Cross County Conference 2019-2020

I've failed to realize that Mississinawa Valley still sits with only 1 league loss. They have beaten Bethel, Tri Village, Newton, Ansonia and FM. They will likely win tonight against Bradford and move to 6-1 in conference play. The 1 loss being their first game of the season to Covington. I'm not sure how good Mississinawa Valley is but they will have a chance to prove it with league games still to play against Trail, Miami East and Arcanum.
Nothing like saving the best for last. Mississinawa has more trouble scoring than playing defense. They have had halftime scores with as little as 4 points. Then in that game they came back to take the lead in the game only to run out of gas and fall by a few. I dont think they are as good as East or Arcanum, and certainly not as good as Trail. Normally I would say on any given night.......,but in their case I can't see them keeping up with Trail. Trail will score in the fifties or more against them and I dont see Mississinawa answering that one. The other two, any given night does come into play as they have not consistently shown offensive power either.
 
Nothing like saving the best for last. Mississinawa has more trouble scoring than playing defense. They have had halftime scores with as little as 4 points. Then in that game they came back to take the lead in the game only to run out of gas and fall by a few. I dont think they are as good as East or Arcanum, and certainly not as good as Trail. Normally I would say on any given night.......,but in their case I can't see them keeping up with Trail. Trail will score in the fifties or more against them and I dont see Mississinawa answering that one. The other two, any given night does come into play as they have not consistently shown offensive power either.
I know. I don't think Miss Valley is a real threat, but right now they are technically still alive in the hunt and there is not much to get excited about in the conference this season. I do think Miss Valley has 3-4 conference losses coming and they will likely get one this Friday as they play at Arcanum.
 
A little late but Franklin Monroe shows some signs of life with win over Dixie:

It has been a hard season for the Franklin Monroe Jets. They are in the midst of a rebuilding year and the wins have been few. Likewise, the SWBL's Dixie Greyhounds have struggled this season. The two leagues frequently play each other and it is a point of pride for the CCC to get a win over a SWBL team. In a game of evenly matched teams it can become an exciting contest and indeed things heated up quickly in the Dixie gym. The visiting Jets were the eventual victors in a defensive contest 47-34.

Also there is a recap of the Tri-Village v. TVS game.

Pics and box score at: Chris Tilton Sports
 
League games for this weekend... Miss Valley will have 2 important games this weekend. They need 2 wins to stay 1 game back of Trail in case Trail slips up. I do think Miss Valley could take losses in both games though. At one time I thought Ansonia would be one of the teams that could potentially give National Trail a game, but I don't feel that way anymore. I expect National Trail to win by 20+. Aside from that, most match-ups should be competitive games, but don't mean anything in regards to the league title race.

FM @ Bradford
Ansonia @ National Trail
Tri Village @ TCN
Newton @ TVS
Bethel @ Miami East
Miss Valley @ Arcanum
Ansonia @ Miss Valley (Saturday night)
 
League games for this weekend... Miss Valley will have 2 important games this weekend. They need 2 wins to stay 1 game back of Trail in case Trail slips up. I do think Miss Valley could take losses in both games though. At one time I thought Ansonia would be one of the teams that could potentially give National Trail a game, but I don't feel that way anymore. I expect National Trail to win by 20+. Aside from that, most match-ups should be competitive games, but don't mean anything in regards to the league title race.

FM @ Bradford
Ansonia @ National Trail
Tri Village @ TCN
Newton @ TVS
Bethel @ Miami East
Miss Valley @ Arcanum
Ansonia @ Miss Valley (Saturday night)

I think the MV coach is waaaaay underrated. He keeps that group competitive for multiple years now. They seem to really have the ability to play solid D.
 
I think the MV coach is waaaaay underrated. He keeps that group competitive for multiple years now. They seem to really have the ability to play solid D.
I do think Miss Valley has a great coach, and I think he's helped keep them competitive even when they don't have a lot of talent. I remember reading the article below last year and really being blown away by a couple things it says. I'm not sure how long the current coach has been there, but I believe 5-6 years atleast. It states he has never lost to Allen Mack and Miami East. To me that proves good coaching. Miami East playing their zone defense, and even beating them in their own gym, makes that pretty impressive.

https://www.dailyadvocate.com/sports/68699/hawks-beat-miami-east-on-senior-night-55-29
 
I do think Miss Valley has a great coach, and I think he's helped keep them competitive even when they don't have a lot of talent. I remember reading the article below last year and really being blown away by a couple things it says. I'm not sure how long the current coach has been there, but I believe 5-6 years atleast. It states he has never lost to Allen Mack and Miami East. To me that proves good coaching. Miami East playing their zone defense, and even beating them in their own gym, makes that pretty impressive.

https://www.dailyadvocate.com/sports/68699/hawks-beat-miami-east-on-senior-night-55-29
Guy has a good sense of humor as well. I have often heard him correct a kid by needling him first about what the player was doing wrong, then puts his arm around the kid and tells him how to correctly perform a task. That type of coach gets way more out of his kids than many other styles.
 
Patriots Defeat Eagles
It was a heated contest between the host Tri-Village Patriots and the Troy Christian Eagles this past weekend. It was a defensive contest in the 1st half but both teams found some offense in the 2nd half. The Patriots got the lead late and then had to fend off a stubborn Eagle challenge in the last few...

Summary and pics of this and the Ansonia/Trail game at Chris Tilton Sports

Looking over the Patriot lineup they are mostly sophomores and freshmen. This team can only get better.
Next week the Patriots take on the Blazers.
 
Looking over the Patriot lineup they are mostly sophomores and freshmen. This team can only get better.
TC has a very strong class coming into HS next year. Give them a couple years and they are going to be a real force in the area their Junior and senior years. Maybe even sophomore year. Good talent in the area with the small schools.
 
Patriots Defeat Eagles
It was a heated contest between the host Tri-Village Patriots and the Troy Christian Eagles this past weekend. It was a defensive contest in the 1st half but both teams found some offense in the 2nd half. The Patriots got the lead late and then had to fend off a stubborn Eagle challenge in the last few...

Summary and pics of this and the Ansonia/Trail game at Chris Tilton Sports

Looking over the Patriot lineup they are mostly sophomores and freshmen. This team can only get better.
Next week the Patriots take on the Blazers.
I'm just curious about the Ansonia/Trail game. I see Woodall in some of the pictures from the game, but he's not listed in the box score. I find it very unlikely that he played and didn't score. Did he get injured early, or did something happen? I was surprised that Trail only won by 9, maybe that could have something to do with it.
 
BucksFan937 - fake news by me. My mistake, Woodall had 11 in the game. Ansonia had a good game plan, Harrison and Woodall stepped up to make big plays at the right time.
 
BucksFan937 - fake news by me. My mistake, Woodall had 11 in the game. Ansonia had a good game plan, Harrison and Woodall stepped up to make big plays at the right time.
No problem. I was just curious. I saw Ansonia get beat by TVS this year and was not impressed at all. I was surprised they played National Trail as close as they did.
 
National Trail @ Tri Village is this Friday night. This could be the most exciting game in the conference this year.

National Trail has been hands down the best team in the conference all year. They have the 2 best players in the league. But lately they don't seem to be blowing teams out as bad. They are still winning though and sit solidly at 13-3 on the season. I think they will be fired up for this one.

Tri Village who started slow, but has been playing a lot better as the year goes on. Tri Village is loaded with young talent and has some size that could battle with National Trail in the paint. Tri Village is 8-2 in their last 10 and are coming off a nice win against 13-3 Troy Christian on Saturday night. Can they keep the momentum rolling?

My final prediction would be National Trail getting the win in this one by 10 points. I'd guess a final score of 60-50. This is probably the last opportunity for Trail to lose in league and if the young guys from Tri Village come out to play in this one, I think it could be a great game.
 
National Trail @ Tri Village is this Friday night. This could be the most exciting game in the conference this year.

National Trail has been hands down the best team in the conference all year. They have the 2 best players in the league. But lately they don't seem to be blowing teams out as bad. They are still winning though and sit solidly at 13-3 on the season. I think they will be fired up for this one.

Tri Village who started slow, but has been playing a lot better as the year goes on. Tri Village is loaded with young talent and has some size that could battle with National Trail in the paint. Tri Village is 8-2 in their last 10 and are coming off a nice win against 13-3 Troy Christian on Saturday night. Can they keep the momentum rolling?

My final prediction would be National Trail getting the win in this one by 10 points. I'd guess a final score of 60-50. This is probably the last opportunity for Trail to lose in league and if the young guys from Tri Village come out to play in this one, I think it could be a great game.
I was not aware they had not already faced each other this year. The freshman point guard for Tri Village will do a great job breaking down the defense, then will pass and the receiver of the ball will put it on the floor for a couple dribbles allowing the defense to recover. Once they learn you can't do that at the varsity level they will be scoring 70+ per game. For now, I agree Trail is likely 10 better, but the Village has the better talent. Could get real interesting.
 
I was not aware they had not already faced each other this year. The freshman point guard for Tri Village will do a great job breaking down the defense, then will pass and the receiver of the ball will put it on the floor for a couple dribbles allowing the defense to recover. Once they learn you can't do that at the varsity level they will be scoring 70+ per game. For now, I agree Trail is likely 10 better, but the Village has the better talent. Could get real interesting.
I agree, this one could get interesting. I would guess the young Tri Village team will come out fired up for this one in their home gym. Tri Village starts the 2 Freshman guards, and seeing how well they can keep up with Harrison could be the difference in this one. I actually think that Tri Village has the better all around talent/depth in this one. They just lack in experience and the 2 play makers (Harrison/Woodall) that Trail has. For Trail I think that is their biggest thing this year. In league games they always have the best 2 players on the court. The rest of the supporting cast is very average. If one of their big 2 has an off game, it'll allow some of the other better teams to have a chance.
 
National Trail has an excellent ball club and the young TV team is figuring it out the second half of the season. Right now defensively they are very solid. They completely took Troy Christian’s leading scorer out of the picture and slowed down their big man drastically. Coming into the game Troy Christian’s leading scorer had hit 34 threes and TV held him to zero threes. National Trail or any team with a great point guard will always present teams with issues defensively. I know this, TV will be well prepared and despite being young they are playing at a much higher level than at the start of the season. Anyone who knows anything about basketball knows that with a young team that is to be expected and with game experience comes great improvement if you have players that are bought in. It is apparent that the TV players are listening and responding. Suggs will be a nightmare for teams to guard the next three years and Sarver will be as good as he wants to be. The Scantland kid is owning the boards this season too.
 
National Trail has an excellent ball club and the young TV team is figuring it out the second half of the season. Right now defensively they are very solid. They completely took Troy Christian’s leading scorer out of the picture and slowed down their big man drastically. Coming into the game Troy Christian’s leading scorer had hit 34 threes and TV held him to zero threes. National Trail or any team with a great point guard will always present teams with issues defensively. I know this, TV will be well prepared and despite being young they are playing at a much higher level than at the start of the season. Anyone who knows anything about basketball knows that with a young team that is to be expected and with game experience comes great improvement if you have players that are bought in. It is apparent that the TV players are listening and responding. Suggs will be a nightmare for teams to guard the next three years and Sarver will be as good as he wants to be. The Scantland kid is owning the boards this season too.
Tri Village is going to be a tough out for anybody the remainder of this year, and it's only going to be worse in future years. I believe that we are about to see Tri Village go on another run of league championships and long tournament runs over the next 7-8 years. I just hope that Tri Village doesn't become their own worst enemy. Being there comes with a certain set of expectations, and I've already heard rumblings of the current coach coming from some in their community. Even though they are playing much better basketball as the season goes on. They need to give this guy a fair chance and from what I have seen so far, they will be in good shape if they do..
 
Tri Village is going to be a tough out for anybody the remainder of this year, and it's only going to be worse in future years. I believe that we are about to see Tri Village go on another run of league championships and long tournament runs over the next 7-8 years. I just hope that Tri Village doesn't become their own worst enemy. Being there comes with a certain set of expectations, and I've already heard rumblings of the current coach coming from some in their community. Even though they are playing much better basketball as the season goes on. They need to give this guy a fair chance and from what I have seen so far, they will be in good shape if they do..

I agree with that assessment. Their coach is a veteran coach who was welcomed with open arms to come to TV. If anyone can clean up the mess of the last two years it will be him. I have a friend at National Trail who knows of the new TV coach very very well from his days coaching in Indiana and he said that the guy flat out can prepare his teams and knows his X’s and O’s. He was widely known as a program builder and his record in Indiana proved it coaching at a football school. Very well respected coach with a big basketball pedigree (dad was Mr. Basketball). According to him this guy has three state finals rings from two different schools in Indiana and knows what he is doing. Hopefully TV treats him good because it seems that his players play their tails off for him.
 
Tri Village is going to be a tough out for anybody the remainder of this year, and it's only going to be worse in future years. I believe that we are about to see Tri Village go on another run of league championships and long tournament runs over the next 7-8 years. I just hope that Tri Village doesn't become their own worst enemy. Being there comes with a certain set of expectations, and I've already heard rumblings of the current coach coming from some in their community. Even though they are playing much better basketball as the season goes on. They need to give this guy a fair chance and from what I have seen so far, they will be in good shape if they do..
The guy is just keeping the chair warm until sags decides he wants to coach again. Of course he is banking on people in TV eventually forgetting the hazing from a 3 years ago too.
 
The guy is just keeping the chair warm until sags decides he wants to coach again. Of course he is banking on people in TV eventually forgetting the hazing from a 3 years ago too.
I agree with you 100%. The last coach and the new coach were both in bad situations when you have Sags overseeing the program. In which the last coach didn't do a bad job with the talent he had. Tri Village was hurting for talent and don't think Sags wasn't aware of that when he stepped down after the 2016-2017 season. I think eventually the people will forgot or care less about everything that happened, and I believe Sags has support from some of the parents/players that are in the program now. It's my understanding that the sports complex played a big part of why Sags eventually stepped down from the job this past summer (when he got the job a 2nd time). If there is no plan to move forward with the sports complex then Sags might be full steam ahead.
 
I agree with you 100%. The last coach and the new coach were both in bad situations when you have Sags overseeing the program. In which the last coach didn't do a bad job with the talent he had. Tri Village was hurting for talent and don't think Sags wasn't aware of that when he stepped down after the 2016-2017 season. I think eventually the people will forgot or care less about everything that happened, and I believe Sags has support from some of the parents/players that are in the program now. It's my understanding that the sports complex played a big part of why Sags eventually stepped down from the job this past summer (when he got the job a 2nd time). If there is no plan to move forward with the sports complex then Sags might be full steam ahead.

So if I’m reading into the last few statements it is everyone’s belief that TV asked a veteran coach to come over and turn the program around only to be let go very soon? Am I missing something?
 
So if I’m reading into the last few statements it is everyone’s belief that TV asked a veteran coach to come over and turn the program around only to be let go very soon? Am I missing something?
At the hiring of their current coach, I believed he would be there for the long haul. Then upon talking to some Tri Village people about midway through this season, I started to hear the rumblings and the comments about Sags. I think it would be a horrible decision, and I'm not sure what they would expect giving a new coach a bunch of Freshman/Sophomores. I can't imagine what the realistic expectations should be. To me it seems like the new coach has done a good job and winning 8 out of 10 heading into the Trail game, it seems like they are getting a lot better as the year goes on. But I don't think anyone would be shocked if somehow Sags ended up with the job in the next couple of years...
 
So if I’m reading into the last few statements it is everyone’s belief that TV asked a veteran coach to come over and turn the program around only to be let go very soon? Am I missing something?
I think they had a good coach before ...just didn't have any talent. Sounds like sags tried to get back in this summer but then determined that wasn't a great idea. Sags has a son coming up soon, right? Maybe 3-4 years away? I think about then is when he will appear again as a coaching candidate.
 
So if I’m reading into the last few statements it is everyone’s belief that TV asked a veteran coach to come over and turn the program around only to be let go very soon? Am I missing something?
Put another way, the coach they let go last, was a very good coach, and with this talent would have "turned the program around". The guy has had huge barriers in the way with his two varsity jobs. He will continue working and at some point I hope he gets a legitimate chance.

As to Tri Village going back to the guy who got them to and through the dance, why wouldn't the community support it and "demand" it?

Lastly, I do not want to get too negative about a coach I do not know well, but I have heard personally and by other individuals very close to the TV program, that the current coach rides players unmercifully and calls them out personally in front of the team. Hard to build kids who want to do all for you if they feel you are never appreciative of what they can or are doing.
 
Put another way, the coach they let go last, was a very good coach, and with this talent would have "turned the program around". The guy has had huge barriers in the way with his two varsity jobs. He will continue working and at some point I hope he gets a legitimate chance.

As to Tri Village going back to the guy who got them to and through the dance, why wouldn't the community support it and "demand" it?

Lastly, I do not want to get too negative about a coach I do not know well, but I have heard personally and by other individuals very close to the TV program, that the current coach rides players unmercifully and calls them out personally in front of the team. Hard to build kids who want to do all for you if they feel you are never appreciative of what they can or are doing.

I would think that if a coach were in fact riding a player unmercifully that the player/players would quit especially being Freshmen and Sophomores. However it appears that is not the case for TV. It appears that they have improved immensely and are playing with a certain moxy not typical of a very young team due to the coaches ability to get maximum production out of them. I have heard the players state more than a few times that they really like playing for the current coach and he must be doing something right having won 8 of the last 10 games. Having said all of this and read all the previous posts it seems that the parents are having a hard time accepting the fact that TV does in fact have a good coach in place and is “getting it out of” his players. I would think that the TV faithful would be very appreciative of the fact that they have good basketball coach leading the way and and strong, supportive Superintendent who is still involved in the program that is also a great resource for the new coach. Just my opinion.
 
. Their coach is a veteran coach who was welcomed with open arms to come to TV. If anyone can clean up the mess of the last two years it will be him.

The point you make here is the one I believe many in the Tri Village community would disagree. You make it sound as if the program fell into a mess in the last two years and hints that a good coach would clean it up. It may have been a mess but not certain that the issue was the coach. Some point out if the coach of the last two years were still there, the transfers in may not have came. That is a potential reality. My question is why they would not have wanted to play for the last coach?
 
I am not 100% sold on the TV future dominance run. I sense some early bloomers/kids that were held back that the pack will catch up with. I saw them play vs Legacy Christian and they looked like a team that did not like their coach. I did not see a well coached team at all.
 
The point you make here is the one I believe many in the Tri Village community would disagree. You make it sound as if the program fell into a mess in the last two years and hints that a good coach would clean it up. It may have been a mess but not certain that the issue was the coach. Some point out if the coach of the last two years were still there, the transfers in may not have came. That is a potential reality. My question is why they would not have wanted to play for the last coach?
To allow sagester to remain as super is sad not to mention if he comes back to coach. What does that tell the kids is acceptable behavior. What happened under his reign was disgusting to say the least and to believe he had no idea is naive.
 
I am not 100% sold on the TV future dominance run. I sense some early bloomers/kids that were held back that the pack will catch up with. I saw them play vs Legacy Christian and they looked like a team that did not like their coach. I did not see a well coached team at all.

And they won! He must be just evil and awful. Lol
 
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