It is officially high school basketball season and any discussion in that realm has to start with St. Vincent-St. Mary.
Five state championships, three runner-up finishes and two other appearances in the final four in the past 17 years say so.
Once again, the Irish will be one of the premier teams in Northeast Ohio — if not all of Ohio — as coach Dru Joyce begins his 16th season in search of the school’s seventh state title, which would tie Middletown for the most in Ohio history.
St.V-M finished as the Division II state runner-up last season, and Joyce welcomes back starters Jayvon Graves, John Williams and seven others who dressed for the 76-72 loss to New Concord John Glenn. Graves has committed to Buffalo and Williams is headed to Robert Morris.
The 6-foot-2 Graves and 5-11 Williams are sure to be the go-to guys, but Justin Sampson, Malik Wooldridge, Scott Walter, Tyrus Toney and De’Amonte King will see plenty of playing time as Joyce will be able to dip into a range of 10 to 12 players. Sophomores Chris Painter and Lunden McDay, a transfer from Groveport Madison, have earned spots in the starting lineup.
The Irish lack size but their traditional defensive approach enables them to hold their own on the boards.
“We’ll just have to rebound by committee,” said Joyce, whose team will play 13 of its 22 games on the road or on neutral floors.
Here is a look at the rest of the area:
City Series
Ellet has size and experience and the potential for a banner season. Buchtel has size, depth and speed. Everyone else has a slim chance, and don’t be surprised if Kenmore makes its presence felt.
Ellet has the reigning conference player of the year in 6-9 Ohio recruit A.J. Gareri and a boatload of experience in Jared Jones (5-11), Marquise Bridges (5-10), Joe Williams (6-1) and Marquis Smith (6-2). Junior Stephen Zampelli, sophomore Jesse Nance (5-10) and senior Jake Kline will contribute.
Buchtel coach Steve White will turn to guards Dillon Henderson (6-0), Aamir Solomon (6-0) and Brandon McGinnis (6-0). But it is 6-4 Tyriq Vinson, 6-5 John King, 6-2 Isiah Rogers and 6-2 Kevin Brown who can make the Griffins ultra-dangerous.
Firestone will employ a three-guard offense, led by versatile Tre’Maine Grey.
Suburban League
American Division: An undefeated season on any level is a rarity. Simultaneous undefeated seasons on the varsity and junior varsity levels is a 44-0 phenomenon.
That’s what happened at Copley last season and it’s why the Indians are heavy favorites to repeat. Holdovers Austin Brenner, Jacob Williams, Anthony Jackson and Brian Roberts will be joined by 6-5 Sam Emich, German foreign exchange student Moritz Plescher, Anthony Dente (son of coach Mark Dente) and others.
Revere figures to challenge Copley. The Minutemen are led by 6-8 junior Pete Nance, the son of NBA Hall-of-Famer Larry Nance, and guards Joe Boyer and Samson Albert. Coach Dean Rahas has added Garfield Heights, Shaker Heights and reigning Division IV state champ Cornerstone Christian to the non-league schedule.
Many eyes will be on Barberton, where Jack Greynolds Jr., has returned to his alma mater to coach — bringing son Jordan with him from GlenOak.
National Division: This will be one of the most wide-open races in the area and look for Stow and Brecksville to lead the pack with practically everyone else showing improvement.
Stow coach Dave Close, in his 29th season, will utilize an eight-man rotation with the starters changing on a game-to-game basis. Guaranteed to be in the lineup is junior guard Coryon Rice. After that, Close will pick from Jordan Jolly (6-4), Justin Harvey (6-4), Jared Wright (6-0), Nick Kollar (6-2) and Logan Lindsay (6-2), as well as 6-7 junior Mason McMurray and 6-7 sophomore Evan Bainbridge.
Brecksville will need to replace graduated MVP Dan Auble and will look to do so with seniors Jared Bazil (6-6) and Matt Dimitrijevs (6-1) and sophomore point guard Kenny Ganley (6-3).
Hudson took the biggest hit as far as graduation is concerned and will use a rotation of eight or nine players, many of whom — including Alex Beck, Jackson Parker, William Wallace and Adam Mehelic — were a part of the successful football team.
Wadsworth returns 90 percent of its scoring from last season, led by 6-1 junior Tony Hewitt. The Grizzlies will be waiting for the return of all-league point guard Christian Szalay, sidelined due to an injury.
Federal League
This might be one of the best leagues in the state with Jackson, Hoover, McKinley and Lake. GlenOak and Perry have new coaches and Greene has one of the best sophomores in the area.
With Butler recruit Kyle Young (6-7) and Toledo recruit Logan Hill (6-5) at the top, Jackson gets a slight nod as the league favorite. However, coach Tim Debevec will need solid contributions from 6-5 Jaret Pallotta and 6-7 Michael Zitney. Ethan Stanislawski and Kyle Nicolas hope to cure problems at the guard position.
Hoover coach Todd Blackledge has four returning starters in his 6-7 son, Eli, Nathan Fox (6-4), Matt Chuffar (5-10) and Eric Sarbaugh (5-11). Forwards Cameron Telesz (6-3) and Trent Spaulding (6-3) and guard Nick Brunnenberg (6-0) will help spread the floor.
Former St. Thomas Aquinas coach Matt Hackenberg takes over at GlenOak and will rely heavily on guards Cross Mason, Trajen Wood and highly-regarded sophomore Jasiah Crider.
Perry turned to former standout Chad Spurgeon — lately with New Philadelphia — as its new coach and returning players Keonte Sims, Jarrett Mercier and Dominic Pipero will be the key contributors.
Some observers have called Green’s Kaleb Martin (5-8) the best sophomore in the area, but opponents will also have to deal with 3-point specialist Bobby Staudt, 6-5 Zach Ganzer and Devin Limerick.
Lake always has to be respected even though it lost numerous key players to graduation. Still, Joe McBride, son of coach Tom McBride, Jim Kirven and twins Michael and Matthew Spottleson will make it so.
If McKinley is to contend — and it would be foolish to neglect the Bulldogs — it will do so behind talented guard Darryl Straughter, Kwuasy Toles, Andre Leavell and Deontae McCollum, the cousin of former GlenOak and current NBA star C.J. McCollum.
Portage Trail Conference
Metro Division: Coach Ric Blevins has a nice nucleus at Woodridge, and that should enough to enable the Bulldogs to maintain the momentum set by the football team. Expect Coventry, under new coach Mike DeSalvo, to challenge.
Woodridge opened with a win at Firestone as three-year starter Preston Clark and Mason Lydic combined for 36 points. Look for third-year player Marlon King, Aaron Jones, D.J. Snyder and Sharif Howard to help counter the loss of six seniors to graduation.
DeSalvo, who spent seven years on Keith Dambrot’s staff at the University of Akron, lacks experienced talent. Guards Dusty Burkhart and Drew Williams, a transfer from East, will team up with 6-6 junior Sam Vanadia, 6-4 sophomore Jarmond Hogg and speedy Tre’on Sibley.
County Division: Look for Crestwood to compete for the title behind 6-4 senior Jordan Fabry, who needs 100 points to become the school’s all-time leading scorer. He’ll surpass coach Josh Jakacki (1,278 points from 1991-94). Fabry will have plenty of help from fellow seniors Jake Krupp, Hunter Osborne, Logan Thut, Colton Rahach and Aaron Cox, as well as a handful of newcomers.
Garrettsville and Mogadore — behind soon-to-be 1,000-point scorer Jarad Dunn, Kole Jaber and Austin Williams — will be the hurdles Crestwood will need to clear.
Others
Principals Athletic Conference: The conference got stronger with the addition of Orrville, which becomes an immediate contender behind 6-3 senior Marcus Conway. Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, Manchester and Triway will prove to be challengers.
CVCA has three players with varsity experience in Ryan Foguth, Steve Taylor and Elijah Turner. A good portion of Manchester’s success will be heavily dependent on juniors JoJo France (20 points per game), Nick Beans, Coye Schuler and Van Wallbrown and senior Danny Grizer.
North Coast League Blue: Like most members, local teams Archbishop Hoban and Walsh Jesuit will chase Cleveland Benedictine.
Senior Brian Cuppett will have to shoulder Hoban’s load until several members of the state championship football team get in basketball shape. That group includes the likes of Garrett Houser, Collen Gurley, Jabari Taylor and Matt Salopek, among others.
Walsh Jesuit lost 12 seniors, including Mitch Peterson, the school’s all-time leading scorer, to graduation. There are 36 players in the program, 22 of whom are freshmen. Sophomore Tommy Cummings will start at point guard with Steve Walko and Kevin Kukla in the other spot. Juniors Phil Vincent (6-7) and Ben Merril (6-4) offer size.
North Coast League White: Division III state runner-up Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph is the favorite, but St. Thomas Aquinas will figure prominently behind talented guard Logan Newman and fellow seniors Bryson Knott (6-3) and Jaret Knox (6-5).
Greater Cleveland Conference: Seniors Ben Geschke, Luke Schaefer and Jackson Sartain will make Medina a contender, as well as one of the top big-school programs in the area. Brunswick will need 6-7 Zak Zografos, Keith Simmons and Kyle Goeshen to show up every game to compete.
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