State Tournament Predictions-Part 2

Division 3

Canton Regional Winner - Bedford Chanel

Top 4 Contenders

1. Leavittsburg LaBrae

2. Newton Falls

3. Orrville

4. Creston Norwayne

Bowling Green Regional Winner - Bloom Carroll

Top 4 Contenders

1. Lima Central Catholic

2. Archbold

3. Ottawa Glandorf

4. Findlay Liberty-Benton

Athens Regional Winner - Ironton

Top 4 Contenders

1. Chesapeake

2. Portsmouth

3. Lucasville Valley

4. Coshocton

Kettering Regional Winner - Cincinnati Summit Country Day (State Champion)

Top 4 Contenders

1. Jamestown Greenview

2. Versailles

3. Cincinnati Roger Bacon

4. Columbus Horizon Science

Division 4

Canton Regional Winner - Berlin Hiland (State Champion)

Top 4 Contenders

1. Cleveland VASJ

2. Richmond Heights

3. Zanesville Rosecrans

4. Malvern

Bowling Green Regional Winner - Toledo Maumee Valley Country Day

Top 4 Contenders

1. Vanlue

2. Toledo Ottawa Hills

3. Edgerton

4. Kalida

Athens Regional Winner - Columbus Africentric

Top 4 Contenders

1. Newark Catholic

2. Lancaster Fairfield Christian

3. Columbus Tree of Life

4. Columbus Shekinah Christian

Kettering Regional Winner - Fort Recovery

Top 4 Contenders

1. Cincinnati Lockland

2. Dayton Jefferson

3. Jackson Center

4. Russia

By John Stovall

State Tournament Predictions-Part 1

Division 1

Akron Regional Winner - Toledo Whitmer

Top 4 Contenders

1. Toledo St. John

2. Toledo Central Catholic

3. Findlay

4. Brunswick

Cleveland Regional Winner - Mentor

Top 4 Contenders

1. Garfield Heights

2. Shaker Heights

3. Warren Harding

4. Lakewood St. Edward

Columbus Regional Winner - Columbus Northland (State Champion)

Top 4 Contenders

1. Columbus Walnut Ridge

2. Pickerington Central

3. Canton McKinley

4. Olentangy Liberty

Cincinnati Regional Winner - Cincinnati Moeller

Top 4 Contenders

1. Cincinnati LaSalle

2. Cincinnati Withrow

3. Middletown

4. Springboro

Division 2

Canton Regional Winner - Akron SVSM

Top 4 Contenders

1. Mentor Lake Catholic

2. Akron East

3. Cleveland John Hay

4. Struthers

Toledo Regional Winner - Cleveland Benedictine

Top 4 Contenders

1. Columbus Brookhaven

2. Lexington

3. Napolean
4. Elida (tie)

4. Toledo Scott (tie)

Athen Regional Winner - Chillicothe

Top 4 Contenders

1. St. Clairsville

2. East Liverpool

3. New Concord John Glenn

4. Vincent Warren

Kettering Regional Winner - Dayton Dunbar (State Champion)

Top 4 Contenders

1. Cincinnati Taft

2. Dayton Thurgood Marshall

3. Plain City Jonathan Alder

4. Columbus Centennial

By John Stovall

Middle School Basketball Shout Outs

Hughes Jr High School Won Multiple Championships 

Congratulations to Coach Roberto Allen and his Hughes Junior High School team for a strong 14-1 finish in the school’s first ever season. In addition to a great regular season record, Allen’s squad won Lakota West Junior High League regular season and tournament titles as well. Oh that’s not all; Allen’s team also played in the fall and finished 18-0 on their way to City of Cincinnati Junior High Public School League championships. The roster includes: Elijah Allen (7th), Corry Long (7th), Frank Royals (8th), Israel Griffin (8th), Jordan Johnson (8th), Elizjah Walker (8th) and Darius Miller (8th).

Kings Jr. High-7th Grade FAVC Champions

As a follow-up to our earlier story, Kings Jr. High’s 7th grade team, since our last report, the Knights went on to claim the FAVC championship by defeating Loveland 55-37. According to Coach Kenny Anderson, his team was down by 1 point at halftime (21-22), but, “exploded in the second period and controlled the rest of the game.” The Knights finished the season a perfect 19-0, scoring an average of 60 points per game with an average margin of victory of 39 points. Standout players included: Tyler Knecht, Tyler Mitchell, Matt Sichterman and Foster Martin. Below are videos of the Knight’s tournament games:

Tournament Finals
Tournament Semi's
Tournament Quarterfinal's

R.I.P. Eddie Guice

Buckeye Prep would like to send out condolences to the family of Eddie Guice, who passed away this morning  after a long battle with cancer. Many central Ohio basketball fans knew Eddie from his tireless dedication to youth basketball for many years. His passing will be felt by many in this community! R.I.P. Eddie!!!!

Celtics Finish Two Year Run With Championship

Dublin Grizzell Finish 34-0!

Not only did the Dublin Grizzell Celtics go undefeated on their trek to the championship of the 2012 Martin Memorial Basketball Tournament in Hilliard last week; the Celtics pulled off an even bigger feat by going a perfect 34-0 over the course two seasons! Last year, as 7th graders, the Celtics finished 16-0, and as champions of the 2011 Dublin Invitational Tournament. That summer, the same group of kids added an Irish Summer League Championship to their resume, before racking up another 18 wins this past season. The Celtics did more than just win; their average margin of victory was an impressive 23 points.

Seve Stavroff-Buckeye Prep All-Star

In terms of their most recent championship in Hilliard, the Celtics defeated teams from Delaware, Marysville and Groveport before finishing off cross town rival and Dublin Sells in the championship game. The All-Tournament team for Grizzell included Mason Baich, Seve Stavoff and Blake Bickett, all three of whom have either participated in our Buckeye Prep Elite Showcases in the past, or are listed among the top players in their class. I’m not sure which of the 3 high schools these players will be attending, but you can expect the Dublin teams to remain contenders in central Ohio in the upcoming years. Congratulations to the Celtics for an outstanding two-year run!

Stars Win CYO Title

On Sunday, Mary Queen of Peace’s 8th grade squad outlasted St. Brigits to claim 53-41 victory and the Dayton area CYO league championship. Although the game was close for most of the first half, the Stars began to make adjustments which limited St. Brigit’s perimeter shooting, and the team started to pull away about midway through the second quarter. “We adjusted to them [St Brigits]. We took away the short corner shots. We made them uncomfortable and made them shoot threes,” said head coach Byron Priest.

The Stars and were led in scoring by Terrence Landers who finished a game-high 18 points, including 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists. Right behind him was Derek Daniels who added 17 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocked shots, followed by Daryl McClusky who dropped 8 dimes and finished with 4 points. Mary Queen of Peace finished the season with an overall record of 20-3. Congratulations to coach Priest, his players and the Stars’ fans for a great season!