All-Ohio Southeast Takes Eddie Guice Crown

All-Ohio Southeast-7th Grade Champions

On Saturday we had a few minutes to catch the 7^th grade championship game of the Eddie Guice Memorial Tournament at Westerville North High School.  When we arrived All-Ohio Southeast was up on Aaron Brown’s Buckeye Prep 2021 team 11-8.  By halftime, All-Ohio had ballooned the lead to 22-15. All-Ohio increased the lead to 26-15 early in the 2^nd half before Buckeye Prep surged to cut the lead to 6 points.  The scoring was even until about the 7:38 mark when All-Ohio’s size started impacting the game. With about 3:20 left in the game All-Ohio was comfortably ahead 43-30, and by the time the horn sounded All-Ohio was up 50-35.

Because Buckeye Prep was a 6^th grade team playing up a division for the competition, their run to the championship game in the 7^th grade division was impressive.  Speaking of impressive, Zach Loveday (6’7/C/2020/Gallipolis, OH) was dominant on both ends of the court.  Defensively, Loveday’s length made it near impossible to finish anywhere near the rim. Offensively, Loveday’s ability to finish put backs was key. That’s not all, Loveday rebounds at a high rate, giving his team multiple possessions and shots at the basket. As he continues to put on weight and gain strength, Loveday’s potential will remain big time. We also really liked Dalton Mischal (6’3/PF/2020/Greenfield, OH) who has good size, is athletic and slashes to the bucket unimpeded. He’s not just a problem driving to the basket; Mischal can drain the three-ball if given space. Loveday and Mischal paced All-Ohio with 14 and 12 points, respectively, while Makhale Massey led Buckeye Prep with a game-high 12 points.

Zach Loveday, Dalton Mischal & Makehale Massey

In the 9^th grade division, Ohio Hoopsters Elite (8^th grade) got by Ohio Hoopsters Warriors (9^th grade) 66-64 to claim the title. The Hoopsters were led in scoring by Colton Landis (6’6/C/2019/Pickerington) and Ethan Hazelrig (6’0/P/SG/2019/Pickerington), both of whom finished with 14 points.  Both Landis and Hazelrig will play their freshman season at Pickerington Central High School. The Warriors were paced by Antwon Hampton (6’0/SG/2018/Groveport Madison) and Chance Dawson (6’0/SG/2018/Licking Heights), who scored 25 and 18 points, respectively.

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