2022-23 VASJ Vikings Basketball: Official Thread

vikings4life said:
I nearly left at halftime after watching the turnover fest. I was persuaded to stay. JOES (smile when you say that 3RC) played a perfect 3rd Quarter. They outscored Warrensville 23-2, committed only 2 turnovers, hit 3s, drove to the hoop and finished, rebounded and D-UP. The 4th was much of the same. The starting PG and a wing were benched and did not play in the 2nd half. I hope that you are feeling better. Be well.
Click to expand...
I'm getting a bit better everyday.
 
Tonight could be the final game of the 22-23 season as the very young Vikings look to upset Norton in the Sectional Semi’s this evening. Some down spots and some bright spots were present this season, however still a ways away until we are competing with the best teams in the area again.
 
The Vikings live for another day winning their Sectional Semi matchup 50-43 and get to travel to the Coliseum at Elyria Catholic to take on a former North Coast League rival. This is the first time VASJ made it past their 1st postseason game since 2019.
 
The Vikings pull off the upset over host Elyria Catholic this afternoon with a final of 52-45 to keep their season alive.

The Vikings advance to the District Semi’s for the 1st time since 2019 as they will face Rocky River on March 2nd with a 7pm tip-off time at Stow HS.

***correction: 2019 was the last time the Vikings made it past the sectional rounds.
 
Last edited:
Good luck to the Vikings tonight as they travel to Stow to face #10 seed Rocky River in the District Semi’s. Tip off is slated for 7pm. I’ll post quarter by quarter updates as they come in tonight.

VASJ looks to make it 3 upsets in a row to get back to a district final for the first time since 2019. A win will get them a date with #3 seed Akron Buchtel on Saturday at Stow. Even if tonight or Saturday ends up being their last games of the year, what a way to build momentum and get some experience to be prepped for next winter with how young this team is.
 
District Semi:

At the half:

VASJ 29
Rocky River 28

Sean Shenker for the Vikings hit a buzzer beating 3 to put the Vikings up 1 at the break.
 
Impressive run so far by the young Vikings - 11 point win over Rocky River. VASJ is playing weeks after many of us thought they would be gone. Congrats and Good Luck.
 
Good luck to the Vikings tonight as they take on a very good Buchtel team. No matter what happens tonight, I will say this team made the Village proud with this run and seems to have brought back a spark into the program.
 
Well, the Vikings came back down to earth and get ran out of the gym at the hands of Buchtel as the season comes to an end. Final score 77-44. The abysmal start of the 1st quarter doomed the Vikings from the get go and could never recover only scoring 4 points late in the 1st. Buchtel clearly showed their experience and exposed the young Vikings by forcing multiple mistakes and turnovers.

Honestly, I came in with little to no expectations. Making it this far when many crossed this team off is nothing to be ashamed of and finishing as District Runner Ups. Use this loss as motivation, hit the weight room, and get better and use the experience to your advantage with a majority of the team returning next season
 
Pretty good second half of the season. This gives the young Vikings something to build on. Use the offseason to get your work in and get better.
 
Really? We were the gold standard. Now we’re just the run-of-the-mill basketball program. The coach was awful at Orange and he’s awful VASJ. Time to get a new coach. Return the glory please
 
kcryback said:
Really? We were the gold standard. Now we’re just the run-of-the-mill basketball program. The coach was awful at Orange and he’s awful VASJ. Time to get a new coach. Return the glory please
Click to expand...
You do realize the program was literally stripped down to the core when the previous coach was let go and players transferring elsewhere? Factoring in that Ward had to start from scratch due to Covid, and having rebuild the entire program, considering this roster that struggled for much of this past season and had little to no expectations ended up 1 win away from a district title and a Sweet 16 birth? Fans going in knew it was gonna be a struggle as Rome wasn’t built in a day. And unless you’re a serial cheater, you have to build the program in the legal boundaries the OHSAA by-laws set. Grant it Rotsky plays by his own rules, but that’s a whole thing in its own right. This roster isn’t gonna blossom into the super roster we had 10 years ago when Pardon, Bragg, and Parker first came around.

Not to mention, the roster started to crumble in the previous coaches final year and couldn’t even beat Edgewood in the 1st round with a much talented roster. So you can’t fully pin the blame on the current coach.

Expectations are now gonna be high after that run and hoping for a district title and get back to Canton. If the team fails to perform next season, then rightfully so you can put pressure on the coach.
 
Last edited:
WhatsupDoc said:
Hopefully they can get back to the glory days. But I just don't know
Click to expand...
I agree, I do too. There is a lot “If’s” out there. Right now, your dealing with the emergence of a Richmond Hts team that is destroying the field in D-4, way better than their teams they had 10-11 years ago. Then you have your consistent blue bloods of St.Ed’s and Ignatius, you have the re-emergence of Lutheran East dominating D-3 as well, and Cornerstone Christian where you are competing for the same ball players. So recruiting efforts are not as easy as they once were, especially in today’s day and age.
 
Last edited:
C'Town216 said:
I agree, I do too. There is a lot “If’s” out there. Right now, your dealing with the emergence of a Richmond Hts team that is destroying the field in D-4, way better than their teams they had 10-11 years ago. Then you have your consistent blue bloods of St.Ed’s and Ignatius, you have the re-emergence of Lutheran East dominating D-3 as well, and Cornerstone Christian where you are competing for the same ball players. So recruiting efforts are not as easy as they once were, especially in today’s day and age.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't include Cornerstone on that list, however I would definitely include Gilmour Academy in that group. Defeated a tough Glenville team in OT last night and will be playing for another state birth this Saturday. Their athletic department isn't messing around with anything they do over there!!
 
It all comes down to getting the kids needed to win. That is getting harder and harder to do - unless you are a winning program. Winning programs recruit themselves. The rich get richer when you are winning - we saw that first hand under the previous coach and that is what happens at Ed's, Iggy, Richmond Heights, Lutheran East, ect. It's hard to build a program and much easier to maintain one. Kids want to play for a winner. VASJ has always had a strong pipeline from Richmond Heights - that appears to be dead currently. VASJ needs to go out and find kids. They need to look at CYO and AAU. They need to find kids who are not happy at their current school - which is what Lutheran West has done, thus their quick improvement. VASJ can no longer take the "they will come to us" approach. It's hard work rebuilding a program - but it is easier per say to do at a private school.

Once you get the kids they need to be coached up and developed. I think that is the area I seem to hear the most concern about. They seem to have the talent because many of the coaches worked under the previous regime. They know what is expected and have all seen how it looks when the program is elite. I think Ash was limited at Orange with mediocre talent. That excuse will not fly very long at VASJ. It's his responsibility to go out and beat the trail to get the players he needs. It's also up to the administration to get those kids in the door - much like they have done for Rotsky. The new President came from SVSM. He is used to the pressure and dealings of a high profile program. He also wants a winner. Next year is a very pivotal year. They have a large amount of kids coming back and talent on the JV and Freshman squads. I agree covid stalled things and that the cupboards were bare - but starting next season the timer will start.
 
Hopefully this program can get back to where it use to be. They made a nice run in the tourney before bailing out, hopefully they can keep their talent home and help it grow.
 
GrizzlyDad said:
Hopefully this program can get back to where it use to be. They made a nice run in the tourney before bailing out, hopefully they can keep their talent home and help it grow.
Click to expand...
It appears, the future is bright as most of the kids in the program have played with each other or against playing CYO. There are some solid Freshman and JV players that we didn’t get to see much as they were being developed and posted winning records. Hopefully this will translate over to the varsity level in the next year or two, including the returning members from this past seasons team.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top