2016 Pfloyd's Elite 8 of Southern/SouthEast Ohio - Preseason with Top 8 Previews ...

[93Bulldog]

Athens didnt have two starters yesterday. Micah Saltzmen, who has an injured wrist & Logan Maxfield, who was out of town.

[pfloyd]

... had the opportunity see the Chillicothe vs Logan scrimmage this morning - 2 good ball clubs ! ... I watched 4 quarters before leaving as both teams were looking to insert their benches freely in the 5th quarter of action :

Qtr. 1

Logan 13
Chillicothe 16

Qtr 2

Logan 11
Chillicothe 13

Qtr 3

Logan 10
Chillicothe 7

Qtr 4

Logan 19
Chillicothe 14


... pfloyd imo's ...

Chillicothe is a solid team at both ends of the court - controlled in the half court offense, patient in moving the ball effectively via the pass ... offensively spreading the floor to take advantage of their perimeter speed/quickness to get penetration ... on the penetration CHS took advantage of all of their options - kicking the ball back out for a 3 ... continue into the paint & dish inside or get to the rim ... nothing was hurried or out of control in the 4 quarters I watched ... Cavs stayed with the man to man D throughout ... solid pressure with their "on ball" defense ... looked to push the ball with missed & rebounded balls on the Defensive end ... Cavs are ranked at #10 in my preseason lineup - a good spot for the Chillicothe boys ... I will see CHS @ Bloom Carroll on opening night Thursday Dec 1st ...


Logan ... a solid first 6 ... Landis (6-6) , Bell boyz squared (6-0 to 6-1), Myers (6-4) & Henthorne (6-4) round out the starters with Wes Brooke as the first off the bench ... 8 players total on the varsity group, looks like Coach Rider will be filling in with JV players dressing to round out the bench ... in the top 8 - once you get into the bench there is no size (before the JV's dress up for varsity games) ...

... with the lack of a bench being a glaring weakness Logan will have to get away from their pressure man defense - at least for stretches of the game - just to give the starters a chance to slow down on the floor as they will be playing BIG minutes each ... any foul trouble will make life difficult for LHS ... with ALL of that said - the first 6 look as good as any team I have seen so far in the preseason - excellent perimeter shooting across the board , 6 players who can handle the ball, 6 players who can get into the paint ... the biggest matchup problems for teams will be vs the 6-6 Landis - he can play inside, has great length to get the ball up on the inside, handles the ball off the dribble to create his shot in the paint, can shoot the 3 ball as well ... the final quarter I watched had the Chiefs making a concerted effort to get shots AT the rim ... the ball was put in the hands of Landis, Myers, Bell ALL able to create for themselves, beat their man to finish at the rim or kick it out ... Henthorne , Logan's BIG MAN in the paint is a beast WHEN HE GETS the ball - it will be interesting to see how effective the perimeter players will be getting the ball inside to get Henthorne involved down low ... probably the weakest area I have noted on my napkins in the LHS scrimmages vs Southeastern, Athens & now Chillicothe - rebounding - Logan hasn't shown me the ability to get on the boards, to body up in the paint -YET ... Logan sits at #14 in my rankings with a big opening game with "struggling" #2 Unioto on Saturday Dec 3rd at Jim's Gym in Logan ...

[pfloyd]

Pfloyd's Elite 8 of Southern/SouthEast Ohio - Preseason

1. Fairland
2. Unioto
3. Vinton County
4. Miami Trace
5. Waterford
6. Fairfield Union
7. Warren
8. Lynchburg Clay


A pre-season glimpse at the Elite 8 at the top :

Fairland : Coach Speed has about ALL of the cards in the deck ... inside/outside game ... speed at both ends of the floor ... size , depth ... I can't find a weakness ... the top 6 in the book are all returning as only juniors this season :

Ty Staton 6-0
Isaiah Howell 6-2
Kollin Van Horn 6-5
Luke Thomas 6-0
Gunner Short 6-2
Darius Stapleton 6-6

Unioto : Coach Hoops & the Shermans don't have an empty cupboard ... the U has MORE than enough returning firepower & experience both on the perimeter and in the paint to make the #2 ranking stand up :

Logan Swackhammer (PG) 6-1
Casey White 6-2
Brandon Kennedy 6-1
Gabe Fisher 6-0
Gavin Ogan 6-5
Peyton Hill 6-5
Nick Adkins 6-5

Vinton County : Coach Combs brings yet another outstanding group to the hardwood in 2016-17 ... imo the most improved player I put the eye test on from the beginning of last season to the end of last season at the Convo was Naylen Yates for the Vikings - last year at only a sophomore Naylen Yates came into his own at the offensive end in the second half of the year ... he has good size for Below the Lancaster-Dixon Line at 6-3 , strong in the paint, a confident mid-range shooter ... a FULL breakout season is in the offing for N.Y. ... add to the mix PG Tristan Bartoe who played drive for drive with Griffin Lutz for Athens in getting to the rim ... he doesn't have Lutz's size BUT in the games I saw last season he had the better outside shot of the 2 ...

Tristan Bartoe PG
Naylan Yates 6-3
Derek Jones
Caleb Montgomery
Bo McIntire
Bryce Damron 6-7
Nevan Yates

Miami Trace : finished 16-8 season last year ... return ALL but 1 off of last seasons squad ... when everything was right MT was/will be as good as anyone in SEOhio period ... Coach Pittser will put a team with sectional & district experience on the floor :

Deandre Pettiford 6-1
Tyrae Pettiford 6-2
Blake Pittser 5-10
Darby Tyree 6-5
Mitchell Creamer 5-9

Role Players -
Cameron Carter 6-0
Skylar McDonald 6-0
Seth Leach 6-4
Jacob Batson 5-10

Waterford : Coach Simms has one of the most talented teams I watched all of last season no matter the division ... the Wildcats will dominate the TVC-Hocking again in 2016-17 ... experience , talent , good D4 size ...

Brice Hilverding
Tyler McCutcheon
Wyatt Lang
Travis Pottmeyer
Cody Harris
Jordan Welch
Issac Huffman
Andrew Theiman
Riley Burns

Fairfield Union : Coach Eversole & Coach Helber lost 3 players from the D2 District qualifier of last season ... the Falcons return Collin Woodside still only a junior Woodside is one of the best bigs in SEOhio hoops at a strong, football buildlike 6-5 ...

Colin Woodside 6-5
Lucas Thompson 6-4
Hayden Price
Camden Mollendick
Jack Wolshire
Justin Wolfe
Ben Miller
Tyler McMannus
Brad Miller
Spencer Conrad
Will Ogg
Austin McCafferty

Warren : Coach Maddox will bring to the court yet another experienced ball club - what's new right - Coach has good size , always good strength while putting perimeter shooters around the outside of the 3 point line ... some have questioned the Warriors being given a spot in the preseason top 8 BUT if anyone knows anything about SEOhio hoops you can't even begin to talk hoops without mentioning the Big Bad Blue under Coach Maddox ...

Kyler Dennis
Cameron Bartmess
Chase Weihl
Austin Barta
Bishop Ford
Bryce Gandee

others of note include Jared Hall, Joshua Huffman, Noah Nichols, Trace Congleton, Thomas Williams

Lynchburg Clay : ... hard to leave Coach Carson's Mustangs out of the top 8 in the preseason rankings ... sectional winner, district winner, regional finals ... LC returns right around 50% of their scoring ... SHAC seopsters pick the Mustangs to remain the top dog West of Rte 23 ...

Key returnees ...

Eric McGlaughlin 6-4
River Mullins 6-1
Joe Giordano 6-3

Brian Lampkin 6-1
AJ Stroop 6-6
Michael Heindel 6-1



Treehugger Wannabes

9. Athens
10. Chillicothe
11. South Webster
12. Eastern Pike
13. Marietta
14. Logan
15. Sheridan
16. Logan Elm
17. Portsmouth Clay
18. Western Pike/Portsmouth East
19. Piketon
20. Portsmouth
21. Circleville
22. Oak Hill
23. Westfall
24. Peebles
25. Eastern Brown
26. South Gallia
27. Ironton
28. Zane Trace
29. Minford
30. Waverly
31. Paint Valley
32. Portsmouth Notre Dame
33.. Washington CH
34. Wheelersburg
35. Belpre/Lucasville Valley
36. North Adams
37. Symmes Valley
38. Wellston
39. Miller
40. Alexander
41. Fairfield Leesburg
42. Adena
43. Meigs
44. Chesapeake
45. Trimble
46. South Point
47. Wahama
48. Greenfield McClain
49. Nelsonville York
50. New Lexington
51. Southern
52. Manchester
53. Hillsboro
54. Jackson
55. Gallia Academy
56. Whiteoak
57. Coal Grove
58. Portsmouth West
59. Reedsville Eastern
60. River Valley / Crooksville

Teams on the End Table

61. West Union
62. St. Joseph
63. New Boston
64. Green
65. Huntington
66. Federal Hocking
67. Southeastern
68. Rock Hill
69. Northwest

[Raider6309]

I'm hoping for a TVC Party at Regionals. Athens vs Vinton County

[pfloyd]

... a little under 24 hours until MY 2016-17 Pfloyd Tour begins !!! woohoo !!! heading up Rte 33 to Bloom Carroll ... the Bulldogs will be hosting the Chillicothe Cavaliers ... should be a good tip off to the high school hoops season ...

[pfloyd]

... I would like to give a shout out and thank you to rickoshay & DMUP ... these fellow SEOPsters have offered to send hoops previews to old pfloyd - thanks guys I greatly appreciate it ... rickoshay got me a copy of the Marietta Times - Washington County preview ... great read !!! I have it handy by the Big Board in my Pfloyd study ... DMUP has the I'town Tribune hoops preview on the way to Hocking county as I post - good stuff DMUP !!! - hard to get the rosters/schedules for the OVC teams ... I always like to read/hear what the coaches for the teams on the River have to say about the league and the teams ... looking forward to the OVC read from I'town ... thanks again guys !!!

[Firebreather]

Thought you might like to see the Ironton Classic Schedule

Thursday Dec 22
3:00 Hunt. St Joe Vs. Africentric (hope this is girls)
4:45 Sciotoville Community Vs. Ironton St. Joe
6:30 Huntington High Vs. Wesley Christian
8:15 Ironton Vs. Ashland

Fri Dec. 23
4:45 Raceland Lady Rams Vs Ironton Lady Tigers
6:30 Huntington Prep B team Vs. Fairland
8:15 Wesley Christian Vs. Ironton

[pfloyd]

Tom Petty Gymnasium... the Pfloyd 2016-17 Tour begins

[pfloyd]

Chillicothe 25
Bloom Carroll 34 @ intermission

BC looks like they are in midseason form ...

Key Napkin Stat for 1st half :

3pointers
BC ... 5/8
Chillicothe... 3/14

[pfloyd]

Bloom Carroll 62
Chillicothe 53 final


Felt good to take in 3 games tonight at Tom Petty Gymnasium in Carroll ... I probably enjoyed it more than Chillicothe as the Cavaliers dropped all 3 contests tonight :

Freshmen :

BC 46
Chillicothe 16

JV:

BC 46
Chillicothe 43

Bulldog hoops never seem to be down or rebuilding, they just seem to put out a new group every year that lives up to the great tradition of Bloom Carroll basketball ... this season BC is no longer under the watchful eye of Coach Tom Petty, new mentor Coach Mitchell has a full stable of horses to go to this season ... BC starts 5 seniors ... size on the inside, length, quickness at all positions , they shoot the 3 ball as well as anyone ... lots of motion, patience on the offensive end ... good fundamental man to man D on the defensive end ... solid ball club ...

Chillicothe was a quarter behind in the score column all night ... Coach Huffer may have lost the battle tonight but he did get to see how his Cavs handled playing a quality team (BC) on the road ... CHS was at a size disadvantage at all positions ... Chillicothe put up 28 three balls tonight connecting on 7 ... many quick shots for the Cavs - seemed to settle on the hurried 3 ball vs being patient with the ball and getting a three that was a better look ... the Cavs have good quicks at each position - not a lot of size , Coach Huffer only went 6 deep ...

Quarter breaks :

Bloom Carroll 17
Chilli 11 after 1

Bloom Carroll 34
Chilli 25 at intermission

Bloom Carroll 53
Chillicothe 34 after 3

Bloom Carroll 62
Chillicothe 53 final


Pfloyd official "unoffical" Napkins Stats - Chillicothe

Scoring ... Seth Barnes 16, Brandon Maughmer 15, J. Benson 9, Jordan Johnson 7, Will Roderick 6

3-pointers ... 7/28 J. Benson 3, Jordan Johnson 2, Brandon Maughmer 1
FT's .......... 6/7
TO's .......... 8

Points in the Paint ... 20
Transition buckets ... 6


Pfloyd official "unofficial" Napkin Stats - Bloom Carroll


Scoring ... Matt Smith 19, Gavin Brown 17, Jared Laski 13, Griff Dozer 9, Justin Harvey 2, Caleb Downs 2

3-pointers ... 7/14 ... Jared Laski 3, Gavin Brown 2, Griff Dozer 1, Matt Smith 1
FT's ... 1/3
TO's ... 7

Points in the paint ... 36
Transition buckets ... 2

[Chieftain2009]

Sounds like BC has a very balanced attack on offense.

[bbjunky81]

Can't wait for opening night tonight across most of SE Ohio! Anxious to check tonight to see some scores.

Hoping for a fun and injury free season for all teams!

[Whs95fan]

Was tonight the start of the regular season or the foundation game?

[Ironman92]

Better move #54 up like an SEC football team after beating Bama

[Bud07]

Fairfield Union beats Watterson tonight 47-38 heck of a defensive effort and the big man is a beast!

[pfloyd]

Fairfield Union beats Watterson tonight 47-38 heck of a defensive effort and the big man is a beast!

Woodside IS one of the best "man in the middle" guys in Southern/Southeastern Ohio this season AND ONLY a junior ... I agree Collin Woodside IS a 6-5 beast for FU - he will ONLY continue to get better ... Fairfield Union is in the Elite 8 for a reason - they have it all AND will get richer as they will get their transfer sophomore PG on the court during games in now 10 more games ...

[pfloyd]

Time to head for Zane Trace ! full schedule of games at ZT before heading back to Logan to see Unioto bringing their game to Jim's Gym to take on my Logan Chieftains ... might be the last season for Logan to be ranked on the Pfloyd Elite 8 ! as Logan will NOT be in a league next season and based on their current scheduling of more Central District opponents the Chiefs won't be playing at least 70% of their games vs Southeast district opponents ... so this might be it ! Logan needs to get in the MSL ! but this season they will be taking their first legitimate shot at the Elite 8 ... a "W" tonight over the Shermans of Unioto would move them up the rankings for sure as South Webster, Eastern Pike, Chillicothe ALL opened with losses ...

[ColdHardTruth]

Green beat Huntington Covenant 97-54
Sophomores Tanner Kimbler 36 points and Tayte Carver 24 to lead the way.

[pfloyd]

It was a good first partial week of opening game action Below the Lancaster-Dixon Line ... watched Chillicothe, Unioto, Logan, Sheridan, Circleville, Sheridan, South Point to name a few of the top teams I had the pleasure to put eyes on, keep some napkin stats for ... in my book a great way to start the 2016-17 Hoops Campaign ...

... a few pfloyd imo's on these teams ...

Chillicothe ... lost on the road at Bloom Carroll opening night ... some good pieces on the floor Brandon Maughmer (15 pts) and Seth Barnes (16 pts) are quality players for CHS ... needed that 3rd scorer vs BC ... I look for more scoring from Jordan Johnson and J. Benson both will be key 3 point shooters for the Cavs before all is said and done - the duo had 5 treys between them Thursday night vs the Bulldogs ... the Cavs had very short bench with Benson being the only sub for the game up to the last 3 minutes - enter stage right Maughmer "the younger" - lots of upside to the youngster - quicks, length, solid D - needs more chances to adjust to the varsity game BUT I see J. Maughmer getting more minutes and becoming the 7th man for CHS ...


Sheridan ... took on Federal Hocking in an obvious mismatch ... IF you look past the opponent and look at the Sheridan squad that Coach Fisher puts on the floor you will be impressed with the Generals - experience with 3 returning starting seniors - Noah Cooperrider (6-2) , Dylan Dupler (6-4 lefty) , Stan Knox (6-5) add to the mix 2 very solid sophomores PG Ethan Heller (6-0) & (6-6) Grant Heileman ... off the bench Dylan Emmert (6-2) gives SHS a solid in stature and hoops ability first 6 ... 2nd off the bench was (5-8) Grey Bennett who knocked down 2 triples (8 points) ... let's give Sheridan a very good group of 7 ...

Sheridan starters played but 2 1/2 qtrs vs Federal Hocking here's a few Official "unofficial" Napkin Stats :

Scoring thru 2 1/2 qtrs ... Stan Knox 19 , Dylan Dupler 16, Ethan Heller 14, Dylan Emmert 7, Bennett 3, Heileman 4
3 Pointers ... 3/12 ... Heller 2, Bennett 1
FT's .... 3/5
TOs ... 4


South Point ... the Pointers are good !!! I got to see only 1/2 of the game - I left to drive back to Logan to see Logan vs Unioto - what I saw was a very solid ball club with 2 excellent perimeter players in sophomore Tayshaun Fox and senior Elijah Adams ... Coach Wise has a great mix of experience in seniors Adams (6-0), Tanner Hall (6-3), Logan Wade (6-3) and youth Fox (5-10) sophomore & Jared Whitt (6-0) junior ... SPH went 8 deep vs a very good Circleville ball club - SPH had good size coming off the bench (6-0) Douglas Shaffer, (6-2) Cade Brandt, (6-2) Caleb Eplion (grades 11,10,11 respectively) ... when I left at half South Point was up 35-26 over the Round Town boyz :

...pfloyd intermission Official "unofficial" Napkin Stats - South Point ...

Scoring at the half ... Elijah Adams 14, Tayshuan Fox 11, Logan Wade 4, Tanner Hill 3,Cade Brandt 3
3 Pointers ... 4/8 ... Fox 2, Adams 1, Brandt 1
FT's ......... 3/4
TOs ......... 6


Circleville ... the Round towns boyz - I looked down at the bench and thought I was looking at the Logan Elm bench ! head coach for CHS is Tyler Cassidy and Nathan Elswick both hailing from the LE school district, both learn the ropes under Coach Stiverson & Coach Holbert ... tells me Circleville will be just fine under 2nd year head man Coach Cassidy & assistant Coach Elswick ... I jotted down some imo's while the game was playing out : the Tigers push the ball, get out in transition, good ball movement ... a weakness was ballhandling under pressure vs South Point the Pointers forced 13 Tiger turnovers in one half of action ... CHS is not blessed with size with the tallest man on the roster being junior Seth Risner (6-2) ... the rest of the starters PG senior Brandon Burroughs (5-8), senior Jordan Taylor (6-0) , Jay Styers sophomore (6-1) and Cameron Banks (5-11) ... Coach Cassidy goes 9 deep into his bench ...

... pfloyd intermission Official "unofficial" Napkin Stats - Circleville ...

Scoring at the half ... Jordan Taylor 11, Seth Risner 8, Jay Styers 5, Jacob Rhymer 2
3 Pointers ... 3/6 ... Jordan Taylor 3
FT's .......... 1/2
TOs .......... 13


I opened a separate topic on the Unioto vs Logan game ... both good ball clubs ...

[Ironman92]

Poor Grey Bennett....comes off bench and hits 3 triples but only gets 8 points