1. The Smithville/Tuslaw game last night was one of the craziest games and environments I have ever witnessed.

2. The league is Dalton's, it's all over. They are just extremely fundamentally sound and the bigs have stepped up. Chase always has been ready to go, but he has a TON of help this year and that is what makes their team great.

3. The Wooster District has no dominant team and the seedings are going to be interesting.

it was a big eye opening last night with players and coaching staff for the dawgs !! took a hard lost 95-46 to a very great tm vasj. we have alot of work to do now too tournament time where we can face them again !!all and all it was a good experience for them, and looking forward to playing them again either this yr and next yr at home !! we need a couple more tms like this on our schedule !

The Artist Formerly Known As Mr. Russell;1364973 wrote:1. The Smithville/Tuslaw game last night was one of the craziest games and environments I have ever witnessed.

2. The league is Dalton's, it's all over. They are just extremely fundamentally sound and the bigs have stepped up. Chase always has been ready to go, but he has a TON of help this year and that is what makes their team great.

3. The Wooster District has no dominant team and the seedings are going to be interesting.

1. Good non-conf. win for the Smithies.
2. It's early, but you're probably right. Dalton has some tough road games in the second half, but they'd likely have to lose a bunch to give up the conference lead. If Dalton keeps rolling, it will still be interesting for the next 5 teams. Chippewa is very tough at home. Waynedale can shoot your eyes out, they just lack size. Norwayne has a totally different team than last year - more shooting and ball handling, less experience and depth. Northwestern has been underachieving - if they learn how to win, they could be tough. Smithville - you'd be the guy to analyze them.
3. It's early, but you're probably right. I just hope the WCAL and Orrville handle the Lorain Co. teams.

I have seen VASJ play many times over the years. They are always good. This year they are really good. The pg (Gibson) and the big guy (Flannigan) are a load. The two sophomores will go D1 as well. I look forward to another district final matchup between them and Richmond Heights in March. Richmond Heights won last year in OT. That was one of the best games I've ever seen. Dalton shouldn't hang their heads as there has probably never been a team from Wayne Co that could beat this group of Vikings. The Orrville group from the mid 90s would have the best chance, but they didn't have the talent that VASJ does this year. Chase Moyer played extremely well in the first half for Dalton, but the rest of the Bulldogs were completely overwhelmed. VASJ ran a layup drill on offense. The past two years have been two of Dalton's best years on the hardwood. It's almost a shame that they won't have any tourney success to show for it. They would be much better off in the D3 district at Wooster.

I agree that Dalton should keep scheduling these types of teams. It is good to expose your kids to different levels of basketball. VASJ and Richmond Heights play at a different level than Dalton. It also prevents kids from getting overconfident. Even though they are undefeated in the WCAL, I seriously doubt that Nate Stutz will have to guard against overconfidence after the whooping his team took Saturday night. This game will help Dalton in the second half of their league slate.

Agree with all you said 187. The real shame here is a team like vasj is d4.

Wooster Records Right Now:

Chippewa 7-3
Oberlin 7-4
Waynedale 7-4
Northwestern 7-5
Smithville 7-5
Norwayne 6-3
Wellington 5-6
Clearview 4-7
Elyria Catholic 4-7
Keystone 4-7
Orrville 2-8
Hillsdale 2-9
Black River 0-10
Loudonville 0-11

The Artist Formerly Known As Mr. Russell;1366147 wrote:Wooster Records Right Now:

Chippewa 7-3
Oberlin 7-4
Waynedale 7-4
Northwestern 7-5
Smithville 7-5
Norwayne 6-3
Wellington 5-6
Clearview 4-7
Elyria Catholic 4-7
Keystone 4-7
Orrville 2-8
Hillsdale 2-9
Black River 0-10
Loudonville 0-11

Here are the current Maxpreps rankings (199 teams in div) - note that they have the wrong or incomplete records for most teams. The results they have for Wellington and Oberlin are not even close. This is almost meaningless, but FWIW:

47 Norwayne 6-3
50 Wellington 6-2 (should be 5-6)
60 Waynedale 7-4
74 Smithville 7-4 (7-5)
77 Oberlin 3-3 (7-4)
80 Orrville 3-7 (2-8)
81 Chippewa 7-4 (7-3)
97 Northwestern 6-4 (7-5)
113 Elyria Cath. 3-7 (4-7)
127 Keystone 5-7 (4-7)
145 Clearview 3-6 (4-7)
180 Hillsdale 1-9 (2-9)
191 Loudonville 0-11
197 Black River 0-6 (0-10)

kurty66;1366770 wrote:Here are the current Maxpreps rankings (199 teams in div) - note that they have the wrong or incomplete records for most teams. The results they have for Wellington and Oberlin are not even close. This is almost meaningless, but FWIW:

Are you saying I should create some sort of matrix ranking system with my web site?

thePITman;1366781 wrote:Are you saying I should create some sort of matrix ranking system with my web site?

I'm not saying that at all, but since you mentioned it... it sounds like a tremendous idea.

The Artist Formerly Known As Mr. Russell;1366147 wrote:Wooster Records Right Now:

Chippewa 7-3
Oberlin 7-4
Waynedale 7-4
Northwestern 7-5
Smithville 7-5
Norwayne 6-3
Wellington 5-6
Clearview 4-7
Elyria Catholic 4-7
Keystone 4-7
Orrville 2-8
Hillsdale 2-9
Black River 0-10
Loudonville 0-11

May as well just list the schools in this District...records mean NOTHING, as Orrville has proven the past couple years.

Although it is less likely to happen this year than the previous three years, don't count out Orrville winning this district again. They will be a tough out.

AllOhio;1367013 wrote:May as well just list the schools in this District...records mean NOTHING, as Orrville has proven the past couple years.

I wouldn't say they mean nothing. The WCAL schools play each other twice and many of the Lorain Co. schools play each other - so those schedules are sometimes similar in strength. Orrville, playing in the OCC, is a definite outlier. I would say their record means much less because they are always playing bigger schools, but they often play a few WCAL teams out of conference.

kurty66;1367137 wrote:I wouldn't say they mean nothing. The WCAL schools play each other twice and many of the Lorain Co. schools play each other - so those schedules are sometimes similar in strength. Orrville, playing in the OCC, is a definite outlier. I would say their record means much less because they are always playing bigger schools, but they often play a few WCAL teams out of conference.

Case and point: Orrville (2-9) beat Norwayne (6-3).

thePITman;1367166 wrote:Case and point: Orrville (2-9) beat Norwayne (6-3).

Perfect case, but another factor is home court - especially without dominant teams. Dalton is the only area team that seems to have the ability to consistently win on the road at this point of the season. BTW - is the ranking matrix done yet? I've been looking forward to seeing it ever since you proposed it way back around yesterday afternoon.

bulldogs welcome in the bears tonight. they gave them a run the first time around so dalton will have to shake off that vasj loss and get rolling again.

My WCAL Mid-year Review:
http://www.pitmanstats.com/2013/01/18/wcal-mid-year-review/

nicely done pitman. After the first run through, its apparent that the bulldogs are the most talented team, however I agree with you in expecting them to get tripped up once or twice by someone in the second half, especially when going on the road to norwayne, northwestern, chippewa and smithville. I think what has slowed the chipps down a little is one word - zone. Breitienstine is really skilled for a freshman and was scoring early against dalton. they switched to zone and really slowed him down. The rest of their team is solid, but not quite good enough to compensate. I think norwayne and waynedale have the best chance to knock the bulldogs off the perch as the cats are not particularly skilled outside of stoudemire but are pretty big, strong and athletic - very good defenders. The huskies, smithies and chipps are all solid.

waynedale pulls the upset 44-39. First quarter was the worst I have seen Dalton play since the Tuslaw game, I dont know if it was VASJ hangover or what. The bears came out on fire and played great D all game. Turning point in the game was after Dalton had retaken the lead, their PG Masters fouled out with a minute and a half to go - this immediately led to a turnover on the inbounds and a general lack of direction on offense. Dalton played better in the second half, but still well below their capability. Hats off on a gritty effort from waynedale.

thePITman;1369281 wrote:My WCAL Mid-year Review:
http://www.pitmanstats.com/2013/01/18/wcal-mid-year-review/

I agree with 1486 - nice job, Pit. I was going to critique your analysis, but I fully expected Dalton to win tonight. I was also pretty sure that Northwestern would beat Norwayne and it was never very close. I was just saying how no teams could win big games on the road as well. So, based on those misses, I'm gonna have to withhold the criticism. The scouting report on Norwayne that you were given is not totally accurate, though. I think they do have kids who can shoot - that's one area that's improved over last year's team.

Bears knock down NWN tonight. Back to Back BIG wins for the Bears, winning 9 of the last 10 games after a shaky 0-3 start.

Sometimes rittman is just what the doctor ordered. Dalton blew the doors off the tribe, leading 40 something to 9 at half time. Heading to northwestern Friday

Weekend WCAL games per Pitman: http://d3wooster.pitmanstats.com/league.php?id=79

Waynedale @ Chippewa on 2013-01-25
Dalton @ Northwestern on 2013-01-25
Hillsdale @ Rittman on 2013-01-25
Norwayne @ Smithville on 2013-01-25

Dalton @ Central Christian on 2013-01-26
Triway @ Norwayne on 2013-01-26
Temple Christian @ Waynedale on 2013-01-26

Does anyone want to analyze and/or predict these games? 1486, xovr, Pit, ex Mr Russell, bever -anyone? This thread is a little stagnant.

I will Kurty, I have watched some of these teams this year Smithville, Norwayne, Dalton, Northwestern and Waynedale.

My prediction....

I like Waynedale over the Chipps they held their freshmen stud to 2 points the first time and Rebie has his guys coming together at the right time.
Dalton over Northwestern Dalton is better coached and better overall talent, Nolettie (sp?) is a good athlete but not enough to beat the Dawgs.
Toss up game I will take Rittman since they are at home, battle for the basement.
I will take Norwayne over Smithville this is a tough call but Norwayne seems to be getting it together and never know which Smithville team shows up.

Dalton will roll the Comets.
Norwayne over Triway since it is a Norwayne, if at Triway I would take Triway. But as i said I think Norwayne is getting it together.
Waynedale over Temple I think Waynedale is solid and in the next couple of years they will be competing for the WCL if not this year also.

Good luck to all the teams this weekend, this is where you need to get wins when ever and how ever you can to get a good seed for the tourny.

My predictions are pretty similar.
Wayedale over Chippewa - more depth and better coached.
Dalton over Northwester. The first game was close, but I think the bulldogs win by a few more this time.
Rittman beats hills dale, I guess. Both teams are pretty bad.
Norwayne over Smithville, better athletes, more depth, better coaching.
Even though they are close by, I don't know much about central this year other than that they are better then they have been. Still taking the dawgs
Norwayne over triway, even though this game makes me think about it. Have noticed the titans playing much better as of late. Coin toss game.
Waynedale with ease.

Thanks for playing Coach and 1486! I think that there must be more than a few of us following the WCAL this year, but it's been pretty quiet. I agree with both of you on the picks for both days. I think that the WCAL teams are safe on Saturday, but even though I'm in agreement, the Friday games could have some surprises. I think Dalton is the safest pick. I really thought that Northwestern would be better, but I've been wrong so far. Maybe they'll get it together before the district and make a run then, but I don't think it will start this Friday. Norwayne over Smithville might be my closest call. They've both shown flashes of being pretty good, but both have had some really bad games as well. I'm not sure either team winning would be a big surprise. I'm taking Waynedale over the Chipps, but I think it might be closer than everyone thinks. Chippewa is a different team at home and they haven't lost there. The freshman is more comfortable and they shoot better. Having said that, Waynedale beating Dalton was a much tougher road win.

I don't know much about the out of conference Saturday teams - other than Triway being much better than their record would indicate. Being a Norwayne guy, I'm hoping that the Dalton/Norwayne game has some meaning in a couple of weeks.