Pioneer Valley Offseason BUZZ

[EasternDspy]

1.Fort Frye- Return 2nd team all-district player Shon Smith.He will be an all-state canidate.Also return Zach Eddy 6-4 (13ppg) Sr.Kyle Schwendeman and Chandler Lang will also bring speed and shooting ability.Not a lot of size or depth and they lose coach Dan. 2.Monroe Central- Jimmy Baker and Wise will return and will have size on other teams. 3.Trail returns 2 very good guards. 4.Frontier- A very good Soph class will be Jrs.Jefferson (11 ppg) got a lot of awards and will have to be a go to guy.Jake Minder Sr will need to score more.They will play very good D.5.Shenandoh- Don't return much but Hurst is a player. 6.Caldwell- Return a very good coach and Eli Svercek.7.River lost almost all scoring.

[newlex/sheridan]

1.Fort Frye- Return 2nd team all-district player Shon Smith.He will be an all-state canidate.Also return Zach Eddy 6-4 (13ppg) Sr.Kyle Schwendeman and Chandler Lang will also bring speed and shooting ability.Not a lot of size or depth and they lose coach Dan. 2.Monroe Central- Jimmy Baker and Wise will return and will have size on other teams. 3.Trail returns 2 very good guards. 4.Frontier- A very good Soph class will be Jrs.Jefferson (11 ppg) got a lot of awards and will have to be a go to guy.Jake Minder Sr will need to score more.They will play very good D.5.Shenandoh- Don't return much but Hurst is a player. 6.Caldwell- Return a very good coach and Eli Svercek.7.River lost almost all scoring.

1. Trail-Bever, Roe, Starr, Patterson, Larrick.-Not sure they will put it together but they have a lot of their production coming back in comparison to the rest of the league.
2. Fort Frye-Smith, Shwendeman, Lang, Eddy-New coach, no depth. This could go either way I can see them finishing anywhere from 1st to 4th.
3. Caldwell-Wiechman, Svercek, Hesson, Croucher, Sawyer.-Not deep but experienced. Soph Wiechman will give smith a run as the best guard in the league. Incoming Frosh class is very talented.
4. Central-Baker on the perimeter and wise in the post, will Kinchen play if he has a football offer? Have a solid soph guard and a few bigs to fill in. Not very deep and not nearly as solid as this year. Could jump a few spots. Also have a strong frosh class.
5. Shenandoah-Hurst and a big off the Jv team provide skill. New coach will have impact on how they finish. Could go anywhere from 3rd to 7th.
6. River-The big kid (#10) is back and solid. Fielded a decent JV team. Could finish last as well.
7. Frontier-Jefferson, Salazar and skinny guard #24. Nothing else. This team will struggle to score points. Could potentially jump River but I don't see it.

*League will be competitive again. Five teams have a legit chance to win the P.V.C. IMO, the league won't be as good as last season but things cycle. There are some talented younger kids coming in to the league. Without coach Liedtke and Schwieterman for the first time in 29 and 35 years respectively, the league will have a much different look.

[EasternDspy]

Shon Smith is by far the leagues best player..Did you watch him at Meadowbrook in the tourney?Scored 35 vs WM he will be a beast an be a 23 ppg or more player.FF jv went 17-2 with only losses to Warren.Chandler Lang is better then Weichman.Weichman use to go to FF camp.Good player but not Chandler Lang who dominated JV.FF has 4 of the leagues top 10 guys but doesn't even have a 5th starter maybe Caden Brooker,Spindler ,or Dusky.

[stylepoints101]

depending on the coach shenandoah gets i think the zeps could rival fort frye this year. Eli Hurst Jr , Derek Leasure Sr, Shane Crum Sr , Danny Nuehart Jr, and James Luyster a 6'5 Jr , i assume will be their main five , with Seth Thompson, Kalob Davis, Micheal Leasure and Brandon Farnsworth(Brett's brother) comming off the bench . all these players are very skilled and all seen varsity minutes last year , not as much as others though seeing how shenandoah lost their starting 5 from a year ago . i think Hurst will be the second best player behind Smith ,but i think that Nuehart will turn some heads this year. he is the most complete pointguard in the league . if the zeps get the right coach , they could go 17-3 , but if not they go 14-6 or 12-8.

[EasternDspy]

All those players played JV for Shenandoah last season andFF beat them twice without Smith and Eddy.Trail will be good but I think FF is the favorite again.

[newlex/sheridan]

Shon Smith is by far the leagues best player..Did you watch him at Meadowbrook in the tourney?Scored 35 vs WM he will be a beast an be a 23 ppg or more player.FF jv went 17-2 with only losses to Warren.Chandler Lang is better then Weichman.Weichman use to go to FF camp.Good player but not Chandler Lang who dominated JV.FF has 4 of the leagues top 10 guys but doesn't even have a 5th starter maybe Caden Brooker,Spindler ,or Dusky.

Agree smith is easily the best returning player in the league. Though it can be much tougher to score your points when you don't have as much help and he had some quality help in the departing senior class. You also have to remember that Wiechman played 2 qtrs a night of Jv ball on a bad JV team, when he played quality minutes with the varsity last yr you could see his potential. Wiechman is a full year younger then the kids in his grade, he has grown and developed a lot in the past year. He is playing on a high end AAU team out of the Zanesville area and is doing very well. He and Svercek will give Caldwell a nice back court this year.
Stylepoints, I agree, Hurst has a lot of potential. You are also right, coaching will tell how their season goes. The only thing of concern with that bunch is the lack of varsity experience, it does make a difference.

[stylepoints101]

I dont know about Buckeytrail, they still seem young . Roe, Bever , and Larrick got alot of varsity minutes but the lacked confidence on the court. Roe standout game against Fort frye, in double OT i think it was ? but i seen him play three or four other times and he seemed out of control alot . i think the sophmore class trail is bringing in will be solid with starr leading the group with doudna and some others. As for shenandoah, Crum and Derek Leasure are 3 year lettermen and Hurst and Thompson are 2 year letterman . they have the potential but right now thats all it is , potential .

[EasternDspy]

Leasure and Crum rarely played varsity not sure how you can bank on them.Jordan Jefferson will be one of the leagues better player if I had to guess his stats I would say 15 or 16 and 8 rebounds.Frontier has a decent Jr class coming up with Salazer,Jay Eddy,Taylor Merckle,Jefferson,Jared Irvin,Dylan Oneal,and Dusty Wright.Those guys mixed with Sr Jake Minder(24) and Transfer Dylan Naspshir(?) they should be a 10-10 team a year a way.Also like freshman Drew Schnieder to throw in there with names like Weichman,Starr,and Chandler Lang.Still think Chandler Lang is top freshman.

[stylepoints101]

Crum started almost half the year for shenandoah last year . i am banking on him to be pvc defender of the year .

[jayhawkpimp021]

Crum actually played some quality minutes during the sectional game as well as games late in the season.. him and heath watson split time for the zeps at the 5 man position.. zeps return alot of potential so it could turn out good or bad for the zeps esp coming in with a new coach.. sleeper pick buckeye trail could suprise some this year w 3 talented guards in roe, beaver and sophomore sensation tyler starr stepping up to fill in a hole that trail has needed for quite some time.. played quality minutes last year as a freshman.. i see him stepping up big this season.. fort frye takes the cake in this one though with shon smith in there.. he's only going to get better with the cadets although the coach isnt there.. the style will live on.. liedtke built a dynasty.. his assistants will make sure upkeep continues

[stylepoints101]

i never seen lang play varsity , but i seen starr a couple times and he seems pretty legit . he's dominant on both ends of the court , but is leathal from 3 .

[EasternDspy]

Chandler Lang dominated JV and Trails JV.He scored 20 plus pgg and would have played varsity on any other team in the league but FF.He will be star has dressed varisty in every sport and has excelled in AAU.

[rickoshay]

1.Fort Frye- Return 2nd team all-district player Shon Smith.He will be an all-state canidate.Also return Zach Eddy 6-4 (13ppg) Sr.Kyle Schwendeman and Chandler Lang will also bring speed and shooting ability.Not a lot of size or depth and they lose coach Dan. 2.Monroe Central- Jimmy Baker and Wise will return and will have size on other teams. 3.Trail returns 2 very good guards. 4.Frontier- A very good Soph class will be Jrs.Jefferson (11 ppg) got a lot of awards and will have to be a go to guy.Jake Minder Sr will need to score more.They will play very good D.5.Shenandoh- Don't return much but Hurst is a player. 6.Caldwell- Return a very good coach and Eli Svercek.7.River lost almost all scoring.

Love your optimism Charlie Go Cadets...

[EasternDspy]

Well they return 2 of leagues top scorers in Eddy and Smith.Just think how good they would be with Jefferson the 5th starter.With all the teams losing most of the team besides Trail which lost the teams most important player double double machine Watson.Fort Frye has to the favorite.The JV was 12-0 in PVC winning games by average 14.4.Everyone lost a lot yea Watson,Legrean,Hilverding were good players but they are all replaceble but Garrett.I would take Lang and Schwendeman over Hilverding and Watson.They just are not deep.

[stylepoints101]

trials freshman team went 19-0 with starr and doudna playin alot of varsity . i think fort frye has the most talent in their starting five , but trail has more talented players on the whole team . i see trail going 9 or 10 deep .

[EasternDspy]

Trail will proabably beat FF once.Not sure how Lang and Schwendeman handle pressure.Smith and Eddy are clutch and will have to be leaders.Smith scored 16 in a row to end the game vs WM.Eddy made 7 FTs in OT vs Trail last year.FF will be money from outside.

[stylepoints101]

i think that both teams will play alot alike , the only real difference is larrick in the post . he needs to fill out and get stronger to become a dominant factor . roe and smith play alot alike but smith is better. i like them two to fight over first place in the pvc, then Monroe central and Shenandoah are toss ups for 3 or 4 .

[EasternDspy]

Larrick needs to work on his touch.He throws the ball hard instead of just shooting it.

[stylepoints101]

he's the tallest palyer in the pvc as far as im aware of at 6'5 . i think he needs to fill out and hit the weight room to be able to compete with the Bryan Sawyer of caldwell and Crum of Shenandoah, Sawyer being about 6'3 240 and crum being 6'2 220lbs of solid muscle with great hops . Barnesville's kirkpatrick i think is around 6'4. who is Fort frye gonna put in the post now that Garret is gone ?

[EasternDspy]

I'm sure Zach Eddy will guard the post at about 6-3.The new coach will most likely run open post with no true post player.Even Garrett Legrean never played back to the basket.FF will have 4 perimeter shooter on the floor most of the time.