Stirred not Shaken
Well-known member
And OHSAA is going to 7 divisions. SW region was really weak this year.
Who wins D4?
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Yep and even more teams are going to running clock their way to the final 4 with seven divisions
winbypin
Well-known member
To be fair, Russia beat a school out of the central division.
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Stirred not Shaken
Well-known member
I am aware but Russia has not had a game in the tourney where a team has come within 30 pts. of the Raiders. Had a couple games where teams did not even break the 20-pt. mark. Next season (believe 7 divisions start next year) under the new format Troy Christan may be D-6 in bball. An SCAL team will likely be playing at state on an almost yearly basis.
beantownsports
New member
Some of these schools will have a more difficult road to their league champtionship than a state championship it seems. Crazy...
Now I see the problem. As a Marion Local supporter, your concern is the SCAL in basketball will become the MAC of football. That will certainly change public perception of the uniqueness of the MAC.
winbypin
Well-known member
As the number one seed they chose their path and others ran away. Heck, even the coach acknowledges as much in this article. He even said he wouldn't put his team in jeopardy to face a tougher sectional final. Until they change the process of allowing teams to pick their own spots in the brackets you're going to have this. This isn't anything new.
Russia Hits Easy Button, Routs Fisher Catholic - Press Pros Magazine
It looked like a mismatch on paper and it was, with No. 2 Russia dominating from start to finish such that it rested every starter the entire fourth quarter in overwhelming Fisher Catholic. Felix Francis (pictured) ready to slam one down for two.
pressprosmagazine.com
Stirred not Shaken
Well-known member
You proved my point:As the number one seed they chose their path and others ran away. Heck, even the coach acknowledges as much in this article. He even said he wouldn't put his team in jeopardy to face a tougher sectional final. Until they change the process of allowing teams to pick their own spots in the brackets you're going to have this. This isn't anything new.
Russia Hits Easy Button, Routs Fisher Catholic - Press Pros Magazine
It looked like a mismatch on paper and it was, with No. 2 Russia dominating from start to finish such that it rested every starter the entire fourth quarter in overwhelming Fisher Catholic. Felix Francis (pictured) ready to slam one down for two.pressprosmagazine.com
If Russia was in NW district, the Raiders would not have been able to avoid a good team till the regional finals. Wapak district they would have had to face either Marion Local or LCC before they got to the regionals, same at Elida with DSJ or Pandora Gilboa.
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winbypin
Well-known member
How did I prove your point? Teams chose to avoid Russia. They have lost once on the year. They are really, really good. Any teams that might have given them a game went elsewhere for what they thought were better odds. If spots on the bracket were forced and not picked by teams they would have met some tougher opponents earlier. As it stands now, Troy Christian will be their toughest opponent in the tournament to date. And they beat them by 25 earlier this year.
That doesn't mean SW was weak this year.
Stirred not Shaken
Well-known member
Again, in Wapak or Elida district Russia would not have been able to just skate, walk, name their score to the regional final. Overall, the SW region is down "weak" this year compared to other years. Doesn't mean that Russia is not a very good team.
Lol....there won't be any college coaches in Dayton who haven't already seen the RH kids
I might buy your argument that the south west and particularly the SCAL overall is down some this year. However, often the Piqua sectional was tougher than the regional and one game after another with the exception of district finals would be tough games.
Troy Christian went north to see how they matched up with some of the better teams when they played Ottawa Glandorf and it appears they are not doing something uniquely better in the NW region.
I continue to believe the seperation between the haves and have nots is widening. In 2001 Bethel did not win a game by more than 10 points until they got to state. Then they fairly easily dispatched of SE region Reedsville Eastern and then crushed NW region representative Delphos in the State Championship game for one of their largest margins of victory on the year.
That year I will agree, when we went down to Miami for the regional finals it was obvious that was the state title game. So yes, the southwest does not have 6 or 8 teams who could challenge Troy Christian or Russia this year, but they do have two teams who could challenge any other team in the state at D4 not named Richmond Heights.
Actually, with Russia's size and athleticism, I think they would challenge RH best of any other remaining team.
winbypin
Well-known member
Again? You edited your post. Lol.
It looks like in the NW teams are assigned to a certain district whereas in the SW teams get to decide where on any of the brackets they get to go. If the SW assigned to a district like the NW then they would have been forced to play tougher completion earlier. So I would agree that they wouldn't have had as many of easy games as they did this year.
Even just last year they would have to come thru the Piqua sectional where botkins, Jackson center, Lehman, and other teams from the north reside. Moving to the super sectional this year expanded their optional paths to take times 2. And other teams had twice as many paths to take to avoid Russia. That's how they got to skate walk and name their score. The super sectional is what "weakened" their path to the regional final for them. The teams that were traditionally in the Piqua sectional had more room to roam. And it's no secret, especially now that tri-village is D3, the old - troy sectional was always weaker top to bottom when compared to Piqua.
People don't realize what a different team is with Barber. It's night and day. They were also trying to fit Crumble into the mix - that is not as easy as you think. The chemistry was off. Now they are healthy and have the same team they have had the last two years. I don't think they have lost to anyone since returning to 100%. They actually played better when Barber returned and Crumble was ruled ineligible. The cool thing is that they can prove it on the court. JFK and Russia are good teams - Heights is a great team. They would win any division in Ohio right now.
Stirred not Shaken
Well-known member
I am just basically stating what most likely will happen, without Tri - Village or Troy Christan in the mix who is going to challenge the SCAL schools on a regular basis in the SW district in D7. I have stated in the past Marion Local should not be D7 in football. But it is one thing to make it to state another to win state.
Not sure what they have coming up but history says Cedarville will be a challenge and Franklin-Monroe seems to be fortunate that pretty good kids show up there regularly
Don’t know how fair that is to say. The Richmond Heights kids shouldn’t have a problem attracting attention from college coaches as that is already the case. I think 100% they will be in Dayton to win. With that being said, the Spartans are my pick to take it home in D4.
Right. Sounds like a hater take to me lol
That and the fact that most of the colleges that will be looking at the RH kids will be playing in the NCAA tourney next weekend, not watching HS games lol
Exactly. They’ve watched the kids plenty so far this season. They’ll be focused on the tourney and their own teams until spring time
Stirred not Shaken
Well-known member
Halftime scores:
Russia 32 Troy Christian 11
LCC 34 Toledo Christian 30
Russia 32 Troy Christian 11
LCC 34 Toledo Christian 30
As many posts as I have in regards to RH over the last couple years, Russia and RH will be a battle into the 4th quarter like last year. Russia has too much experience and too much of a winning pedigree for me to think they will blown out before halftime. They have been to state before and played RH.
Having followed the state tournament for 30 years, I am not the only person to remember dominant, unstoppable teams get upset. Even Jerry Lucas and Middletown was upset. LeBron and SVSM got upset. Having no shot clock can come into play. Teams sometimes have trouble adjusting to the arena.
I may look like a fool in a week, but I think RH will be in a legit battle vs Russia well into the 2nd half.
Having followed the state tournament for 30 years, I am not the only person to remember dominant, unstoppable teams get upset. Even Jerry Lucas and Middletown was upset. LeBron and SVSM got upset. Having no shot clock can come into play. Teams sometimes have trouble adjusting to the arena.
I may look like a fool in a week, but I think RH will be in a legit battle vs Russia well into the 2nd half.
It was the same in 2022 also. 2021 was the last time the were different.
Lol....unfortunately it won't be that close......
They have 9 losses on the season, perhaps one more shouldn't be too hard to find. I still expect them to squeak by Russia by 15-20.
That is incorrect. in 2022 14 Antwerp vs 16 Tri village, 13 Richmond Heights vs 15 Berlin Hiland.
Nobody is beating them. They will crush Russia.
Blue Jay Fan
Well-known member
The biggest difference between last year's RH-Russia game and this year's game is they played last year. RH might have been overlooking Russia last year and the kids weren't mentally prepared for them. RH might be more focused at tip off this year. But Russia also knows, after last year's game, they can play with RH. We'll see.