Monroe Central 24-25

[MetalheadGamer87]

Don't overlook Malvern. That coach Tucci is one of the best in the state.
Those Hiland boys will be hard to beat.

[Hookshot]

Noles lose to Wheeling Central tonight. If they can’t beat WC there’s 0% chance of even hanging within 20 points of Hiland. Personally I doubt they beat Crooksville

Monroe Central would be +28 over Crooksville in Vegas.

[JeepNation26]

Don't overlook Malvern. That coach Tucci is one of the best in the state.
Those Hiland boys will be hard to beat.

I agree, Malvern and Monroe Central should be a great game, but I don't see either of them being able to beat Hiland.

[PvcBball]

Would the hypothetical Malvern and Monroe Central game be played at a neutral site?

[JeepNation26]

Would the hypothetical Malvern and Monroe Central game be played at a neutral site?

It'll be a neutral site, but they haven't announced where at yet.

[selonmc]

Despite my negative post I still do believe in the Noles. Good luck tomorrow night against Crooksville

[OHBuckeyesIO]

Noles cover Vegas' +28 spread and take it 73-33. Slow start but turned it on after being down 16-15 I believe and dominated the rest of the way. Crooksville hit several shots early and #12 had a great game. They had a couple boys get in foul trouble, most notably their big man who seemed to do a little of everything. Tucker Howell had a very nice game, lots of uncharacteristic missed layups by a few different players though. Shot well from 3 and had well rounded production. Not the caliber game that is going to take down Hiland, but not their best either. Malvern won 60-41 over Ft Frye I believe, so we will get to see the MC Malvern match up as expected. Cambridge/Meadowbrook seem to be logical locations as each are near an hour from each school and easy drives.

[muskiefan11]

Game vs Malvern will be played at Harrison Central per East District Twitter page

[selonmc]

That seems like a fair place as far as driving. I’m not sure about the facility. Never been there

[muskiefan11]

That seems like a fair place as far as driving. I’m not sure about the facility. Never been there

School/gym are absolutely beautiful, one of the best facilities in the East District. Built about 5-6 years ago. Have became a frequent Tournament and even OVAC final host the past few years.

[LADYRIDER73]

That seems like a fair place as far as driving. I’m not sure about the facility. Never been there

School/gym are absolutely beautiful, one of the best facilities in the East District. Built about 5-6 years ago. Have became a frequent Tournament and even OVAC final host the past few years.

it is a nice facility. it is not much bigger then union local was. the only difference between the 2 is harrison has some seats behind one basket.

[IVCguy]

I know that the Hiland program has been anticipating meeting MC in the district all year. They have a ton of respect for those guys. Of course that means MC has their full attention and the coaching staff will have the Hawks prepared for the challenge.

This Hiland team is a little different. It is a good offensive team, but not great. They have 2 primary scorers, but a bunch of guys you have to guard.

Their strength is defense. When I saw them play early in the season, I was so impressed with every aspect of how they played on and off the ball, full and half court. There is no noticeable drop off when the second 5 come in. They make everything you do with the ball difficult. It is so hard to get HS kids to play defense with that kind of discipline. It has been a clinic on how you play defense - and they have continued that.

It can be defeated with some combination of sound ball handlers, speed, and length. They do have some issues guarding big, strong post players. They compensate with positioning, digging, and ball pressure. But if you can get the ball in there to a big man scorer, you can do damage.

I also think you can get an advantage against them if you can play good defense yourself and limit their main scorers.

Should be an outstanding match up - assuming no upsets early this week. I'm sure the MC staff will have a good plan and prepare their team as well.

[selonmc]

Thanks for the info on Hiland. The staff is well aware of what Hiland brings to the table. But they need to focus on Malvern. Do you have any info on them?

[IVCguy]

Thanks for the info on Hiland. The staff is well aware of what Hiland brings to the table. But they need to focus on Malvern. Do you have any info on them?

I like this Malvern team. They have had some uber-talented and/or big teams over the years. I would say this version is a notch below those elite teams.

Their PG is a very athletic kid (Hutchinson - they have had a bunch of them up there). I love how hard he plays and he is very good defensively. He has an odd shot where he almost pushes/hurls the ball at times. They have a 2 guard that is a slasher, scorer. He is #11, I believe. Gotta keep track of him. Their QB is a 6-4 to 5ish 4 player. Slender, athletic build, very good athlete. When you look at him, you think he should be a little more productive than he is, but still a nice piece. In the middle they have a left tackle type of kid: tall, strong, and has girth.

Overall as a team I wish they were a little more fundamentally sound with their ball handling, but they like to play fast, so that's part of that issue. They play about 9 kids, but that will probably get cut down a little with this kind of opponent.

They are pretty tough, hard-nosed kids, like their coach. They will play hard and you have to match that. Defensive rebounding will be important for MC.

You beat them by matching their effort and intensity and playing more fundamentally sound than they do. If they are getting offensive rebounds, fast break points, and turning you over, they are very capable of beating you up.

[IVCguy]

If you want, I believe you can find a few Malvern games on the WTUZ YouTube channel. I watched them play Stuebenville a few weeks ago and their sectional championship game the other night.

[selonmc]

If you want, I believe you can find a few Malvern games on the WTUZ YouTube channel. I watched them play Stuebenville a few weeks ago and their sectional championship game the other night.

All good info. Thanks I’ll check it out

[Sportsfan01]

I think Monroe gets past Malvern, but where I think Malvern could make it interesting is the way they use their size in their press.

[buckcc]

So tell me something about this Monroe Central team,I watch them in there ovac championship game, couldn't hit from outside in that game, looks like if you contain Howell and don't let Allen drive to the basket,he looks like he's very athletic, I'm also hearing that if MC has a weakness it's there point guard and handling the ball when being pressured,if MC doesn't have deep bench they could be in trouble with Hiland's pressure defense,the Hawks are very deep with 10 to 11 guys playing with not much drop off and The Hawks they have speed at all positions,if you want to play a track meet with them, your taking a big chance, but let's both worry about Caldwell and Malvern first ,when the Hawks beat Malvern in the showcase a few weeks ago, trust me they showed as little as possible in that game and I'm sure Malvern tried to do same

[selonmc]

MC does struggle against full court pressure initially. But that begin to figure it out and what you’re doing to get you out of it. The Wheeling Central game a week ago is not the best game to go by as their 3pt shooters were off that game. Noles are 8 to 9 deep. The offense runs through Tucker Howell. He’s the school’s leading point scorer in history. MC will play tenacious man on man defense. Sometimes full court pressure.

I guess the bottom line is they’ll try to get Howell the ball underneath but they can shoot the 3 if you’ll leave that open. It’s true there is no pure point guard and the ball handling can get erratic leading to turnovers… but from what I’ve seen when they are on they can beat the press with good passing.

[buckcc]

It seems like MC in that ovac championship game,kept shooting from the college three point line most of the game, that is going to throw off three point shooting a lot, this game is going to come down to coaching adjustments ,who can play there best defenseive game and also who been tested the most in the regular season games,MC as definitely up there schedule from last year,there league is down a lot other than Caldwell, Hiland has played some really big teams and physical teams to and some really athletic teams like Harvest Prep for one,I guess we will see if MC or Hiland schedule ,which one will pay off in the tournament