by Bluejay » Sun Jul 27, 2014 11:56 pm
Okay, I'll bite I guess.
There's a lot of talent that graduated, so I don't think Ohio will be as strong nationally as in 2013-2014, especially with most of the top teams from last year losing significant contributors. Despite that, Ohio still has a team that can compete with the top teams in the nation, that being Northmont, of course. However, it's basically a race for second place in the state for everyone else.
Northeast:
I don't know if Copley loses anybody. If they don't, then this team can only go up, and could easily contend for second in the state.
Solon loses Brian and Jack. Rohin Devanathan is a rising junior, and there's a multitude of kids who have attended ACE camp and a bunch of tournaments last year. The other big change is that Bob Weiser retired from coaching. I hope this doesn't affect their tournament attendance.
Olmsted Falls has been on a slow decline, which definitely showed last year as they failed to make the HSNCT playoffs. With Andy gone, there's huge ground to be made in order to be a contender once again.
Beachwood manages to always have a decent-to-good team despite attending few tournaments. If Ryan Reilly returns, they're an instate contender.
I believe Cloverleaf loses Brian? That's a huge loss if so.
East:
South Ranges loses everybody, including coach Bonnie Molnar. I'm not sure what's going to happen to them from this point onwards.
I'd like to see more teams from the Youngstown area go to more tournaments. I'm sure someone in the area would know more about Mahoning County could say more, but I'm guessing the usual contenders such as Boardman will field a decent team, but won't show their abilities off outside the league.
What happened to Hubbard? They attended like every other tournament back in the fall, but either I haven't been paying attention or they stopped going places.
Central:
Dublin Scioto loses everyone except Koh Yamakawa, who led the team in scoring when Arjun wasn't around and put up a decent 20 PPG at NSC and 18 PPG at HSNCT. From what I've seen he seems eager to improve and keep the team going, which is a great thing, so I don't believe they'll be off the radar or anything.
Fisher Catholic lost Tom Moore, which definitely hurts, but they don't lose anyone else iirc. Brandon may be the second-best player in the state, though, so this team definitely has the potential to repeat last year's results.
St. Charles loses everybody except Stephen Susa. They won't be as strong as they were last year.
Dublin Jerome loses Roger, so they won't be nearly as good as they were this year, when they emerged as last year's biggest surprise team.
West/Southwest:
Northmont finished in 7th place at PACE, but a disappointing t21st at HSNCT. Sam is easily one of the best players in the high school circuit right now, and his team largely depends on him. As is such with teams like this, however, I think Northmont's finish at national tournaments will depend on how much support he gets. Within the state, I don't see anybody beating Sam, though.
Sidney loses nobody, and will likely have the most balanced scoring out of Ohio's top teams. A second place finish at states is definitely doable.
I don't know anything about Tippecanoe, so I can't really predict how they'll do.
What happened to Walnut Hills? They were the premier program from the Cincinnati area and now they don't even attend NAQT States.
EDIT: Added a team, fixed wording
Last edited by
Bluejay on Mon Jul 28, 2014 4:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jasper Lee
University of Tennessee
Ohio State University '14
Solon High School '10