Villa-Angela St. Joseph's 73 Fairland 50 (2017 Final Four)

[Gluefactory]

Good fortune to the Fairland Dragons in the final four from your friends and basketball fans from Scioto Co. and the SOC ll .

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

VASJ is nothing more than a Cleveland AAU all star team. Them & others at the Schott this weekend totally defy what high school state finals should be all about. Yes, I have tickets & will continue to attend these recruited 'all star' games - but that doesnt mean I agree with the current set up.

BULLDOG I'VE SAID THE SAME THING ABOUT FOOTBALL TEAMS LIKE THIS AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER.

BUT THE FLIP SIDE OF THAT COIN IS. I REMEMBER A VERY SMALL,( BY IRONTON FOOTBALL STANDARDS ) GOING TO THE AKRON RUBBER BOWL AND WINNING THEIR 1ST STATE FOOTBALL TITLE AGAINST A HUGE AKRON SAINT VINCENT SAINT MARY'S TEAM , WHO LOOKED LIKE WE WERE PLAYING NOTRE DAME THAT DAY.

IF YOU ARE STILL PLAYING, YOU STILL HAVE A CHANCE. I HEARD AT CHURCH YESTERDAY, THEY HAVE NO SENIORS. WOW.

[4out1in]

VASJ is nothing more than a Cleveland AAU all star team. Them & others at the Schott this weekend totally defy what high school state finals should be all about. Yes, I have tickets & will continue to attend these recruited 'all star' games - but that doesnt mean I agree with the current set up.

Not really the case. You might be thinking of St Ed or Garfield Heights (a public but one of the biggest recruiters I've seen). VASJ's kids don't come from all over. Most of their team can either walk or ride a bike to school. If you want a better example of an AAU all star team in DIII, it would be Roger Bacon.

[Turd]

Wow! The dragons are making there appearance to the final four!! I laugh at the fact that Fairland may be an underdog, haven't you guys ever heard of the fisher boy that played several years ago? Rumor has it they are bringing him in to prep the kids to play, that alone gives them the edge, man that kid could play.
Dragons 109 without fisher 135 with
Cvj 35
Gonna take more than AAU style to beat thems dragons!!

[Jumper2003]

Heard FHS is not calling off school for the state championship semis? Seriously?!

[dragonalum]

I know I'm a little biased, but I think this team is incredibly special. They've beaten some great opponents this year (including the WV AAA State Champion, Huntington High) and I really think that as long as they keep their heads focused and play ball like they know how to they will win this game.

Dragons 68
VASJ 64

Hey Dragons, I believe...

[93Bulldog]

VASJ is nothing more than a Cleveland AAU all star team. Them & others at the Schott this weekend totally defy what high school state finals should be all about. Yes, I have tickets & will continue to attend these recruited 'all star' games - but that doesnt mean I agree with the current set up.

Not really the case. You might be thinking of St Ed or Garfield Heights (a public but one of the biggest recruiters I've seen). VASJ's kids don't come from all over. Most of their team can either walk or ride a bike to school. If you want a better example of an AAU all star team in DIII, it would be Roger Bacon.

No, I'm talking about VASJ.

The team they showed up to the Schott with the year before last was ridiculous. Probably could have won the D1 title.

[FlyingBuckeye3]

Heard FHS is not calling off school for the state championship semis? Seriously?!

Rumor has it school has been cancelled on Friday now.

[sportsmom20]

Good Luck Fairland from the Athens Bulldogs! The Dogs will be cheering for the Dragons!!!!!

[trojandave]

Congratulations to the Fairland Dragons on achieving what most high school teams never get the chance to do........play in the Final 4!! Putting the game aside for a moment, players, coaches, and fans of FHS should enjoy every minute of this week. It is a special time in the Dragon community that will live forever in sweet memories. The buildup to the actual game itself is something hard to describe, since it is something that is so different than the normal high school basketball experience. Many involved have never been there before, so sitting in the Schottenstein Center watching their team come out on the court, warm up, and play in a state semifinal game will seem so different than any game they have been to before. The Final 4 is the showcase of Ohio high school basketball, and fans from all walks of life are there to see your team play.

Cherish this week, Dragon fans!!......what the team has accomplished is a very rare and difficult feat.

As far as the game, Fairland most likely will be playing their toughest opponent of the season. VASJ, for the size of school that they are, probably plays the toughest schedule in the state, with one of their wins being at Akron St.Vincent-St.Mary, which is in the D2 Final 4. Much of their schedule is D2 and D1 schools. This is the school's 16th state appearance, which breaks a tie with Portsmouth for the 2nd most appearances in the state tournament.

I watched the Dragons beat Hiland rather handily, but I think FHS will have to turn their game up a notch or two to beat the Vikings. VASJ will not be intimidated by Fairland whatsoever. They are used to playing schools with athleticism and multiple bigs. I don't think the game plan for Fairland has to be any different than what it's been for 26 games thus far. I did notice against Hiland that the Dragons missed way too many layups which could be costly against VASJ. FHS doesn't have to play a perfect game, but a very good game to win.......and THEY CAN WIN. As I posted earlier on another thread, Portsmouth was a huge underdog to Cleveland Cathedral Latin in the 1978 Class AA state championship game. Latin was the defending state champion, and the Trojans had a 19-7 record. But PHS prevailed 63-62 on 2 late FT's and stunned the Lions in a game in which many thought was not possible.

Perhaps one of the most important factors to win at this level is to believe in yourselves. Fairland is 26-1, played a challenging schedule, have the same starting 5 from a year ago, with a similar rotation, same coaching staff, so there is a special chemistry with this group. Getting off to a good start is so important in big games. Clay and Vinton County did not do that, and being in a big hole early is very difficult to make up against very good teams.

I know this is a long post, but I can't emphasize enough how the Fairland community should soak up every minute of this week. It is truly a special time in Dragon Nation. At Portsmouth, we still talk about our state tournament experiences from years gone by, most recently 2011 and 2012, our first back to back appearances in school history. Even though we didn't come away with the state title in either year, we still felt very proud to see our Trojans playing on Ohio's biggest stage.

Let's see a sea of green at the Schott on Friday. Go Dragons!! Go OVC!!

[DragonDad]

As far as schedule the Dragons did play Columbus Hillard #5 ranked D1 team. However to be fair that was the one loss on the record. Did beat Huntington Highway which just won WV AAA (like our d1) state championships. Can't wait for Friday.

[bighead]

Good Luck Fairland !

[ShooterFlatch]

Run em off the boards!!

[LucasDavenport]

I like Fairland's chances better because they are free wheeling and play unafraid. Kinda like Northern Iowa the year they beat Kansas to go to the sweet 16.

Sometimes our teams go up there outmatched physically and when the structure breaks down or they get behind it's an issue.

If my memory serves correctly Wheelersburg ran into Cleve VA SJ and David Leighty (OSU) In one of their last visits.

Everyone ought to tweet Mike and Mike and ask Golic for a shout out ---- tomorrow or Thursday. Especially Thursday morning around 9:30. He might do it since he mentions Cleveland St Joes sometimes as an alum.

Clark Kellogg, Desmond Howard, Elvis Grbac. .... nice list of Alums

I look forward to this one on Friday Morning. We have our book of tickets and it's nice having a local team in it.

[TheFlyingDutchman]

Congrats and good luck to the Dragons
Congrats to 93 and Tiger Bait for again beating a dead horse

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

dutch you know it's true.and we is still buddies ain't we. -------------------------------- when someone says vasj could have won d1. hit kinda makes ya wonder. it's obvious as my belly.

good luck Friday to the fairland dragons. beat the brakes off'n them city fellers.

[TheFlyingDutchman]

Always Bait. Until something improves with inner city education there will be a mass exodus to Private schools and suberb schools. I do agree that some of these small schools that are popping up are basketball factories and very well might be recruiting but how do you prove that ?

[TVC]

Private schools have advantages over the public schools which propel them over these public schools. Why not make a separate division for these private schools to compete against each other rather than them beating up on all the public schools? Let the kids that are a part of the public high schools have the chance to hoist a championship trophy at the end of their season and make all their hard work pay off. Splitting the public and private schools would level the playing field. It is something that should be done.

This was from an article in PA. Same ole story everywhere. Only people that cant see it are the privates themselves and those blinded by $$$

[sportsmom20]

It is the same story everywhere right now. Went and watched the ladies West Virginia state finals weekend before last, same story. Public school vs. private school. In talking with people around at that game, the state also entertained making two separate divisions a couple of years back. The argument from the private schools is the distance they would have to drive to play other private schools during season and that was not something they wanted to have their student athletes endure. Now I am not sure if that is a valid concern or point, but something that state's private schools used to stop the split.


Good luck to the Dragons, lots of support coming your way!

[LucasDavenport]

Truly looking forward to watching Fairland trying to Slay The Dragon!!

Side note: Perhaps with all the new schools popping up in some of the bigger cities they will start to spread the talent a little more evenly? Canabalize themselves?

It's interesting that the Traditional Private Schools don't bother me -// maybe because when Cincinnati Moeller comes to the state tournament they will bring a fan base and tradition. It's the new ones with 50 people at a tournament game that give me pause.

The bigger public schools do similar things : In Dayton if you are a great athlete you usually end up at Dunbar. The elementary teachers will tell you -- those 3 will end up at Dunbar....

Maybe our Local Schools should do that. Designate Schools for academics and musical programs and athletics and elementary students go to the best suited for them in that area. That way every school wouldn't have to fund a band program or a musical.....,

Wait this is making too much sense..... I just realized if I lived in Cincinnati my kids would have gone to Roger Bacon and Mount Notre Dame.....

The system is fine.


Go Fairland. Represent! You are carrying a bigger banner now.