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

[pfloyd]

Should be getting his take on the game shortly if he was there!!

…it's out there now sportsfanallnitelong …

[Sportsfanallnitelong]

Been waiting. Excellent write-up as always. Enjoyed reading.....thanks....what a game!!!

[pembrook burrows III]

It'll never best Pfloyd, but for fun here is CalPreps Top 20 in Southeastern Ohio:

1. Athens
2. Unioto
3. Warren
4. Chesapeake
5. Valley
6. Minford
7. Circleville
8. Peebles
9. Portsmouth
10. Chillicothe
(tie) Trimble
12. Ironton
13. Logan Elm
14. Zane Trace
15. Logan
16. Paint Valley
17. Washington C.H.
18. Sheridan
19. Coal Grove
20. Piketon

And here are the CalPreps predictions for the weekend Convo games:

Athens 63, Unioto 61
Warren 66, Minford 59
Valley 52, Ironton 50
Wheelersburg 52, Waverly 47
Chesapeake 60, Piketon 51
Portsmouth 57, Coal Grove 51

[danicalifornia]

Chillicothe 54
Westerville North 47

Chillicothe now plays Gahanna Lincoln in a rematch from the regular season in which the Cavaliers were competitive without Tommy Bolte.

[pfloyd]

Chillicothe 54
Westerville North 47

Chillicothe now plays Gahanna Lincoln in a rematch from the regular season in which the Cavaliers were competitive without Tommy Bolte.

… nice !!! good to hear that the Cavs are rolling on … wish them much luck advancing … I had high hopes for Chillicothe as I had them in my Pre-season Elite 8 - I firmly believe that Tommy Bolte & Co. would have been a number of spots higher in my rankings had TB been healthy all season … BUT then again - the loss of TB early on DID help the CAVS become a TEAM - the role players became KEY players in their success … one of my favorite TEAMS in the SE District this past regular season …

[pfloyd]

Today is THE day !!! Basketball Thirty !!! In the Convo !!! Lou "the Voice" Horvath on the PA ! The Cheap Seats !!! … Daylight Savings Time !!! - oh wait - we lose an hour sleep - never mind on the daylight savings time thing …

Game 1 : Athens vs Unioto … my Elite 8 numbers 3 vs 1 … I like it !!! … not sure there is a better matchup to tip off the 3 Weeks of the Convo …

Athens brings the BEST 4 starters on the floor - Joe Burrow, Griffin Lutz, Ryan Luehrman, Adam Luehrman - ALL outstanding … 3 players at 6-4 and Lutz who PLAYS like he is 6-4 with his length … AHS also comes into the competition with the shortest bench - Vander Ven , the fifth starter is a good player but not the caliber of his teammates - but who is ? VV will hurt you IF you leave him unattended for that spot up trey … Burrow shoots the 3 better than almost anyone in SEOhio when he is allowed to set and shoot … Luehrman "squared" are at their best when Lutz penetrates and dishes … the opposition game plan has always been - get one of the 4 bigs in foul trouble , get them off of the floor , get to the AHS bench … force the ball out of Lutz's hands make the others make decisions with the ball … pressure the ball … 32 minutes of pressure to wear out the big 4 … Warren has been the only team to execute the game plan in getting a 30 point win over the Bulldogs … IF you can't take away one of the keys for AHS - then you have to put your athletes up against Athens D1 athletes … you lose that matchup …

Unioto … the BEST overall TEAM in SEOhio this season … a total TEAM … solid defense … multiple offensive weapons for balanced TEAM scoring in the starters - Strange/Hosley/Overly/Cottrill/Adkins … a deep bench - Nick Corcoran leading the pack Lovely/Houser/Swackhammer … the Shermans' make you pay with inside and outside scoring … solid inside presence in Adkins/Erique Hosley … Hosley is this years version of Hayden Dunn (Lucasville Valley) - a beast on the board, stronger than anyone he will play against, gets position and off the floor better than anyone who will guard him … Defensively? - as good as there is in the tourney from SEOhio … with the numbers they can run at you YOU will tire before they will tire … UHS is undefeated for a reason - they're a good ball club with outstanding coaching court side by Coach Hoops … weakness ? in the games I have seen this season Unioto has shot "less than 50%" from the charity stripe - will this be the Sherman's achilles heal ?

… looking forward to seeing this one from the Cheap Seats !!! it should be a dandy … 32 minutes of intense hoops … 2 outstanding teams … a couple of my favorite coaches … let's tip it off !!!

[danicalifornia]

10-12 from the stripe, with huge Hosley hitting both shots of a 1 and 1 late in a 7 point game and he had an awful FT shooter for most of the year. Erique is now 12-14 from the stripe the last two outings, which is gigantic if Unioto hopes to get past a very good Warren team next Friday night.

I thought Lutz and Burrow were outstanding for the Bulldogs tonight, especially in their push in the 4th quarter. I said before that Unioto's depth and bench would be key, between the 2 teams top 4 regulars, the game was a 57-57 draw, while Unioto got 9 from the bench and a couple from Strange. Adkins and Swackhammer were good off the bench in key moments for the Shermans.

[danicalifornia]

At least 2 straight years of nailing the final rankings! Well done again pfloyd!

[Raider6309]

Definitely the right rankings. Unioto was the best D2 team and Trimble is the best D4 team.

[biggdowgg]

Trojans take down number 7 Peake for their 37th district title

[bman]

At least 2 straight years of nailing the final rankings! Well done again pfloyd!

Pfloyd is amazing.

[danicalifornia]

At least 2 straight years of nailing the final rankings! Well done again pfloyd!

Pfloyd is amazing.

I also feel like him having Portsmouth as his preseason #1 should get a mention with them winning another District Title today.

[LetsGoPSU]

The man does not miss very often!

[gotgame?]

Floyd di you go to the games Saturday at The Convo? I looked for ya but couldn't find anyone with the little napkin writing down important stuff.

[biggdowgg]

Portsmouth Trojans move on to the elite 8!

[blue1]

Portsmouth Trojans move on to the elite 8!

I know we are a little over a month since this post, but I wanted to give some props to the Portsmouth coaching staff. They made another run to the elite 8 again. What does next year look like for the Trojans?

[Runner00]

Fine coaching staff over at PHS, we tried to get lure a few of them over to the West Side, but that did not work. 8)

[trojandave]

The 2015-2016 Portsmouth Trojans will return 3 starters, 6-1 SR Kyre Allison, 6-3 JR Kendall Reynolds, and 6-0 SR Ethan Leonard. Two starting spots are open, which could be filled by 6-1 SO Cole Lowery, and 5-11 JR Luke Purdy. These two right now have the inside track on filling those spots, but there will be other candidates to challenge them. The Trojans' JV squad went 15-7, while the freshmen team went 10-1. 6-3, 225 LB. SO Gabe Gambill has a good shot of perhaps filling the 5 slot left open by the graduation of Alex Dickerson. Portsmouth is in need of a post player, and Gambill is one of the few in the program that could fill that role. Next year's Trojans should have a much deeper bench.

Schedule wise, the Trojans are no longer in the SEOAL, but will have 14 OVC contests with the addition of new OVC member Gallia Academy for basketball in 2015-2016. 8 non-conference games remain, including a trip to Florida for 3 games, and the Wendy's Classic, opponents TBD. The Trojans will play Chillicothe at the Shawnee State Classic, and of course will have Wheelersburg on the schedule, perhaps again in the Wendy's. I look for Coach Collins to schedule a big city school, with the loss to Eastmoor Academy in the regional final. PHS didn't have a chance to play a school like that last year in the regular season because of playing 2 league schedules (SEOAL and OVC).

Allison is on track to become Portsmouth's all time leading scorer, while Reynolds scored 89 points in 5 tournament games. Leonard shot 52% from 3 point range and 92% on FT's. Coach Eugene Collins is 106-40 at PHS in 6 years, and early next season will become the 3rd winningest coach in school history (Tom Smith is 3rd with a record of 108-35).

When it all sorts out, Portsmouth should field another very good basketball team which will challenge for the OVC title again, and another long tournament run is a real possibility.

[trojandave]

Correction about the Trojans schedule in 2015-2016.......they will not be going to Florida this coming year, but are planning on going for the 2016-2017 season. Portsmouth will play in the Ironton Classic, opponent TBD. The complete schedule has not been finalized.

Plans for summer scrimmages include a trip up to Northwest Ohio to face Lima Central Catholic ( 2015 D3 state runnerup, 4 starters return), and a couple of other schools.

[Crab's Brother]

I believe Valley and Portsmouth are playing next season.