Pfloyd's Elite 8 for Southern/SouthEast Ohio - Week #1

[pfloyd]

... the Morgan Raiders should be in the Southeast District ...

[mattash]

And Fort Frye... Frontier?

[trojandave]

I saw the Gallia Academy Blue Devils vs. Africentric, and GAHS has the look of a Final 4 team. I know it's early in the season, but the Blue Devils are for real. Not only is Zach Loveday a matchup nightmare, but the Blue Devils have an excellent cast around him. The Nubians are super athletic, and no one in the SE district has that kind of quickness. Yet GAHS battled back from a 41-22 halftime deficit to pull even at 61, then Africentric nailed the game winning jumper with a second to play. Nevertheless, if Gallia Academy plays that way in the tournament, a Final 4 berth is very possible. Africentric themselves might be a Final 4 team in D3.

[pfloyd]

I saw the Gallia Academy Blue Devils vs. Africentric, and GAHS has the look of a Final 4 team. I know it's early in the season, but the Blue Devils are for real. Not only is Zach Loveday a matchup nightmare, but the Blue Devils have an excellent cast around him. The Nubians are super athletic, and no one in the SE district has that kind of quickness. Yet GAHS battled back from a 41-22 halftime deficit to pull even at 61, then Africentric nailed the game winning jumper with a second to play. Nevertheless, if Gallia Academy plays that way in the tournament, a Final 4 berth is very possible. Africentric themselves might be a Final 4 team in D3.

... thanks trojandave for the input ...

[basketball12349]

Hey 93,

I question why a two loss Athens team is ranked ahead of Alex. Of course i always question where Athens is ranked!

I would not debate that right now.

Why not. That is what this forum is about debating and discussing who is where and what’s happening in sports

[basketball12349]

Question: anyone know how the competition has been for Athens? Is it a respectable 2-2 record or not. Haven’t been able to catch any games.

[pfloyd]

I had Alexander at the #46 spot in the Pre-season ranking ... Alex beat my #52 Southeastern jumping them to #38 for the ".5" weekend ranking - didn't have to move them up at all considering Southeastern was 6 spot below Alexander ... with the win over Vinton County (excellent first half but hanging on for dear life in the 2nd half ... 3 more seconds they lose to VC again in McArthur) I jumped Alexander 7 more spots up to #31 ... the committee moved Alexander up the rankings 15 spots in the first week of play ... Vinton County started at #25 in the Preseason ... VC beat #40 Huntington - VC STAYED PUT at #25 ... VC lost by 3 sec. to Alexander whom they out played in all phases of the game in the 2nd half of the game ... VC moved up 1 spot to #24 due to the double down at the #9 slot with Waverly & Athens ... VC has moved up 1 spot in the rankings while Alexander jumped 15 spots ... Vinton County goes to Athens on Friday night & Meigs next Tuesday while Alexander plays at home vs Meigs Friday/Waterford Saturday night ... some games for both that will tell me more about both teams ... I'm good with where both Alexander & Vinton County are right now with only 1 week in the books ...

[TravisHill222]

Why isn't LE in your top 10

[93Bulldog]

Your flaw is in the preseason ranking, Floyd. Lol

Shouldn't be so much emphasis put on high school teams that haven't even played a game. Too many variables when it comes to the 15, 16, 17 year old athlete.

Besides all that, with what VC had returning (next to nothing) and what Alex had coming back (almost everything) - there shouldn't have been so much separation between the two to begin with.

And then to be undefeated (3-0) and beat that team straight up on their own floor - AND still be below them? Come on now. There weren't 3 more seconds, the game was 61-60 Alex ... And didn't they have a 20-point lead at one point? It's not like Sparty got lucky and pulled off an upset.

[Ironman92]

You can say if a few more seconds VC wins but then you could say with 10 more seconds Alex would’ve retaken the lead.

I’m not arguing as I have VC about 3 spots from what you do....which is impressive considering they returned very little from last year

[pfloyd]

Why isn't LE in your top 10

... they aren't a top 10 team - yet ... they struggled with Liberty Union Saturday night at home ... not a good shooting night for the Braves ... trailed 13-7 end of 1, 22-20 at intermission, 36-35 after 3 ... defensively held LU to 1 fg in the 4th quarter (LU had their 2 leading scorers in the game foul out in the 4th) ... LE has 2 wins over not very strong teams in Miami Trace and LU ... #17 is good for the youngin's from Logan Elm - should be a W vs Westfall tomorrow night, then at Fairfield Union Friday & Bexley Saturday night ... a good week for LE coming up to tell us more about the Braves ...

[Pa Trojan]

I agree about pre season rankings, let em play at least five and get back to me, when all is said and done pfloyd will be preety darn close to where they set....

[TravisHill222]

Why isn't LE in your top 10

... they aren't a top 10 team - yet ... they struggled with Liberty Union Saturday night at home ... not a good shooting night for the Braves ... trailed 13-7 end of 1, 22-20 at intermission, 36-35 after 3 ... defensively held LU to 1 fg in the 4th quarter (LU had their 2 leading scorers in the game foul out in the 4th) ... LE has 2 wins over not very strong teams in Miami Trace and LU ... #17 is good for the youngin's from Logan Elm - should be a W vs Westfall tomorrow night, then at Fairfield Union Friday & Bexley Saturday night ... a good week for LE coming up to tell us more about the Braves ...

How is Sheridan in the top 10 then because they also struggled with LU

[pfloyd]

Your flaw is in the preseason ranking, Floyd. Lol

Shouldn't be so much emphasis put on high school teams that haven't even played a game. Too many variables when it comes to the 15, 16, 17 year old athlete.

Besides all that, with what VC had returning (next to nothing) and what Alex had coming back (almost everything) - there shouldn't have been so much separation between the two to begin with.

And then to be undefeated (3-0) and beat that team straight up on their own floor - AND still be below them? Come on now. There weren't 3 more seconds, the game was 61-60 Alex ... And didn't they have a 20-point lead at one point? It's not like Sparty got lucky and pulled off an upset.

Hard to rank high school teams in the preseason - I do the best I can with what I have/what I know - overall the preseason wasn't bad ... sorry - I'm not raising a team over 20 spots in a week ... the only team that goes 20 points in any direction is Portsmouth - ask trojandave - he gave me a verbal beat down at Piketon last weekend for something that happened last year I believe ... it's all good ... I rate them as I SEE them ... I listen to the opinions of all ... the rankings always work themselves out over time ...

[93Bulldog]

It's all good Floyd ... Lol
Makes for good conversation.
Not wanting to jump a team that far is understandable. I just had a problem with so much separation between VC & Alex to begin with. I mean, I know & follow the TVC as closely as anyone, what was it about VC that had them so far above Alex? I've talked to all my McArthur pals all fall and they were worried about finishing above .500. Yates/Spires went to Jackson, Griffith not even playing a whole season last year, all 5 starters graduated ... On the flip side, all speculation surrounding Alex with all key components returning (including an injured Stone Markins-Irwin) was that they could very well be the TVC Ohio front runner.

[pfloyd]

Why isn't LE in your top 10

... they aren't a top 10 team - yet ... they struggled with Liberty Union Saturday night at home ... not a good shooting night for the Braves ... trailed 13-7 end of 1, 22-20 at intermission, 36-35 after 3 ... defensively held LU to 1 fg in the 4th quarter (LU had their 2 leading scorers in the game foul out in the 4th) ... LE has 2 wins over not very strong teams in Miami Trace and LU ... #17 is good for the youngin's from Logan Elm - should be a W vs Westfall tomorrow night, then at Fairfield Union Friday & Bexley Saturday night ... a good week for LE coming up to tell us more about the Braves ...

How is Sheridan in the top 10 then because they also struggled with LU

... Ethan Heller, Dylan Emmert, Luken Hill, Grant Heileman, Landon Russell, Amere Royster = Elite 8

[93Bulldog]

Haha I agree with that!

Sheridan, imo, is the team to beat in Logan.

[pfloyd]

It's all good Floyd ... Lol
Makes for good conversation.
Not wanting to jump a team that far is understandable. I just had a problem with so much separation between VC & Alex to begin with. I mean, I know & follow the TVC as closely as anyone, what was it about VC that had them so far above Alex? I've talked to all my McArthur pals all fall and they were worried about finishing above .500. Yates/Spires went to Jackson, Griffith not even playing a whole season last year, all 5 starters graduated ... On the flip side, all speculation surrounding Alex with all key components returning (including an injured Stone Markins-erwin) was that they could very well be the TVC Ohio front runner.

... the rankings are just what you pointed out - A CONVERSATION STARTER ... went back to one of my posts on the Preseason ranking thread :

"... as we all know the Pre-season rankings are a "starting point" ... trying to get teams "as close" to where they should be as I can so that we don't have teams jumping 20-30-40 spots in a week or 2 ... I try always get to the Alley at least once a season - always need to stop in a give shout at Lou Horvath on the PA ... good people at Alexander for sure ... I will keep a close eye on the Spartans so the adjustments can be made for not only them but others in that first couple of weeks of the season ..."

... teams ALWAYS settle into where they should be after the first couple of weeks - the Pre-season Rankings are done to get the "conversations/arguments/opinions" started ... sure glad I don't make everyone happy or there wouldn't be anyone reading this thread LOL ... I used to end my rankings back on jjhuddle with "let the beatings begin !" ... it still holds true LOL ...

[pfloyd]

... hmmmmmmmmm over 2000 "views" in less than a day for the Elite 8 ... trojandave better hope Portsmouth goes undefeated - they might drop out of the SouthEast district in my rankings ... just kidding trojandave !- no team goes off the End Table ...

[OHHS old timer]

Oaks have a YUGE week to say the least...

Really have to give the kids (and staff) those first 3-5 games to see what chemistry they have.

Another great job....Yoda....I mean pfloyd.