Who are the contenders beside Newark Catholic?

gils wrote: Who are the contenders beside Newark Catholic?

I think this will be a fairly balanced league. NC would have to be the frontrunner. They were excellent last year and lose very little.

Next would be 3 teams that could give NC a run for it. Granville, Bexley and Academy. Granville lost some players to graduation but Coach Carpenter is tremendous and always have the Blue Aces in a competitive situation. They will have a few new faces this year but look for them to jell sometime around Christmas break.

Bexley has many good players back and should have a decent bench for support too. They may go 8-9 deep this year playing Coach Gustin's frenetic style.

Academy is always tough and have a nice complement of guards and posts returning. They lost alot in Baker and Hoster along with a few key role players. The Vikings always seem to reload and it will be interesting to see if that trend continues.

There are a few dark horses this year as well. I think Heath could surprise people. Hopefully not surprise people like they did last year in the tourney with a horrible loss to Johnstown in sectional play. They usually have good athletes and this year, a new coach and new system, so I could see Heath making a bid if all goes well.

Can Lakewood duplicate their run last year. They were hammered by Watterson in the tourney by over 30 points but had a successful regular season run. Lost many but we'll see if they are headed in the right direction or were they a one-time wonder.

I don't know much about LV admittedly, and I don't know much about Whitehall either. I hope they are able to recover and move in the right direction from a few disappointing seasons in a row.

Good luck to all this year, you're still undefeated!

Lakewood will be much weaker than a year ago. They lost all of their top guns.

Heath may contend, but probably not.

Newark Catholic has some good kids back, but they did lose a couple of warriors in Leibold and Vernau.

Granville always tough and they will most definitely contend.

Licking Valley will be below average.

Academy and Bexley are always fun to watch. Whitehall may surprise.

Overall, expect NC to win the league which in my judgement is weaker than a year ago. It may hurt the Green Wave cause as a preparation for the post-season.

I hope to see Newark Catholic win the league.
Be nice if Lakewood and Whitehall both do well.

I see NC winning it all....and they could go undefeated. I know that Heath had a great junior class ...but they lost Arenio White and that hurts. The new coach is Devin Fulk .....a former great at LV and Wooster College. I think he will instill a great work ethic. I think Academy lost a lot with Hoster and Baker, Granville lost their point guard with injury and their two starting guards from last season. Lakewood will drop off quit a bit and Whitehall will need to keep their young kids eligible. I know Bexley had an off year last season and I'm not sure what they bring back. I think LV struggles a bit too.