubs that are well coached. I think Fairland is averaging around 71 a game and giving up around 49.

[pfloyd]

... I haven't seen Fairland other than the game at the Convo Saturday, I know Coach Belville played 12 in that one ... there are lots of interchangeable parts for FHS ... Adam Berry played very well (8 pts) , Chad Fisher came off the bench to nail a three pointer like he was used to shooting from behind the arc ... Calieb Hatfield/Tyler Godby/Ethan Long all got minutes vs Southeastern ... hard to make a trip to the river without it being called a "vacation" LOL ... AND looking at the roster the Dragons will be in the mix next year as well - only 2 seniors on the card ...

[Cameron34Crazie34]

why isnt west sliding up there, they are 3-2 and playing some good ball right now!!!!!!!

[pfloyd]

... VC playing Huntington would have given ALL of us a big insight into the Vikings at this point in the season ... my opinion is that the Vikings will continue to get better and better as the year goes along (not that anyone else won't either) ... the shoes that were left by Albright/Henry/Day departures are being filled in a hurry AND imo in a way that is making VC more dangerous than last years squad ... Prater is back from the leg injury ... I'm sticking with VC in the top 3 until something happens "on the court" to change my mind ... I saw Waterford Saturday at the Convo - not a team that can hang with VC imo ... they will lose games this season other than to North Adams - Vinton Co. , Federal Hocking, Belpre are among them that will put "L's" on the WHS pocket schedule ...

[pfloyd]

... talk to me about West after this weeks games vs Oak Hill and North Adams ... they got beat by Coal Grove (37-43) and hammered by Minford (45-80) both under .500 teams ...as I said we'll keep an eye on the scores of the 2 games this week for the 'siders ...

[Ironman92]

Nice list...about as much as I've ever agreed with you.

All my years of shouting probably has 4-3 Whiteoak too high....Manchester should be mentioned.


What is Unioto's record....I know they have some close losses.....but 6 or 7 games into the season the win column needs to be getting a little more important.

One of their close losses was to Jackson....who also beat Minford by 10 points.

I don't think Jackson deserves to be listed.....but IMO they are above Unioto based on what they have done.

[Bozo]

Unioto is 0-6.

[Ironman92]

No Eastern Brown?

They took down Minford by 12 on a 100 mile road trip (not that Minford is a nice walk to the Convo or anything)...beat D2 Hillsboro and are playing everyone tight (which you seem to be giving credit for with about 10 of your teams listed)

[Ironman92]

Unioto is 0-6?


No way should they be listed above Eastern Brown, Manchester, Jackson...and probably several others.


Though dani appreciates it I'm sure.

[theassassin]

River Valley (3-2) just beat Oak Hill ranked #4, at the time. Their 2 losses are to #13 Chesapeake and #8 South Point (on a last second shot). RV opened the season with a win over Eastern Reedsville but yet are ranked 2 spots below them in this weeks rankings???

[BLUEGRASSVIKE]

Nice list as usual. I think you are correct in the top 3 being "cemented".
I couldnt see any of the other top 8 hanging with chilly, Z-ville or VC on a neutral court. Although the cancelled game this weekend would have done a lot to prove that. I hope VC and Huntington rescedule sometime soon on a neutral court.

[4sporterEHS]

No complaints on this, but i wish i knew the record to every team that is listed

[Ironman92]

sounds like RV should be above Reedsville Eastern

[pfloyd]

... wow and I liked what I saw in Eastern Brown's "W" at the Convo too ... some very balanced scoring ... the lefty down low in Jarod Snider - he's a really nice player down in the paint - gets his shot off vs taller players ... Tyler Knabb hit the 3 ball 4 times Saturday as well ...

... hey!!! I make a few mistakes and omissions LOL ... there's a lot of teams out there folks ... Unioto - I've seen them play ... I liked the mix of players on the floor for the Shermans ... at 0-6 they ARE dropping ... no "Ws" this week has them falling off the End Table onto the floor ...


... we need to post the current records of the teams on the List ... I was going to hold off until next weekend to ask for help in updating the records for the teams BUT I think NOW would be a great time to get everyone (including me) caught up with the current records of teams entering the Week that IS ... what say you ? start ripping off the records of the teams so we can have them added to the mix ... thanks

[Ironman92]

Did Captain Jack have an unannounced retirement?

He did it last year with some help...but was very helpful to me I know.

[4sporterEHS]

Ironman, its a good thing that Pfloyd has a keen liking to Eastern! Don't convince him otherwise. Rv will be coming to Eastern later on to settle it though.

Can someone post the record of every team? Its alot to ask for, dont have to do it.

[4sporterEHS]

Sory, i didnt read your post pfloyd, about the record posting. Disregard the lower part of my last post please.