Cross County Conference 2019-2020

BucksFan937 said:
It'll be interesting to see how it goes. I don't think Bethel will be much of a threat, but like you said TC vs. Piqua could be interesting. Troy Christian is having a good year (7-1) and Piqua is having a bad year (1-6), but I would still think Piqua would be favored by a little bit. I'd love to see the small school get the win.
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Piqua size, talent (quickness) as well as roster size (piqua 16 to TC 10) were too much for TC.
In the Bethel vs Lehman game, Bethel stayed right with Lehman but down the stretch of the fourth quarter they could get any shots to fall while Lehman knocked down threes to win it.

I watched the Bethel vs Piqua game as well on Friday night. One thing small schools seem to be lacking is the mental approach to being prepared for two games being played at once. There is the game on the floor and then there is the game going on inside their heads. Piqua was very good at intimidating with more physicality and outright competitiveness than the smaller more gentle schools displayed.
 
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D4fan said:
What I find most interesting is in two years the three smaller schools will be conference opponents. Covington played in this one a couple years, now Bethel is taking their place.
While very small, I believe Troy Christian is a d3 as well as Bethel, so only Lehman would be d4.
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I think this tournament is in trouble due to the new conference. I don't think teams want to be playing potentially two conference opponents three times in the regular season. Not too long ago there was a big school and a small school division. They need to get more variety of teams there to survive I think.
 
National Trail is at Versailles tonight. Harrison matched up with the PG from Versailles is going to be one heck of a battle. Hopefully the role players for Trail can step up tonight and help keep them in the game. I'd guess Versailles will give Harrison/Woodall more trouble then they've seen all year.
 
BucksFan937 said:
National Trail is at Versailles tonight. Harrison matched up with the PG from Versailles is going to be one heck of a battle. Hopefully the role players for Trail can step up tonight and help keep them in the game. I'd guess Versailles will give Harrison/Woodall more trouble then they've seen all year.
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If they can't stop Versailles point guard from driving and creating they will be in for a long night. My guess is Versailles wins this one so long as the supporting cast shoots average from the field.
 
D4fan said:
If they can't stop Versailles point guard from driving and creating they will be in for a long night. My guess is Versailles wins this one so long as the supporting cast shoots average from the field.
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I don't have any insight on the game, but I know that Versailles won the game 63-60 in OT. It sounds like it was one heck of a game. Congrats to Cameron Harrison who had a 31 point effort and went over the 1,000 points scored mark for his career.
 
League games for this weekend... I would say there is no overly exciting league match-up for this weekend. It'll be interesting to see if any conference team can get enough wins together to legit have a shot to challenge National Trail. I would have said Arcanum, but they already lost to Trail by 22 points. Miami East could be the wild card at this point.

TVS @ Covington
Bethel @ Arcanum
Miss Valley @ Newton
Franklin Monroe @ Tri Village
Bradford @ Ansonia
TCN @ Miami East
 
BucksFan937 said:
League games for this weekend... I would say there is no overly exciting league match-up for this weekend. It'll be interesting to see if any conference team can get enough wins together to legit have a shot to challenge National Trail. I would have said Arcanum, but they already lost to Trail by 22 points. Miami East could be the wild card at this point.

TVS @ Covington
Bethel @ Arcanum
Miss Valley @ Newton
Franklin Monroe @ Tri Village
Bradford @ Ansonia
TCN @ Miami East
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I would lean heavily in favor of Trail running the table at this point. Injury, or off night shooting may come into play as their offense seems more superior than their defense. I am impressed they got Versailles into overtime. Versailles defense is very good.
 
D4fan said:
I would lean heavily in favor of Trail running the table at this point. Injury, or off night shooting may come into play as their offense seems more superior than their defense. I am impressed they got Versailles into overtime. Versailles defense is very good.
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I was impressed by that game too. I believe that if Trail does not have any major injuries this year, no league team will play them closer than 20 points. I think they are that far ahead of the rest of the league.
 
BucksFan937 said:
I was impressed by that game too. I believe that if Trail does not have any major injuries this year, no league team will play them closer than 20 points. I think they are that far ahead of the rest of the league.
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Can Tri-village get them? I expect it might be timing as the young tri-village will only get better as the season goes on. Plus they have a double wammy with a new coach to adjust to.

We will see with the score of the FM game tonight. If Tri-village cant blow them out then their still learning.

I think the FM coach is doing a really good job this year, that roster is empty and their competing.
 
D4fan said:
Bethel down by 15 end of third with Arcanum.
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Bethel had Piqua beat in the holiday tourney but just ran out of gas. The Lehman lose was bad, but I heard Lehman is improving.

Arcanum could still be scary. 4 years ago I thought Arcanum would be a district contender with the young guys they had. What in the world happened? I think the current seniors dominated in middle school.
 
yakyak said:
Can Tri-village get them? I expect it might be timing as the young tri-village will only get better as the season goes on. Plus they have a double wammy with a new coach to adjust to.

We will see with the score of the FM game tonight. If Tri-village cant blow them out then their still learning.

I think the FM coach is doing a really good job this year, that roster is empty and their competing.
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Tri Village appears from the score vs FM to have dominated pretty well. I would like to know what they did against Baker on defense. In my mind, if you could deny the ball coming back to Baker once he passes it, FM can not operate a fluid offense.

Tri Village kids appear to be gelling.
 
Games for tomorrow night... National Trail at Miami East is a big one. If there is any chance that Trail falls this year in league, this seems like the likely game. If Harrison is hitting, I still think Trail wins by double digits. All other games should be somewhat competitive but have no real affect on the league standings.

Covington @ TCN
Franklin Monroe @ Newton
Arcanum @ Ansonia
Tri Village @ Bradford
TVS @ Bethel
National Trail @ Miami East
 
yakyak said:
Bethel had Piqua beat in the holiday tourney but just ran out of gas. The Lehman lose was bad, but I heard Lehman is improving.

Arcanum could still be scary. 4 years ago I thought Arcanum would be a district contender with the young guys they had. What in the world happened? I think the current seniors dominated in middle school.
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Arcanum should have been so good. The graduating class last year, and this years Senior class seldom lost in the Junior High level. I remember watching them in Junior High and thinking that with all those boys that they would extremely good in high school. They had size and skill. I always thought the Meeks kid was a stud, but I know he battled major knee injuries in high school. The Delk kid is playing this year, which I'm glad to see, but I know he had injuries and missed most of his high school career. Carter Gray is a good player, but in my opinion he is a bit of a let down. I would have thought he would have done a lot more in high school. Like I said he's still a good player, but nothing like what I thought he'd be. Another head scratcher is the fact that their coach bailed heading into the 2018-2019 season. Seems like crazy timing considering all of the talent they had. It makes you wonder if other stuff was going on politically...
 
BucksFan937 said:
Games for tomorrow night... National Trail at Miami East is a big one. If there is any chance that Trail falls this year in league, this seems like the likely game. If Harrison is hitting, I still think Trail wins by double digits. All other games should be somewhat competitive but have no real affect on the league standings.

Covington @ TCN
Franklin Monroe @ Newton
Arcanum @ Ansonia
Tri Village @ Bradford
TVS @ Bethel
National Trail @ Miami East
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Just for clarification, what would a somewhat competitive score between Tri Village and Bradford look like? I have the final score at 81-36, only thing preventing a much higher score will be the running clock.
 
D4fan said:
Just for clarification, what would a somewhat competitive score between Tri Village and Bradford look like? I have the final score at 81-36, only thing preventing a much higher score will be the running clock.
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I didn't know there was a running block in basketball. I looked it up and I believe it's only for the 2nd half of playoff/tournament games when a team is up 35 points in the 2nd half.

With that being said I do think the Tri Village vs. Bradford game will have a lopsided score. I could see it being 81-36. I think Bradford is better than what they have been in the past though. The thing is that Tri Village has a lot of really talented younger players. I could see those players struggling against the better teams, but going off against a team like Bradford.
 
BucksFan937 said:
I didn't know there was a running block in basketball. I looked it up and I believe it's only for the 2nd half of playoff/tournament games when a team is up 35 points in the 2nd half.

With that being said I do think the Tri Village vs. Bradford game will have a lopsided score. I could see it being 81-36. I think Bradford is better than what they have been in the past though. The thing is that Tri Village has a lot of really talented younger players. I could see those players struggling against the better teams, but going off against a team like Bradford.
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You and I are thinking the exact same way on young good teams, they don't like to throttle back.

I was under the understanding that a running clock was in effect for a second half lead. Perhaps it is only by coach request in the regular season and mandated during the tournament?

At any rate I just had to chuckle at Bradford giving the Village a competitive game, recalling what Tri Village did to Ansonia the year they won state in 2015. Even Bethel ran it up on them with 90.

Biggest surprise for me this year was Milton Union 51, Newton 49. Biggest upset has to be FM over Arcanum.
 
BucksFan937 said:
Arcanum should have been so good. The graduating class last year, and this years Senior class seldom lost in the Junior High level. I remember watching them in Junior High and thinking that with all those boys that they would extremely good in high school. They had size and skill. I always thought the Meeks kid was a stud, but I know he battled major knee injuries in high school. The Delk kid is playing this year, which I'm glad to see, but I know he had injuries and missed most of his high school career. Carter Gray is a good player, but in my opinion he is a bit of a let down. I would have thought he would have done a lot more in high school. Like I said he's still a good player, but nothing like what I thought he'd be. Another head scratcher is the fact that their coach bailed heading into the 2018-2019 season. Seems like crazy timing considering all of the talent they had. It makes you wonder if other stuff was going on politically...
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Yeah, what I thought also. Just another lesson (in many) that middle school does not always correlate into H.S.
 
D4fan said:
You and I are thinking the exact same way on young good teams, they don't like to throttle back.

I was under the understanding that a running clock was in effect for a second half lead. Perhaps it is only by coach request in the regular season and mandated during the tournament?

At any rate I just had to chuckle at Bradford giving the Village a competitive game, recalling what Tri Village did to Ansonia the year they won state in 2015. Even Bethel ran it up on them with 90.

Biggest surprise for me this year was Milton Union 51, Newton 49. Biggest upset has to be FM over Arcanum.
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huh? Milton is undefeated vs CCC schools. SWBL schools is another story.
 
This league is very hard to figure out....I am thinking it is alot like the football conference, but one good team instead of two. It is early, but that is what my gut tells me.

National Trail and then everyone else light years behind. Just like FL/Covington in football

Tri Village might be young and have some promise, but they are very inconsistent this season, losing to Miss. Valley is a black eye on the schedule.

Ansonia's got drilled by TV, and have lost to every decent team they have played.

Miami East got drilled by the same Versailles team that Trail forced OT with

In my opinion those are the top 4 teams hands down, but I think Trail is the only tournament contender. Ansonia got to the sectional finals last year, but I don't see that happening this year especailly with how loaded that sectional is. ME won't be able to compete in the d3 sectional. Maybe TV can make a run at it in Troy, that sectional is really weak outside of Emmanuel and Cedarville.
 
LetsGoBig said:
This league is very hard to figure out....I am thinking it is alot like the football conference, but one good team instead of two. It is early, but that is what my gut tells me.

National Trail and then everyone else light years behind. Just like FL/Covington in football

Tri Village might be young and have some promise, but they are very inconsistent this season, losing to Miss. Valley is a black eye on the schedule.

Ansonia's got drilled by TV, and have lost to every decent team they have played.

Miami East got drilled by the same Versailles team that Trail forced OT with

In my opinion those are the top 4 teams hands down, but I think Trail is the only tournament contender. Ansonia got to the sectional finals last year, but I don't see that happening this year especailly with how loaded that sectional is. ME won't be able to compete in the d3 sectional. Maybe TV can make a run at it in Troy, that sectional is really weak outside of Emmanuel and Cedarville.
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No doubt that it is Trail and then everyone else. As you said there is a lot of inconsistencies in the league this year. I still feel like Arcanum is the 2nd best team in the league, they only have 1 league loss (Trail), but they lost in a holiday tournament to FM which is surprising. I still think that when playing well that they are the 2nd best team.

Followed by Miami East, who still has a chance to make some noise in the league. They have a shot tonight to really shake up the league. Playing Trail at home, and anytime they are at home and sit back in their zone, all it takes is an off shooting night for Trail and Miami East can get a win.

I still think Tri Village is dangerous but not quite there yet due to how young. If they keep improving, they could be extremely dangerous towards the end of the year. I wonder with Tri Village... I know they have a new coach, and a bunch of young players. But how much patience does the community have if they don't start winning more? I know expectations are high there, and they ran the last coach out after 2 years when he was actually doing a decent job with the talent he had.
 
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