More Buckeye Prep Invitational Tournament Stars

Rayshawn Hamilton, Willie Foster, Dontreal Hughes, Jacob Roeth, Damask Small $ Rasheed Reed

Two weeks later, we are still combing through our material identifying standout performers at our Buckeye Prep Invitational Tournament. Although we have spotlighted numerous standouts as part of out “Star Watch” feature, we recently learned there are still some players who deserve recognition. In fact, the following young guns played their butts off and caught the attention of our scouts: Rayshawn Hamilton-MKU Athletics; Willie Foster-C2K Elite; Damarko Small-Ohio Juice; Jacob Roeth-Ohio Stars; Dontrell Hughes-Ohio Rebels; and Rashad Reed-Ohio Rebels.  They're still very young, but we intend to track the progress of these six young guys over the next several years!

Buckeye Prep Invitational Star Watch

Cincy Swish Take GBA State Championship.

2024 Cincy Swish-2018 GBA State Champions

This past weekend, the 2024 Cincy Swish finished undefeated in the 17-team GBS State Championship.  Their trek to the tile included wins over the Cincy Thunder in the semi-finals and Dayton Metro in the championship game.  So far this season, the Swish has participated in 5 tournaments, winning 3; finishing 2nd in one in them, and 4th in another.  Coach Chad Schafer attributes his team's impressive 19-4 overall record to "unselfish play, the ability to execute on offense and defense, while maintianing aggressiveness and intensity for most of each game.  

The Swish are led in scoring by Lily Martin (4'10"/PG/2024/Cincinnati), Logan Palmer (5'7"/WF/2024/Union, KY) and Liz Freihofer (5'4"/SG/2024/Union, Ky). With the growth of development of all of his players and having added 3 key players from last year's team, Coach Schafer believes his team is easily one of the top 5 teams in the state in the class of 2024. Next up for the Swish is the AAU Super Regional in Cincinnati next week.  We hope to get a look at the Swish's top players at our Buckeye Prep Elite Showcase on September 8th & 9th.

Hoopstars Rolling in 2018

The 2023 Dayton Lady Hoopstars are off to a great start to the 2018 season.  Most recently, the Hoopstars finished 4-0 in the USJN Hoops in the Heartland Crossover Championships.  For the season, the Hoopstars have compiled the following resume: AAU Tip Off 9^th grade championship; Indiana Blizzard 9^th grade runner-up: 8^th grade championship Crossover Championship; and Dayton Lady Hoopstars Invitational 7^th grade championship.  With a current 17-1 overall record, the Dayton Lady Hoopsters are clearly one of the top 1 or 2 teams in the state in the class of 2023.

Ohio Stars Win Indiana Tourney

2024 Ohio Stars-Spring Run & Gun Champions

With their championship win at the Spring Run & Gun tournament in Fishers Indiana last weekend, the 2024 Ohio Stars has made a big move in our Power Rankings.  The Stars’ 4-1 run to the title included a win over NLBE (50-25), a loss against to 7^th ranked Mid-Ohio Pumas McClure (31-42), and wins over Blackout 6^th Jackson (66-38), Mid-Ohio Pumas Burris (56-34) and Mid-Ohio Pumas-McClure (44-38).

According to Coach Rob Kiser, the Star’s title run represented “a great team effort” and was the result of “tenacious defense.”  The Ohio Stars were led in scoring by Jacob Roeth and Wes Enis.  For the season, the Ohio Stars 16-5 overall.  Congratulations to the Stars’ players and parnets for the big win!

7th Grade Circuit Recap

This weekend was a mixed bag for Ohio teams on the Midwest Circuit. Ohio Champion was the best of the five teams going 4-0 with two very close wins over the Gurus and Flint Town Elite. Ohio Champion scored the game-winning basket against the Gurus receiving the ball with 5.6 seconds on the clock and sinking a shot as time expired. A good win for them and a tough loss for the Gurus. The Ohio Champion Basketball Club cemented themselves as a legitimate power on the local and national AAU scene. Champion’s final Circuit record is 9-3; good for the #3 seed in the May finale.    

Ohio Champion weekend scores:Gurus 51 - Champion 53; Indiana Elite 2023 38 - Champion 58; Flint Town Elite 53 - Champion 55; Chicago Swish 52 - Champion 64 

The Gurus of Go continue to be competitive and cannot be taken lightly. The Gurus suffered a tough loss to Ohio Champion. A win in that game would have shifted the Power Rankings significantly. The Gurus are still trying to figure out if they are very good or truly elite. The only powerhouse they have beaten this season is OBC in session #2 of the Circuit. They went 2-2 on the weekend. The Gurus final Circuit record is 6-6; resulting in a #8 seed in the top of the bracket.Gurus weekend scores:

Champion 53 - Gurus 51; Sky Diggs 56 - Gurus 59; Louisville Magic 51 - Gurus 27; Gurus 55 - Manimal (IL) 32 

The Queen City Prophets are like a box of chocolates. They went 3-1 this weekend marking a good end to the Circuit regular season. They will be a tough first-round opponent for Indiana Elite 2023 in the May finale.  The Prophet's final Circuit record is 4-8, and they will be the #12 seed in the finale. Queen City Prophets weekend scores:

HBA Elite 60 - QCP 56; Flint 58 - QCP 72; Darius Miller Elite 37 - QCP 56; Great Lakes Warriors 49 - QCP 60

Team DOSE went into the weekend less than full strength again. Not only were they still without standout guard Kevin Hamilton, but they were also bitten by the flu bug. This lead to them going 1-3 this weekend. Coach Dawson is still positive.  DOSE’s final Circuit record is 5-7, and they will be the #11 seed in the finale. DOSE weekend scores: 

Darius Miller Elite 36 - DOSE 50; Chicago Swish 63 - DOSE 48; Indiana Elite Team Uprising 50 - DOSE 28; Indiana Elite 2023 49 - DOSE 29

The worst turn of fortune this weekend went to OBC, as they went 0-4 this weekend after playing in the championship game of the Buckeye Prep Tournament last weekend. The competition on the Midwest Circuit is tough. OBC played well and was in every game except one. OBC finished 5-7 and will be the #10 seed in the finale. OBC weekend scores:HBA Elite 74 - OBC 38; Indiana Elite Team Uprising 56 - OBC 48; Chicago Swish 56 - OBC 55; and Flint Town Elite 55 - OBC 49 .

Showtime Wins Irish Classic

2024 Showtime-Irish Classic Champions

This past weekend, Coach Angie Stooksbury’s 2024 Showtime squad finished 6-0 on their way to the championship of the Irish Classic in Dublin.  According to Coach Stooksbury, her team has strong posts and guards that create a challenge for their opponents.  Also, “We continue to be lead by Gigi Bowers, Jojo Eberhart, Sarah Mitchell, Lexi Stooksbury and Madison Yanka,” said Stooksbury.  Congratulations to Coach Stooksbury and her players for a job well done!