Franklin Furnace Green 43 Fairfield Leesburg 38 a D4 District Final

[pfloyd]

Green 43
Fairfield 38 a final


... I watched the Fairfield Leesburg win over Western Pike ... physical game, that had a couple whistle been blown/not sure how they weren't the Indians would have been at the Convo instead of FHS ... some "stuff" taken from the Western game - Fairfield struggles vs physical/strong defensive teams (at least in the post "the player to remain unmentioned" part of the season) ... Western exposed that factor imo ... fast forward to last night - Franklin Furnace Green - a veteran team starting 4 seniors - Levi Sampon 6-4/Gabe McBee 6-2 the only real height in the lineup ... off the bench freshman Jonathan Knapp ... overall my impression from last night is that they ARE strong/physical/like contact and play dishing out contact ... hmmmmmm sounds a lot like the Western Pike team that almost ended the Fairfield season earlier this week in Piketon ... between the 2 teams Fairfield vs Green ... Fairfield came across the more "polished" TEAM - disciplined/patient with the ball while the Green Bobcats less disciplined, a little swagger/attitude in their game on both offense and defense ...

... after watching the intensity of the 1st game last night between Federal Hocking and Portsmouth Notre Dame - this one almost had me going to concessions for a the $10 pizza in the middle of the opening quarter ...Fairfield struggled both inside and outside offensively ... 0-5 from behind the 3 point line ... the only fgs for the Lions in the quarter were off of misses/offensive boards with putback buckets one each from jr Larkin Friend from his PG position and one from 6-5 sr Gunner Bennington ... Green showed their physicality in taking the ball strong to the rim ... getting 3 straight drives into the paint for points ... 6-4 post player Levi Sampson 5pts/ 6-2 sr power forward Gabe McBee added 6pts including 2/2 from the line ... both teams played a fairly clean opening quarter with FHS with 3 turnovers /Green 2 ... Green 11 Fairfield Leesburg 4 after 1 ... Fairfield won the 2nd qtr putting up 8 pts to Green's 6 ... sr Tj Mootz opened the period for the Lions getting a 2pt bucket in the paint, Trey House a 5-10 junior knocked down the first 3 pointer of the night for FHS 3pts/ Wyatt Collins added a drive to the rim for 2 to finish off the scoring from the floor and Friend went 1/2 from the FT line to end the qtr for the Lions ... Green was 1/3 from beyond the arc ... sr Gabe McBee going deep to open the Bobcat scoring in the 2nd ... the only other fg in the period was a drive to the bucket from McBee the younger - Abe ... freshman Jonathan Knapp added 1/2 from the line ... Green 17 Fairfield 12 at the half ... team stat lines thru 2 quarters ... Green 1/4 from 3's/ Fairfield 1/9 ... Turnovers FHS 5/ Green 3 ... both teams had 4 fgs in the paint ... fouls were even hard to come by as Fairfield only committed 4 Green3 in the opening half ... the 3rd period had Fairfield outscoring Green 13-8 to forge a tie by the quarters end ... Fairfield got a little life from their 3 seniors - Bennington knocked down a 3 ball (5pts) and got a putback bucket ... TJ Mootz added a 2 pt field fg + 2/2 from the line (5pts) ... Friend drove to the rim for 4pts in the period ... the 13 point quarter for the Lions pulled them even with the Bobcats at 25 as FHS scored 2 fgs from 3 point land with Levi Blevins picking up 2 treys (6pts) /Gabe McBee got into the paint for 2 pts to finish the Bobcat scoring ... 25-25 heading into the 4th ... the final period was controlled by the physicality of the Bobcats - the Lions of Coach Williams seemed to lose the discipline/patience that helped get them through the personnel issue at midseason, kept them in the win column for a 22-0 regular season ... when Green took the lead for good at 33-31 with 5:24 on the clock on a Sampson miss in the paint, followed his shot got the board and put it back in at the rim it gave the Bobcats momentum/confidence and seemed suck both out of the Lions ... after a Green 6-2 run aided by back to back transition baskets the score was 39-33 Bobcats ... Lions put FHS on the line with Sampson hitting 2 of 2 and Abe McBee adding 1/2 from the FT line ... at 2:19 on the clock the score stood at 42-33 ... Bennington drained a 3 ball and a medium range jumper from the FT line area 42-38 Bobcats with :16 seconds remaining ... Abe McBee fouled going 1/2 from the line to close out the game ... the 4th quarter scoring for Fairfield Wyate Collins 6pts including a 3 pointer/Bennington 5 points with a 3 ball/ Friend 2pts in the paint ... for Green Gabe McBee/Levi Waddell a 3 pointer each in the period/ Levi Sampson took offensive control of the game with his 6 point / Abe McBee a 2 pter and 2/4 from the FT line/ Levi Blevins 2pts ... Green 43 Fairfield 38 a final ...

... Pfloyd's official UN-official Napkin Stats - Fairfield Leesburg

Scoring ... Gunner Bennington 12, Larkin Friend 9, Wyatt Collins 8, TJ Mootz 6, Trey House 3
3 Pointers ... 4/21 ... Gunner Bennington 2, Trey House 1, Wyatt Collins 1
FTs ... 6/7
TOs ... 9
PnP ... 9 fgs/ 18 points in the paint
PnT ... 0
Pbk ... 2 fgs/ 4 points on putback buckets

... great season for the Lions ... hard to absorb 22ppg loss from the offense BUT the Lions with solid defensive efforts, increase scoring by TEAM with everyone stepping up - Mootz/House in particular in the 9-0 run to end the season ... last night the duo only salvaged 9 points between them ...

... Pfloyd's official UN-official Napkin Stats - Green

Scoring ... Gabe McBee 14, Levi Sampson 11, Levi Blevins 8, Abe McBee 6, Levi Waddell 3, Jonathan Knapp 1
3 Pointers ... 5/10 ... Gabe McBee 2, Levi Blevins 2, Levi Waddell 1
FTs ... 8/11
TOs ... 10
PnP ... 7 fgs/ 14 points in the paint
PnT ... 3 fgs/ 6 points in transition
Pbk ... 2 fgs/ 4 points on putback buckets

... Green moves to 20-5 on the season ... excellent season ... nice win over Fairfield last night ... moving into the NEXT level competition in the Regionals Tuesday night ... best of luck to Coach King and the Bobcats ... Congratulations on the District Crown ...

[Jimbobscousin]

Unless I counted wrong Green is now 21-5

Eta
Nice write up Pfloyd

[pfloyd]

Unless I counted wrong Green is now 21-5

Eta
Nice write up Pfloyd

... might be the Hocking County math thing LOL ... I had them at 17-5 in the regular season + 3 wins (ISJ,PV,Fairfield) = 20-5 ... I'll fix it ... when I did the write-up I took the record in the program 18-5 and just added the W over Fairfield to get my 19-5 (check and verify - I didn't do ) ... thanks Jimbobscousin ...

... Greens 2 wins over Paint Valley and Fairfield ARE impressive ! I think for my money the win over Paint Valley is more impressive than the Fairfield win as PV had their whole roster of players ... I have to apologize to BOTH Green and Notre Dame (SOC1) ... when I do the season rankings - strength of schedule DOES factor into the weekly rankings ... both of these teams based on their post season performances can play with a lot of teams that were ranked ahead of them ... wish their non-conference schedules would have been more robust as this next level /regional play is a different animal ... I as always will be supporting the SE district teams - I wish the Bobcats the best in the Regional Semi's Tuesday night ...

[socsportsfan1]

Unless I counted wrong Green is now 21-5

Eta
Nice write up Pfloyd

... might be the Hocking County math thing LOL ... I had them at 17-5 in the regular season + 3 wins (ISJ,PV,Fairfield) = 20-5 ... I'll fix it ... when I did the write-up I took the record in the program 18-5 and just added the W over Fairfield to get my 19-5 (check and verify - I didn't do ) ... thanks Jimbobscousin ...

... Greens 2 wins over Paint Valley and Fairfield ARE impressive ! I think for my money the win over Paint Valley is more impressive than the Fairfield win as PV had their whole roster of players ... I have to apologize to BOTH Green and Notre Dame (SOC1) ... when I do the season rankings - strength of schedule DOES factor into the weekly rankings ... both of these teams based on their post season performances can play with a lot of teams that were ranked ahead of them ... wish their non-conference schedules would have been more robust as this next level /regional play is a different animal ... I as always will be supporting the SE district teams - I wish the Bobcats the best in the Regional Semi's Tuesday night ...

Didn't Fairfield go 10-0 without Cannon before the loss to Green? Also, in that span didn't they beat North Adams (D -III District Finalist) more convincingly without him than they did with him? I think they beat a few teams more convincingly without him. Reality is they were still undefeated and state ranked and an excellent team. That still has to be the more impressive victory of the two. Also ND gave FH all they wanted without their starting PG for basically the entire game. That was ultra-impressive to me given FH's guards and style of play.

They can only play the teams on their schedule. Hard to schedule really, really tough competition when their small programs are so cyclical. I'd also argue that many of the roundball pundits on here haven't thoroughly done their homework on the quality of these teams schedules and scrimmages. For the record Pfloyd, Green scrimmaged Wheelersburg, Minford, Piketon and Manchester. How is that for preparing them for the season that they have had? They also chose to play Greenup County twice (huge school and some impressive wins/games during their season) New Hope, Eastern Pike, South Webster and Rock Hill in their non-league. Notre Dame was very similar in their scheduling of scrimmages and non-league games.

Quality is quality. I know it can be hard to evaluate the small schools sometimes, but definitely felt their was a bias against them for too long into this season. The fact is that the SOC-I has now produced 3 District Champions in a row and several more in the past decade. There has been a wide-held belief and myth that playing in a conference with bigger schools better prepares teams for the tournament. It can, but those aren't the facts. South Webster and Paint Valley are two div. IV schools who play in predominantly div. III leagues. How many district titles do those schools have in comparison to the SOC-I school over the past decade or two decades?

[Ed Ott]

Unless I counted wrong Green is now 21-5

Eta
Nice write up Pfloyd

... might be the Hocking County math thing LOL ... I had them at 17-5 in the regular season + 3 wins (ISJ,PV,Fairfield) = 20-5 ... I'll fix it ... when I did the write-up I took the record in the program 18-5 and just added the W over Fairfield to get my 19-5 (check and verify - I didn't do ) ... thanks Jimbobscousin ...

... Greens 2 wins over Paint Valley and Fairfield ARE impressive ! I think for my money the win over Paint Valley is more impressive than the Fairfield win as PV had their whole roster of players ... I have to apologize to BOTH Green and Notre Dame (SOC1) ... when I do the season rankings - strength of schedule DOES factor into the weekly rankings ... both of these teams based on their post season performances can play with a lot of teams that were ranked ahead of them ... wish their non-conference schedules would have been more robust as this next level /regional play is a different animal ... I as always will be supporting the SE district teams - I wish the Bobcats the best in the Regional Semi's Tuesday night ...

Didn't Fairfield go 10-0 without Cannon before the loss to Green? Also, in that span didn't they beat North Adams (D -III District Finalist) more convincingly without him than they did with him? I think they beat a few teams more convincingly without him. Reality is they were still undefeated and state ranked and an excellent team. That still has to be the more impressive victory of the two. Also ND gave FH all they wanted without their starting PG for basically the entire game. That was ultra-impressive to me given FH's guards and style of play.

They can only play the teams on their schedule. Hard to schedule really, really tough competition when their small programs are so cyclical. I'd also argue that many of the roundball pundits on here haven't thoroughly done their homework on the quality of these teams schedules and scrimmages. For the record Pfloyd, Green scrimmaged Wheelersburg, Minford, Piketon and Manchester. How is that for preparing them for the season that they have had? They also chose to play Greenup County twice (huge school and some impressive wins/games during their season) New Hope, Eastern Pike, South Webster and Rock Hill in their non-league. Notre Dame was very similar in their scheduling of scrimmages and non-league games.

Quality is quality. I know it can be hard to evaluate the small schools sometimes, but definitely felt their was a bias against them for too long into this season. The fact is that the SOC-I has now produced 3 District Champions in a row and several more in the past decade. There has been a wide-held belief and myth that playing in a conference with bigger schools better prepares teams for the tournament. It can, but those aren't the facts. South Webster and Paint Valley are two div. IV schools who play in predominantly div. III leagues. How many district titles do those schools have in comparison to the SOC-I school over the past decade or two decades?

I don’t post very much on here but your posts often have such a rude tone.

Yeah I doubt 2 teams have more district titles than 8. I assume you are a Bengals fan.

So a team gets off to a great start and then loses their best player and then the team continues their great success. That seemed to be the case with Fairfield but as a former coach it had to be way easier to prepare for them without their best player and they had to be more limited even though it may have taken a bit for teams to adjust. Teams clearly figured things out on them and the last few weeks it sure looked like that team could use their star. Early on it appeared teams didn’t know what to look for without the star player playing.

Green was the better team and earned the win and every southern Ohio fan worth a darn is rooting for them and Federal Hocking. I don’t know that any team in southern ohio plays a great schedule but definitely some are tougher than others. Every coach on earth would say a tough schedule preps you for teams deep into the tournament, but you do have to get there and there are so many other factors.

[socsportsfan1]

My post was not intended to be rude. Pfloyd did apologize, but at the same time it felt back-handed. Fairfield was still a tremendous team with their prime player. They did beat NA twice, and more convincingly without him. That's a fact. I agree with your statement that the last two weeks teams were starting to play closer with them.

Not 2 vs 8 teams Ed. Argue the point. How many District titles does SW or PV have over the last 10 years? Oh, and your assumption is wrong as to my NFL allegiance.

How tough a schedule can the smallest schools in the district put together each year with highly fluctuating numbers and talent. Again, I gave you facts about the schedules that ND and Green put together, tell me what more they should have done. If you're going to reply to my post you could at least address all the points I raised instead of twisting and cherry picking a few. For the record, I appreciate the discourse. The point of my post was that I think the SOC- I was under rated and ranked all year, I pointed it out and supported it with some facts. I'm happy for all SE district teams that are fortunate to still be playing this time of year.

[Ed Ott]

My post was not intended to be rude. Pfloyd did apologize, but at the same time it felt back-handed. Fairfield was still a tremendous team with their prime player. They did beat NA twice, and more convincingly without him. That's a fact. I agree with your statement that the last two weeks teams were starting to play closer with them.

Not 2 vs 8 teams Ed. Argue the point. How many District titles does SW or PV have over the last 10 years? Oh, and your assumption is wrong as to my NFL allegiance.

How tough a schedule can the smallest schools in the district put together each year with highly fluctuating numbers and talent. Again, I gave you facts about the schedules that ND and Green put together, tell me what more they should have done. If you're going to reply to my post you could at least address all the points I raised instead of twisting and cherry picking a few. For the record, I appreciate the discourse. The point of my post was that I think the SOC- I was under rated and ranked all year, I pointed it out and supported it with some facts. I'm happy for all SE district teams that are fortunate to still be playing this time of year.

Not the foggiest idea how many district titles for the 2 teams. South Webster maybe 4 or 5? Paint Valley, not sure they have any but maybe one with the big boy. I thought they were D3 some years. I’ve read a few posts over the years where Pfloyd was snarky but typically came from others who posted. I didn’t read his post to you that way. I’d guess next year due to the Western, Green and Notre Dame successes he’ll give them more due. I do t know what anyone can do better. So many factors. I would take health and keeping your rotation players gradually improving throughout the season as my #1. If I’m coaching a team like East or Clay I’m finding teams we can beat and turn those 1 win seasons and move towards the 6-7 win seasons and hopefully build from there. If I’m Symmes Valley I’m playing those tough neighbor schools, gonna lose but hopefully battle for a league title. If I’m Western, Green, Notre Dame I’m going to schedule competitor non-league where we are slight underdogs but can compete….might have 3 more losses but hopefully a league title and better tested for district and regional play. But so many factors. I have no disagreement how any SOC 1 school did anything. They’ve done well the last few years for sure and I assume it’ll continue.

[pfloyd]

... there was/is NO backhanded apology in my post ... once teams move up the rankings (and you can't go just by record imo) you have to take a look at strength of schedule ... I COULD go by record only ... ANYBODY can go by record ONLY ... put 'em down 1-71 based on record - it wouldn't be worth the time typing it up ... I should probably just let the Martin RPI be the voice for ranking the teams ... I reread my post - I DIDN'T take anyone's post negatively at all - didn't think I replied negatively ... Fairfield WAS still an excellent team after they lost a player scoring 22ppg - not many teams are able to make up THAT offensive output being pulled from the stat lines ... that is a tribute to the other players who were on the floor - picked up the defense, players who took over offensively in crunch time - great season! no matter what the circumstances ... looks like I have to apologize for the apology ...

[socsportsfan1]

No, not at all. Fairfield was where they were for a reason. Their 4th straight trip to the District Finals. It is easy to acknowledge things after the fact, in this case maybe where ND and Green should have been ranked. Pfloyd acknowledged that in his post.

Ed, no way SW has won 4 or 5 in the past 10 years. Anybody actually know when the last district title was for the Jeeps? Was it 2013 in Ater's last season there?

[Ed Ott]

No, not at all. Fairfield was where they were for a reason. Their 4th straight trip to the District Finals. It is easy to acknowledge things after the fact, in this case maybe where ND and Green should have been ranked. Pfloyd acknowledged that in his post.

Ed, no way SW has won 4 or 5 in the past 10 years. Anybody actually know when the last district title was for the Jeeps? Was it 2013 in Ater's last season there?

Your original post said past decade or 2 decades

[Ed Ott]

No, not at all. Fairfield was where they were for a reason. Their 4th straight trip to the District Finals. It is easy to acknowledge things after the fact, in this case maybe where ND and Green should have been ranked. Pfloyd acknowledged that in his post.

Ed, no way SW has won 4 or 5 in the past 10 years. Anybody actually know when the last district title was for the Jeeps? Was it 2013 in Ater's last season there?

You saying Green and Notre Dame should’ve been ranked for much of the 2nd half of the season?

South Webster 6 district titles in last 20 years. Some district runner ups as 6 and 7 seeds. Paint Valley zero I believe

[danicalifornia]

No, not at all. Fairfield was where they were for a reason. Their 4th straight trip to the District Finals. It is easy to acknowledge things after the fact, in this case maybe where ND and Green should have been ranked. Pfloyd acknowledged that in his post.

Ed, no way SW has won 4 or 5 in the past 10 years. Anybody actually know when the last district title was for the Jeeps? Was it 2013 in Ater's last season there?

You saying Green and Notre Dame should’ve been ranked for much of the 2nd half of the season?

South Webster 6 district titles in last 20 years. Some district runner ups as 6 and 7 seeds. Paint Valley zero I believe

Paint Valley has one district title (1962) but did reach the district finals back to back years around 8-9 years ago. One of those years they went 10-15 with 3 1,000 point scorers on their roster. 16-9 the next year with 4 of them.

[packers80]

Good job bobcats

[socsportsfan1]

No, not at all. Fairfield was where they were for a reason. Their 4th straight trip to the District Finals. It is easy to acknowledge things after the fact, in this case maybe where ND and Green should have been ranked. Pfloyd acknowledged that in his post.

Ed, no way SW has won 4 or 5 in the past 10 years. Anybody actually know when the last district title was for the Jeeps? Was it 2013 in Ater's last season there?

You saying Green and Notre Dame should’ve been ranked for much of the 2nd half of the season?

South Webster 6 district titles in last 20 years. Some district runner ups as 6 and 7 seeds. Paint Valley zero I believe

In pfloyd's rankings I do think they should have been ranked higher, especially during the back half of the year. I posted on it on multiple occasions. I think that has been justified with their post-season performances. My argument was and is simply that the SOC I schools typically get dinged in his rankings because of their size and perceived weak schedule. Yet, the league has produced teams the past several years that have proven they belonged in higher regard. The top of that conference has fared quite well in tournament play particularly the past 10 years.

Ed, yes Webster has 6 in the last 20 years which includes 4 straight from 2004-2007 during that magical run they experienced. So, they have won 2 in the last 16 years? When was the last one? It is hard to empirically support that SW benefits in tournament play from playing in a bigger league.

[Jason Vorhees]

Since 2007, South Webster was District Champions in:
2011
2013

However, they’ve also made District Play in: 2010, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. Making the District Play 11 times since 2007 is pretty good in my opinion.

An SOC1 school, since 2005 we’ll say has won the District in these years respectively and what school:

2007: Western Pike
2012: Eastern Pike (SOC1 at the time)
2013: Notre Dame
2016: Western Pike
2017: Portsmouth Clay
2019: New Boston
2021: New Boston
2023: Green

Hopefully the statistics help everyone out here and I have them accurate.

[LABallers]

Jason, Western Pike also won the District in 2022 going on to the regional finals before losing.

[socsportsfan1]

Since 2007, South Webster was District Champions in:
2011
2013

However, they’ve also made District Play in: 2010, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. Making the District Play 11 times since 2007 is pretty good in my opinion.

An SOC1 school, since 2005 we’ll say has won the District in these years respectively and what school:

2007: Western Pike
2012: Eastern Pike (SOC1 at the time)
2013: Notre Dame
2016: Western Pike
2017: Portsmouth Clay
2019: New Boston
2021: New Boston
2023: Green

Hopefully the statistics help everyone out here and I have them accurate.

You forgot Western Pike last year, and I feel like you're missing one more, but not positive. In regards to South Webster, their last District titles did come a decade ago under Coach Ater then. Made district appearances in all 4 of his seasons there it appears. I agree that 11 district appearances is pretty good, but I do think the SW contingent expect to win sectional titles most years. For comparison, in that time span, Sciotoville has appeared at least 6-7 times, Notre Dame 5, Western Pike I think 9 times in District play.

This was Fairfield's 11th trip to District play in that span, and their 4th consecutive District Finals appearance! That is an impressive mark for this year's senior class. It is surprising that during this span their only District title came in 2014.

[Ed Ott]

No, not at all. Fairfield was where they were for a reason. Their 4th straight trip to the District Finals. It is easy to acknowledge things after the fact, in this case maybe where ND and Green should have been ranked. Pfloyd acknowledged that in his post.

Ed, no way SW has won 4 or 5 in the past 10 years. Anybody actually know when the last district title was for the Jeeps? Was it 2013 in Ater's last season there?

You saying Green and Notre Dame should’ve been ranked for much of the 2nd half of the season?

South Webster 6 district titles in last 20 years. Some district runner ups as 6 and 7 seeds. Paint Valley zero I believe

In pfloyd's rankings I do think they should have been ranked higher, especially during the back half of the year. I posted on it on multiple occasions. I think that has been justified with their post-season performances. My argument was and is simply that the SOC I schools typically get dinged in his rankings because of their size and perceived weak schedule. Yet, the league has produced teams the past several years that have proven they belonged in higher regard. The top of that conference has fared quite well in tournament play particularly the past 10 years.

Ed, yes Webster has 6 in the last 20 years which includes 4 straight from 2004-2007 during that magical run they experienced. So, they have won 2 in the last 16 years? When was the last one? It is hard to empirically support that SW benefits in tournament play from playing in a bigger league.

I read your post as maybe ND and Green should’ve been ranked 2nd in Pfloyds ranking, that didn’t make any sense the way I read it.

Mr Vorhees, it would be interesting to see the # of wins by each SOC1 team and Webster from sectional finals and beyond the the last 20 years and last 10 years. A lot of work but you seem to have the numbers