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Well both have made it look fairly easy getting to this point. Oak Hill beat Eastern to start the year 61-29. Has Eastern improved enough to close that gap and take down the mighty oaks??

Yes they have! I think this is a very evenly matched game with 2 of the best coaches to ever do it. Eagles in a tight one!

Eastern 54
Oak hill 52

I think both division three district final games will be blowouts. Wheelersbutprg and Oak Hill big. Pains me to say it. Hope I am wrong!

Ukfanatic wrote: ↑Sun Mar 04, 2018 1:06 pm I think both division three district final games will be blowouts. Wheelersbutprg and Oak Hill big. Pains me to say it. Hope I am wrong!

I somewhat agree. I think Oak Hill will win by 7-10 range.. but I genuinely believe Burg beats Piketon by 15+.

Two elite coaches that won’t leave any stone unturned. Oak Hill has more talent and Eastern has a more used bench. Oak Hill senior laden, Eastern not nearly as much.

5 of the top 7 players in this game will be on the court for the Oaks. Miller is a tremendous player and a tough matchup but I feel Darby can contain him and match production. Hale is a great player but I think Leist can do a very good job on him. All the sets, screens, switching and I feel OH is too much. Put Leist on Hale....Landon Carroll goes for 17. Drift off Nolan Carroll to help stop Hale, L Carroll or Darby....best not do that either.

This game wasn’t close to start the season but most of Eastern coming off football and cross country. Eastern is strong and fit. Leist is best conditioned player in every game, not sure you can make him sweat. For Eastern to win the non-Millers will have to hit open shots which they’ll get at times. Weaver will need to pick up what OH takes away from Miller. For Oak Hill I think Long will again have some open perimeter looks and he’ll have the ball at pressure moments in his hands, if he takes care of the job at hand I look for OH to win by double digits.

I’m not sure how Eastern is going to score enough to win this game....I don’t see it.

I know not to ever count out a Norm Pierson team and I know not to ever count out a Tom Barrick team. I could see a 28-26 game and I could see a 75-70 game, obviously it’ll probably be in between but we’ll see. A fast fast game forced by EP could wind OH or maybe cause some silly fouls in the race of the game.

Oak Hill 53
Eastern Pike 39

Eastern will have to have Miller, Liest, Weaver and Cochenour all in double figures for a chance in this one.

Eastern keeps it close for a while but The Oaks take this one by 12 in the end.

Oaks by 15

This is going to be a tough one for the eagles.
Oak Hill has too many weapons offensively.
I think they are very capable of taking down the mighty oaks, but they'll definitely have to play smart, not force shots, and tighten that D up!
I can also see tomilson and noah gray being an X-factors in this game. Both have stepped up as of late and displayed some of that senior leadership and they need to carry it over to this game! If the eagles are firing on all cylinders, I think they have a legitimate shot at winning this game!
Go Eagles!

I hope EP wins but dont think they will can they on the right night yes. Will they sat I doubt it to much fire power for OH. To many weapons that can play all over the floor. Only way EP wins is if Leist goes for 20 Weaver goes for 16 plus and miller gets 25 range and the rest chip in. Oaks win big in my book 68 52. Hate to say it

This game will have the makings of a 35-32 score. Barrick will have the Eagles using the clock and keeping it low scoring to try and win it in the 4th quarter. IMO Oak Hill wins a track meet and Eastern wins a possession game.

Barrick has found a way to beat Norm over the years in games he shouldn't have won.

It’s gonna take a mighty effort from the Eagles to win this one. They got beat pretty good first time around. That was the first game of the year and Eagles only had a few players with Varsity experience. Now the team has gelled and a year of Varsity experience under their belts. The question is that enough growth and development this year to take on this Oaks team. Going with my heart on this one and saying Eagles win 47-44

Unfortunately for EP the OH team from earlier in the season finally started to show itself again because Norm finally let loose of the reins in this last game! I know EP has improved over the season but I look for OH to let loose even more in this game. I’ll take OH by 15-20 again.

First to 30 wins?

This is gonna be the game to see. Oak hill struggled to a weak And slow paint valley team. Eastern started slow against SE. I feel as Eastern finished a little stronger second half than OH. This will be a nail biter. OH Has no real match for the three some of big men for eastern. OH Has quick shifty Guards that will shoot the 3 until the line wears off. I like eastern cracking down on D and being physical making OH uncomfortable and going home for the year.

Ukfanatic wrote: ↑Sun Mar 04, 2018 1:06 pm I think both division three district final games will be blowouts. Wheelersbutprg and Oak Hill big. Pains me to say it. Hope I am wrong!

Your prediction for these games will be about as accurate as the pike co classic picks you had.

countyscout wrote: ↑Mon Mar 05, 2018 10:35 am This is gonna be the game to see. Oak hill struggled to a weak And slow paint valley team. Eastern started slow against SE. I feel as Eastern finished a little stronger second half than OH. This will be a nail biter. OH Has no real match for the three some of big men for eastern. OH Has quick shifty Guards that will shoot the 3 until the line wears off. I like eastern cracking down on D and being physical making OH uncomfortable and going home for the year.

Oak Hill struggled to weak and slow paint valley team, That is Priceless

countyscout wrote: ↑Mon Mar 05, 2018 10:35 am This is gonna be the game to see. Oak hill struggled to a weak And slow paint valley team. Eastern started slow against SE. I feel as Eastern finished a little stronger second half than OH. This will be a nail biter. OH Has no real match for the three some of big men for eastern. OH Has quick shifty Guards that will shoot the 3 until the line wears off. I like eastern cracking down on D and being physical making OH uncomfortable and going home for the year.

I'm not sure I completely agree with this analysis, but that's exactly what makes these games fun!

Considering OH was playing THE most difficult individual player south of the Lancaster-Dixon line to match up with. Give some credit to PV and Swingle, they are a task to match up against. And OH finished the game very strong in my opinion. They were up 4 at half, 7 after 3, and finished up 16... I'd take that finish in every game, especially one against a team like PV in a win-or-go-home situation. (and arguably a top contender for POY in SE Ohio)

Eastern was up 10 at end of 3rd. Up 11 with a minute to go in the 4th, finished up 14. I agree that Eastern was playing their best ball of the night in the 4th to hold off a very fast/aggressive SE team. But, I don't feel their finish was any different than OH's... hold off the final rally from each team, and play again next week.

As for Eastern's bigs, if you feel that they are a difficult match-up for OH, then they are also a liability on the defensive end. OH is quick, so if Eastern plays all 3 bigs, I think OH's ball movement becomes a challenge for them to handle.

Either way, should be a really fun game to watch... 2 very talented teams!

Cant wait to watch Norm and Barrick go head to head! After watching OH earlier in the season at Waverly I think Eastern's defense could cause OH a lot of trouble. Hard to bet against Norm and the Oaks tho!