Pfloyd's Elite 8 of Southern/SouthEast Ohio ... Dec. 23rd

[pfloyd]

... not a bad week for "last weeks" Elite 8 ... the top teams combined for 21 wins and only 1 loss ... the lone "L" was handed to Logan Elm by Canal Winchester on Saturday night 55-82 ... after last weeks monologue stated that Zanesville/Chillicothe/Vinton County had established themselves as the cream of the crop in SEO - many took offense - especially the inclusion of VC in the mix ... the Huntington seopsters although tame in their opposition were grinding their teeth as their chance to prove me wrong disappeared with the cancelation of their head to head match-up at the Convo vs VC last Saturday ... but alas there IS a high school hoops basketball god it seems as THE GAME has been rescheduled for Friday December 28th @ Vinton County ... less than a week away now Vinton County vs Huntington HS - gotta love it !!! ... as for the Elite 8 for this week ... going to be an abbreviated rundown (less than usual BS on my part) - pfloyd is hitting the road for Christmas early in the morning, leaving no time to bloviate ... next week my committee of one - me - will get back to the normal routine ...

Pfloyd's Elite 8 in Southern/SouthEast Ohio ...

1. Zanesville / Chillicothe ... I know, I know the Ville is undefeated while the Cavs lost their first outing to Brookhaven ... both picked up 2 "W's" this week BUT!!! ... Zanesville played 2 at home beating up on Logan 93-36 before winning the backyard rumble vs Newark 55-39 ... both convincing wins (both at home) ... Chillicothe continued to dominate in SEOAL action as they once again held their league opponent to under 30 points ... the victim this week was Jackson - a 71 to 26 notch on the CHS belt ... the BIG boost that propelled Chillicothe into the first place tie was Saturday's "W" over North College Hill 83-70 ... big game, on a neutral court , in NCH's backyard - Cincy ... major performances in crunch time by their go to players Hitchens (24 points) and Chambers (29 pts/21 in the 4th qtr alone/ 4 monster dunks in a 30 sec time span to close out the game) ... imo the road performance was enough to put the Cavs into a virtual tie with the Blue Devils going into this weeks action ...

2. Vinton County ... the Vikings slide into the number 2 spot ...after taking care of "bidness" by handling Alexander 57-38 and traveling to Southeastern for a 70-44 win Saturday evening ... big statement game this week on Friday night vs Huntington HS ... ARE the Vikes worthy of the 2nd place position or will they give it up to the Huntsmen of Huntington HS ??? we will be watching from the cheap seats to find out for ourselves ...

3. Huntington/Fairland ... neither team blinked this past week as both held serve beating all comers ... Huntington was impressive in picking up 3 wins on the week beating Paint Valley 84-57, Westfall 73-51 and Western 90-47 ... the Huntsmen look more than ready for the big showdown with #2 Vinton County on the 28th ... Fairland took 2 wins themselves beating one of those foreign teams - Tolsia 75-62 before crushing the West(ern) Union - the money transfer specialists ... 80-52 ...

4. North Adams ... 2 W's to add to their handy dandy pocket schedules ... hushing the cries of the Portsmouth West fans to include the siders on the "lists" somewhere ... a 65-35 NA win ... this was preceded by a close 55-50 home victory over an always game Whiteoak squad of Pat Hines ...

5. Oak Hill ... Coach Persin's team rebounded from it's lone loss of the season vs River Valley by taking 2 this week ... beating Portsmouth West 55-46 ... South Gallia 77-49 ... both on the road ...

6. Wheelersburg ... the Pirates of Coach Barrick seem to have put the "burp" of back to back losses fully in their rearview mirror as they picked up their 3rd straight win ... this time using a solid defensive effort vs Waverly in beating the Tigers 50-37 ...

7. South Point ... the Pointers continue to impress me as Todd Mayo & Co. put away an improved Portsmouth ball club 66-54 ... downed South Webster 66-29 ... the stellar play moved SP into 7th spot all alone for the Week that IS ...

8. Warren/ Federal Hocking ... Coach Maddox's Warriors took out their aggressions on Athens 86-49 to stay in the final spot for this week ... games vs a very good Maysville team and an improving Belpre Eagle team this week will test the Warren Local staying power in the Elite 8 ... our NEW entry into the Elite 8 this week are the Federal Hocking Lancers of first year coach Coach Vale ... the disciplined/defensive minded Lancers just seem to "git 'r done" every time out ... this week was no different as FH beat Waterford 49-47 to jump into the top 8 begin breathing the thin air of the Elite 8 ...


...Treehugger Wannabees ...

Adena
Logan Elm
Chesapeake
Greenfield McClain
Piketon
Circleville
WhiteOak
Fairfield Union
Washington CH
Eastern
Northwest
Westfall
Lynchburg
Minford
Portsmouth East
New Boston
Belpre
Coal Grove
Alexander
Reedsville Eastern
River Valley
Waverly

Teams on the End Table

Ironton
Western
Portsmouth
Logan
Marietta
West Union
Rock Hill
Unioto
Peebles



... there you have it for the Week that IS - December 23rd ... everyone have a great Christmas holiday ... be safe, enjoy your families and friends ...

[pfloyd]

... a disclaimer - it's really late , if I have left anyone off the list that have been on the list, and it looks like they were left off accidently - they probably were LOL ... I'll check over the Treehuggers/End Table List again in the morning before I hit the road ...

[TheSportsGuy]

hushing the cries of the Portsmouth West fans to include the siders on the "lists" somewhere ... a 65-35 NA win

What's the anti-West bias? Yes, the Senators played badly this evening, but your logic is clearly flawed. Is it worse to lose close to Oak Hill and North Adams than to lose close to a team that's not going to win 5 games this year and to beat a team that won't win 3? That's the argument that was made in defense of New Boston this past week.

...Treehugger Wannabees ...
New Boston
Waverly

To say New Boston with no wins of consequence and a couple BAD HOME losses (including a ten point defeat to West) and Waverly whose one-win record puts them near the bottom of the conference are middle of the pack teams, with West unranked is a joke.

The Senators don't have any great wins on the year, but their losses have come to some quality opponents. Minford, Oak Hill, and North Adams account for three of the four losses, and the team lost a game AT Coal Grove (everyone know's it's hard to beat a Randy Ward coached team on the road).

Yes, the coaching situation is a mess and the new guys obviously aren't going to cut it. But the kids deserve some credit...though it's just an individual's online rankings.

I've spoken my case. Hope you enjoy the time away pfloyd and in spite of our disagreement, I wish you and yours a happy holiday season.

[Dshanton3]

cant argue with Z-ville being number one with their record and the dominance of their opponents they have had this year but i've heard grumbles from the Newark folk of a foul disparity in the game tonight! hahaha friendly jab at our fellow SEOAL team! congrats on a great win.

Chillicothe looked absolutely unbeatable in the first and 4th quarters tonight. they really are looking like they may be on the level of a Dunbar/Libbey at times. Glad to see them crawl up into a first place tie in the much respected Pfloyd's elite 8.

[Philos_Finest]

There was a foul disparity in the ZHS vs NHS game. Not because the officials were going one way or the other but because the way ZHS plays defense with thier feet. I was at the game & i don't know if one player from ZHS got a foul for anything to do with grabbing a player or a "block" call.

[sparky]

since ripley and fayetteville play in the shl with 8 southeast teams they should be included in your poll.

[danicalifornia]

sparky- I'll speak for pfloyd here. If those two would to be included, we would need some good, solid information on them. Ripley beat West Union and that's all I know about either team.

Oh yeah, and Ripley has like 4 names for it's school, I know that too.

[Ironman92]

I said what sparky said last week.

Ripley has defeated last year's D4 state champs @ Georgetown....beat Whiteoak by 14 at Whiteoak....beat Eastern Brown at Eastern

I think they are 5-2....but very unsure. Lost to Lynchburg Clay on the road.

They'd be top 15 for sure.

[Ironman92]

and for what it's worth.....I agree completely on the first 12 teams

[Focused]

pfloyd ~ Great job, as always.. It is always a pleasure to read your "elite 8".. I certainly appreciate what you do to make the roundball season enlightening, fun, and enjoyable.

[VIKED_MAN]

Nice job as usual!
GO VIKES

[pfloyd]

... MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

[local superstar]

Yes, the coaching situation is a mess and the new guys obviously aren't going to cut it. But the kids deserve some credit...though it's just an individual's online rankings.



SURELY YOU WOULD GIVE THE NEW COACH AT WEST (KITCHEN) MORE THAN 10-11 DAYS BEFORE YOU MAKE STUPID STATEMENTS LIKE THAT!

[pfloyd]

... a partial menu for this weeks games ...

Thursday 27th


River Valley
Gallia Academy @ URG


@ Warren
Maysville


@ Jackson
Kings High


Friday the 28th


Eastern
@ Meigs

Western
Waverly

Eastern Pike
Piketon

Huntington
@ Vinton County

Zanesville
@ Athens

Logan
@ Marietta

Portsmouth
@ Chillicothe

Ironton
@ Claymont


Saturday the 29th ...

Warren
@ Belpre

Northwest
@ South Point

Jackson
@ Vinton County



... list others in Southern/Southeast Ohio ...

[pfloyd]

... a few others to add to this weeks holiday menu ...



Friday the 28th ...

Oak Hill
@ Southern


Symmes Valley
@ Porstmouth Clay


Saturday the 29th

Wheelersburg
@ Huntington, W.Va.

@ Logan Elm
Zane Trace ... 4 PM Varsity Tip Off time

Circleville
@ Bexley

@ Fairfield Union
Sheridan ... 2:30 PM Varsity Tip Off time

[Tartanblue]

Friday

East vs Ironton St. Joe.


Is Kitchen the head coach at West or not.....first the Daily Times said he is then a day or two later they make a rewrite and it says the Triplet is the head coach at West now. Can they make up their mind or not.

[Philos_Finest]

Saturday night

Philo at Lancaster Fisher Catholic.

[bucking red]

Fairland plays Huntington St. Joe at home this friday.

[Zanes-Vegas]

We're the only team I know that gets jobbed at home, so others coming here and complaining are barking up the wrong tree.

Actually, if you look at ZHS stats over the years (ALL games), you will likely see that our opponents foul us much more than we foul them. That is a derivative of our attention to defensive skills as well as an attention to offensive skills that lead to DRAWING fouls. In fact, one of our barometers each year is if we're making more free throws than our opponents are taking. That's pretty consistent (and it helps that we are usually very good at the line -- I think we're around 80% right now).

pfloyd .. "Legally," if Zanesville and Chillicothe are tied for No. 1, then VC should be No. 3, not No. 2. That would follow, then, that SP is No. 8, and Warren and Fed Hock would not be in the Top 8. But it's your poll -- I'm not sending the cops in to book ya.

[pfloyd]

ZV ... Below the Lancaster-Dixon Line WE make the call on all disagreements ... here in the "outlaw" territories of Southern/SouthEast Ohio there are no rules so really no rules have been broken ...


... my 2 cents worth on any foul discrepancies in a ZHS game is that the 'ville plays defense the way it should be played - they don't grab bodies with their hands, ZHS players are always moving their feet, using their bodies to play defense ... I thoroughly enjoy watching ZHS play - they do it the way it should be done ... I've preached for years how a defensive team can literally "beat up" the offense - all within the rules - without getting into foul trouble ... just by using their bodies, feet to play defense ... there is no reaching, no overplaying , steals are the result of poor passes made by the opposition that are forced by solid double teaming by the D ... bottom line folks is that you'll never see where ZHS has more fouls than the opposition - if you do then we KNOW who got hosed and it wasn't the ZHS opposition ...