Pioneer Valley Offseason BUZZ

[newlex/sheridan]

I agree they will run their open post motion, Eddy will have to guard a big man this year, means more chances at foul trouble and more wear and tear on the body. Granted, he will pose an obvious mismatch on the offensive end for the opposing big men. The league is wide open, IMO. Some teams will match up much better with certain teams than they do others, should be interesting.

[EasternDspy]

Caden Brooker will guard the post for Fort Frye.

[EasternDspy]

1.Fort Frye (11-1).....To much scoring they will make a lot of 3 pointer. 2.Monroe Central (8-4) Jimmy Baker and Marcus Wise 3.Buckeye Trail (8-4) 3 talented guards and Larrick. 4.Caldwell (6-6) I like the coach but he sill is lacking talet.Weichman should be pretty good. 5.Shenandoah (4-8) Newhart is fast I think Eli Hurst selfishness hurts them.6.Frontier (3-9) 7.River (1-11).

[3 for me]

The top 3 of the PVC will all be a toss-up between Fort Frye, Buckeye Trail and Caldwell.

1. Buckeye trail- Loses Ethan Watson but returns a great backcourt of Roe and Beaver. Frontcourt is tall with Patterson and Larrick (even though he's pretty uncoordinated). They also have one of the best Sophomore and Freshman classes that the PVC has to offer. Also Starr returns to start and give them another downtown threat.

2.Caldwell- Losses 2 starters in Cody Morris and Dylan Sayre. Also lose good six man in Jeremy Shelton off the bench. Return 5 seniors in Darren Hesson, Jensen Croucher, Bryan Sawyer, Tyler abrams and Eli Svercek. Along with outstanding guard Jonathon Wiechman, this team could rotate from 1-3 but should be a very fun team to watch.

3. Fort Frye- Return the best player in the league in Shon Smith, and a nice core around him in Eddy and Chandler Lang. Schwendamen(sp?) should be the lookout player in the PVC, and will suprise many this year with his tough D and great shot. Depth will be a problem with this team, as well as many other teams in the PVC this year. Like I said about Caldwell and Buckeye trail, this team could rotate from 1-3

4. Monroe Central- they lost too much to come back as number 2 in the PVC, but I do believe they will be solid and win a good amount of their games.

5. Shenendoah- Inexperience at the Varisty level will hurt them,but they do have some young talent that if they step up, could movew them ahead in this list

6. River- Lost a lot of seniors last year but still have Jordan Indermuhle, and 2 other players that got solid varsity time last season

7. Frontier- Lost considerably all of their scoring from last year. They don't have a scoring threat behind Jefferson. It's going to be a really down year in all of Frontier's mens sports.

[EasternDspy]

I just don't see it.I mean Larrick and Patterson are not going to dominate and score 30 in the paint.FF core 4 of (Smith,Schwendeman,Lang,and Eddy) all dribble,drive,and score better then any other team in the league.I am sure they will lose some games on the road in the league maybe 2.Just don't see Abrams,Croucher,Weichman,Svercek,and Rucker matching up well with Cadets.I think Srs Duskey,and Spindler will step up on the bench.With sophmore Jordon Anderson they have 8 decent players so they are not is thin as most think.Just think how good they be with Jefferspn playinghe 5.

[newlex/sheridan]

Rucker won't see the floor for Caldwell this winter. He is playing indoor soccer instead of basketball. They will likely put Wiechman/Svercek at the guards, Hesson at the 3, Croucher/Sawyer in the post. Play Abrams/Carpenter off the bench. Likely will see a few freshman in spot duty. Their freshman class is very talented, the jv team will be young but very competitive this winter.

There will be a night when those outside shots don't fall for perimeter oriented teams, that is when you miss the post presence. I agree Fort Frye will be very good offensively but lacking size will hurt them on the boards and can cause foul trouble. Think the PVC is up in the air, I think the first five teams are all pretty evenly matched with River/Frontier bringing up the rear this year. Anything can happen, should be interesting.

[EasternDspy]

Shenanoahs whole varsity will be pretty much last years jv.FF smoked them with Lang,Spindler,and Dusky.

[newlex/sheridan]

Who was the tall, skinny kid who played JV for the zeps last winter? He had some potential. Saw them play my brothers team once. Any guess as to the likely starting lineups in the P.V.C. this winter?

[EasternDspy]

Frontier- Tayor Merckle Jr 6-1 F,Jordan Jefferson Jr F 6-1, Jay Eddy G 5-8 Jr,Eddie Salazar G 5-5 Jr, Jake Minder 6-1 G Sr-Bench Dylan O'neal F 6-1 Jr, Dusty Wright 5-10 Jr,Drew Schnieder 5-9 So G,Josh Kirkbride 6-0 Jr, Jared Irvin 5-7 R G,Dylan Abshier 6-0 So F...The team might not be ready for varisty but they are young and deep.

[EasternDspy]

Fort Frye- Shon Smith Pg Jr 5-9, Zach Eddy 6-3 F Sr, Kyle Schewendeman G 5-11 Sr, Chandler Lang 5-8 G So, Caden Brooker 6-0 Jr F Bench Anthony Duskey 5-8 Sr, Derek Spindler 5-10 F Sr,Jordan Anderson 6-0 So F.....If Spencer Lang ends up playing he will add an athletic player that can guard bigs,rebound,and run the floor.

[3 for me]

Is Jordan Anderson going to play? Or is he going to do winter running for track?

[EasternDspy]

I think so.

[newlex/sheridan]

So....we know that the only team in danger of making the playoffs out of the P.V.C. is Monroe Central so it looks like a month from now at least 6 of the 7 schools will have their players in the gym. Hard to believe we are in week seven of the football season already.

[Schott]

Fort will win the league with Caldwell coming in a close second. FF coach will be the difference maker. Experience.

[newlex/sheridan]

Fort has one of the best coaches in the state, boys and girls. He does a great job.

[3 for me]

Newlex, a little off topic, but what's your thoughts on Rosecrans, considering they lost Phyllis?

[newlex/sheridan]

They will be a different team without him, IMO. They will still be very good with Kirkbride (6'7 two man getting D1 looks), Parry at 6'6 in the middle and 6'3 and 6'0 role player/athletes in Hill and Dalton back. Jake didn't put up the numbers Kirkbride did last winter but he made the team go. You couldn't press them, he created tempo and distributed the ball well. When they played Malvern and Hiland in the district tourny and those teams took Kirkbride away he stepped up and took on the scoring load and kept his team in the ball game. They had a few nice JV players and should be a little deeper than last winter but its gonna hurt them without him. I still expect them to win 18 or more ball games, be the top seed in the Union Local sectional and at least play Malvern in the district semi again, possibly beating them and facing Hiland in the district finals (sorry to my brother, while I think Caldwell can and will get to the district this year a semi match up with the Hawks will be as tall an order as you could imagine). Not sure Rosecrans could have beaten Hiland with Jake, pretty sure they won't without him but that's why they play the game. Good luck to the Redskins this winter, expect them to be improved at all levels.

[newlex/sheridan]

Anyone up to date on scrimmage schedules? I know Caldwell is going to Claymont with another team (believe Harrison Central), they are coming to our place for a four way scrimmage with West M/Fairfield Christian/ and River View. Also have New Lex for a scrimmage and I believe are going to Crooksville with Trimble later in November. Was told that Waterford might be in there in place of Claymont based on travel times.
Fort is scrimmaging West M and Meadowbrook at Meadowbrook and I also know that West M has a date set with Monroe Central. Anyone else?

[I drain 3's]

Glad to hear some optimism coming back into the Caldwell program. They should only improve as the years go on as they have some good talent in the lower levels. Hope they perform well in these scrimmages. One of the best ways to improve your game is to go up against players that are as good or better than you, that force you to step up.

[newlex/sheridan]

few more weeks, practice starts November 4th.