I will go with Dalton, Waynedale, Norwayne, and Rittman on Friday night. I do feel like one of the top teams playing on the road will get beat though. IMO Northwestern has the best chance of pulling the upset. Smithville-Norwayne will be a battle also.

Dalton and Waynedale should win big on Saturday night. Norwayne-Triway could go either way. I'll take the Titans getting a big road win.

Waynedale is playing better than anyone in the league right now so I will take them. I think that they will stick to the Chippewa shooters, just like everyone should, but for some reason don't. I think Coach Lucey is doing a good job with the Chipps.

Dalton is better than Northwestern. Northwestern gives some good individual efforts offensively every week, they just can't get key stops it seems like.
I think Ryan Bee is going to be in beast-mode against Rittman with the Falcons getting a win. I was very impressed with how hard he played, getting the crap fouled out of him down low, with no real help on his team.

Obviously to certain Smithville people like myself, the Norwayne game really means a lot. My heart wants to pick the Smithies and I honestly believe when they dictate the tempo of a game, they can beat anyone. For whatever reason, I do not think they will and I think Norwayne will win. But I won't be surprised one bit if Smithville does at home. I expect it to be an extremely physical and emotional game. I also just want to say that I think Coach West is doing a good job this year, because I really do not think that they have great players. Honestly, 1486, I think Smithville has better depth and athletes, but Norwayne is just much more consistent. Berger stepping up lately is really nice for the Bobcats and I am impressed with Stoudemire and Dreher.

I'm not a huge basketball fan but I follow it in the paper and try to attend the "hot game" during this point in the season. I really dont have any ties to any particular team. Since this thread is dead I thought I would offer my opinion,which means very little, and ask a few questions. To start with I think the league is as equal as it's been in a long time, which is great.
I think you have to look at Dalton as the favorite at this point although I dont think it's clearcut. I think they are in for a battle against Northwestern. Northwestern is better than they are playing and Alberts will have them fired up for this one. I'm picking an upset.
I think Waynedale wins easily. Coach Reibe has them playing well and against the undersized Chipps they'll play the defense to stop the guards.

Bee will be way too much for the Indians unless Rittman can some how hit for a high percentage from 3 which they rarely do

I think the only thing that keeps the Norwayne/Smithville game close is it being at Smithville. I still don't believe Smithville has the athletes to stay in this. If they can consistently hit the long jumper they can compete. Pew is Smithvilles biggest player and he's just not tough enough. Bates is good but he's not a pure shooter and will probably have to contend with Berger in his grill all night. If Stoudmire's hittin this isn't going to be close. Right now , I think people are looking by Norwayne. In there last 3 games they have beatin Waynedale, Northwestern and Chippewa with ease. None of those games were even close and everyone's talking about how hot Waynedale is. Less than 2 weeks ago Norwayne hammered them.

WCALfootballfan: for not being a huge basketball fan, you're very knowledgeable. The strange thing about the bobcats is that they are a totally different team than last year. They had more size and athleticism with a good post player and super quick point guard last year. This year they have a team full of 6'1" and 6'2" kids who all rebound and handle the ball pretty well. They are athletic, but not as big and strong inside. They guard the perimeter much better and also have more kids who can slash and shoot. They have had several games where 4 players average around 12 points. You might be right about Bee and the Falcons at Rittman, but I really think Chippewa will put up a fight against Waynedale.

Ex Mr Russell: I can see how this is a very big game for the Smithies. This is a also a big game for Norwayne now that they have a small chance at the league championship. Waynedale beating Dalton opened the door slightly. If you saw Smithville at Norwayne, you know it was a close game and the final score wasn't indicative. I know that you credited coach West for his efforts with what you think is less talent, but other than at the post I think he might have more basketball talent. The ball moves much better this year and they don't rely on transition baskets as much. The drawback is that many are first year varsity players and they are not very deep. Good luck on Friday - hope it's a good one.

Yea, as I have said, I really like bates and callander is decent, but I found norwayne to be much more athletic overall. I also thought there was a big drop off when the smithies went to the bench. Solid team, though.

Dalton beats the huskies by 10. Incredibly ugly first half for both teams. Dalton got a lot better shots in second half and had some guys step up with multiple people in foul trouble

The Smithies beat the Cats 47-44. It sounded pretty ugly as well - didn't get to see it. Maybe Mr Russell has some details. I think Stoudmire had 17 or so for Norwayne.

Also, Waynedale beat the Chipps 55-54.

Smithville had some unexpected heroes tonight in a very sloppy game, the kind of game that Smithville would normally lose and Norwayne normally win with the scores in the 40. The Smithies brought Calendar off the bench and started Kurtz. He delivered with some great play in the post. Tolan Shane also came to play tonight and led the Smithies with 15 points. I also think that this was Pew's best game rebounding for Smithville. Bates/Calendar/Nettleton probably combined for 10 points. If it meant a win, those 3 would score 0 points and be happy, so that wasn't a surprise. Smithville started the game heating Norwayne up, creating some turnovers, but after the 1st quarter sat in a zone the entire game. I am not beating a dead horse and I know better than to judge players after 1 game, but Norwayne did not shoot them out of the zone, simply put. Stoudmire had 19 I think and Straub had a career night, but the score was so low, it was for naught. While I understand that others think they have many shooters and athletes, I still am not ready to admit that Norwayne has the shooters that they had in the past. I also think that if the Bobcats could do it over, they would not have shot all those jump shots tonight and would have tried working Davis and Berger in the post more. Great game in Smithville, with the area's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde team winning a close one. Hard telling which Smithville team will show up, with 3 games in the next 7 days for the Green Machine, including Northwestern and Waynedale. I expect Coach West and Norwayne to bounce back fine and finish the year strong.

I'm not going to defend Norwayne's shooting because I heard the ball clanking all over the place even on the radio. They do have more shooters on the floor and the ball moves better than last year. What they lack so far is post play. Stoudmire has been pretty consistent shooting and it sounds like he missed his share of shots even with 19 or whatever he scored. Straub did not have a career night as he has been hitting 2 or 3 from deep most games and I know he missed a few tonight. Other than Berger, most of team lacks varsity experience. Also, without being there, I think you have to credit the Smithie defense. I think Norwayne is right with Smithville with the Jekyll/Hyde act. It is encouraging for Smithville that Shane and Kurtz stepped up and that might help them the rest of the way.

Dalton is in a pretty good place at this point in the season. I just can't see them losing to rittman or hillsdale. They have three tough road games with the chipps, cats and smithies. Since they have a two game lead, they would have to lose all three to not at least have a share of the title. While the could lose all three, it's pretty unlikely IMO. I do think there is a decent chance they could lose one of those games, but they would still be in sole possession of first. Should be a fun run to the end in he wcl

1486wd;1375014 wrote:Dalton is in a pretty good place at this point in the season. I just can't see them losing to rittman or hillsdale. They have three tough road games with the chipps, cats and smithies. Since they have a two game lead, they would have to lose all three to not at least have a share of the title. While the could lose all three, it's pretty unlikely IMO. I do think there is a decent chance they could lose one of those games, but they would still be in sole possession of first. Should be a fun run to the end in he wcl

I think Dalton was probably okay with the one game lead. What separates them from the other teams is the ability to win on the road consistently. In your scenario you didn't even mention the fact that teams like Norwayne and Waynedale would have to run the table along with Dalton losing more than one. I was hoping for some games with the title in the balance, but that's unlikely now.

dalton ekes out a win over central. the dawgs were obviously not ready for this game and it showed. I got really nervous when moyer fouled out with almost 6 minutes left. Give dalton credit for hanging on without him. They had a bunch of chances to ice the game but could not hit a free throw. Central is a scrappy team that will be a handful next year. I guess a win is a win on the road.

Waynedale won by 50. Norwayne beat Triway 66-48. Straub had 22 for the cats and Carmichael 18 for the titans. Both good shooters from deep.

Anyone else find the Central coach's comments a little odd in the Sunday paper? He made a point of saying that his best player is the best player in this area and that his team would win out if they played how they played against Dalton. I wasn't at the game. I have no idea what kind of player his star is. However, I find it somewhat ignorant and arrogant to make such a boastful statement about a kid after a loss. He scored around 20 points in the game against Dalton. Is that what validates your status as a player nowadays? Scoring 20 points in a loss against Dalton? I highly doubt that the Central coach has seen every player in this area play. Is he saying that his kid is better than every player in the WCAL? Better than every kid at Wooster, Triway, Orrville, and West Holmes? If he is that good, wouldn't they be better than 5-7? I know it takes more than one player to win basketball games, but it's not like Central plays that tough of a schedule. They play "up" when they play WCAL schools. Personally, I think Dalton would be better served to replace schools of this caliber with more fast, city teams to prepare themselves for the tournament.

I wasn't there either and haven't seen the kid play, but it does seem a little odd. Wasn't Moyer limited with fouls? I'd consider him one of the best players in the area - near the top of the list. I think it's much safer to say "one of the best" especially if you haven't seen every player on a consistent basis. It would be more understandable if Central had won. It sounds like they had a good showing and they can be proud of that.

Agreed, the kid is definitely a nice player, maybe even top 10, maybe. Moyer fouled out with 6 minutes to play, a couple mystery fouls. I think central played as well as they had all year and the coach got a little carried away. They do have some talent there, though. Agree with 187, if we are going to be stuck in this ridiculous district, we are going to have to play some city schools to get used to that style, just not vasj where you don't have much chance

I agree. Dalton needs to get used to playing that style more effectively. I would schedule some Cleveland city teams (Glenville, Collinwood, etc.) in addition to VASJ. Lake Center, Loudonville, and Central Christian do nothing for Dalton when it comes to tournament preparation.

Upcoming games (from Pitman's site http://d3wooster.pitmanstats.com/league.php?id=79) if anyone is interested in picking and analyzing:

Loudonville @ Smithville on 2013-01-29

Hillsdale @ Dalton on 2013-02-01
Chippewa @ Northwestern on 2013-02-01
Rittman @ Norwayne on 2013-02-01
Smithville @ Waynedale on 2013-02-01

Dalton @ Chippewa on 2013-02-02
Norwayne @ Hillsdale on 2013-02-02
Smithville @ Northwestern on 2013-02-02
Rittman @ Waynedale on 2013-02-02

Pitman,
what is the future of triway basketball, 0-3 against wcal this year?

Triway has a varsity team loaded with sophomores. I'm sure he'll say their future looks good. They played three pretty good WCAL teams and competed in every game. I don't think any of those games were played at home either. (Lost by 3 at NW, in OT to Wdale at the WQKT, and close at halftime at NOR). Carmichael is a good player already and only a soph.

In regards to the upcoming games - I'm definitely taking Smithville over Loudonville on Tuesday.
On Friday, I'll pick the home team in all 4 games. The Smithies should put up a fight in Apple Creek and I'm losing confidence in Northwestern, but still picking them. I think they'll control the boards enough to win, however they play.
On Saturday, I'm taking Waynedale at home and Norwayne, Smithville and Dalton as road teams. Chippewa is good at home, but I'm sure Dalton will be ready. Smithville at Northwestern could be a good game.

no name;1376523 wrote:Pitman,
what is the future of triway basketball, 0-3 against wcal this year?

kurty66;1376581 wrote:Triway has a varsity team loaded with sophomores. I'm sure he'll say their future looks good. They played three pretty good WCAL teams and competed in every game. I don't think any of those games were played at home either. (Lost by 3 at NW, in OT to Wdale at the WQKT, and close at halftime at NOR). Carmichael is a good player already and only a soph.

no name,
kurty covered it pretty well. While it was disappointing to lose those 3 games (all of which we considered "winnable" going in), those 3 teams are still all pretty good this year. And if we're going to lose, we better be losing to teams that are "better" than us.

But yes, I'll state the obvious - we start 3 sophomores and 1 junior, with our 6th and 7th men being sophomores, as well (that's 5 of our top 7 being sophomores). For example, against Norwayne on Saturday, our sophomores played 96 combined minutes (27, 22, 18, 18, 9, 2). We only have 1 junior, and he played 30 minutes. Our 4 seniors combined for a whopping 34 minutes (31, 2, 1, 0).

However, that is no excuse for the season we're having. We still expect more out of a Triway basketball team, and this team is no different. I even said at the beginning of this year that I thought we'd surprise some people. We have some kids in every grade, Senior on down, that are good ball players. But for some reason or another, we have yet to get over the hump and win a close game. Saturday's game was just embarrassing, with 9 turnovers in the 1st quarter alone, finishing with 26.

We've had several games not go our way:

• Lost 71-70 to Indian Valley when they hit 14 three-pointers (14/22). We had won in rebounding, turnovers, pts off turnovers, FG %, 2nd chance pts, bench pts, etc., and pretty much controlled the entire game, doing whatever we wanted on offense. Everything they shot went in, though, regardless of how tightly or far out we guarded them. It was like nothing I've ever seen from 3-point land.
• Went to OT with Waynedale (11-4) in a very hotly contested game at the College of Wooster. 6th man sophomore was sick and didn't play.
• Were within 1 point of Manchester (11-5) late in the 4th quarter before they pulled away with free throws.
• Led CVCA (13-2) the whole 1st half and most the 2nd, before the Royals took the lead for good halfway through the 4th quarter (at CVCA), without our 2-year starter sophomore PG.
• Went to OT with Hiland (14-3), without our 2-year starter sophomore PG.
• Led Timken (8-5) at halftime before they pulled away in the 2nd half, without our 2-year starter sophomore PG.

We are 3-10 and could very easily be 7-6, 8-5, or 9-4 (at best). By no means is any of that used as an excuse. Just giving reasons why we feel we have been so close, but we just haven't earned those victories to get over the hump... yet. Our 2-year starter sophomore PG that was out for those 4 games was playing his first game back against Norwayne, so we were thinking that, with him, we would have been more competitive than we were on Saturday. It was a step back for us.

So far this year, 2 of our 3 wins are against Fairless (0-14). Tonight we play the other team we beat (Tusky Valley, 5-11). Needless to say, it's been a frustrating, hair-whitening season so far.

As for the future, we'd like to say it is bright... very bright! Next year we'll only have 1 senior, but it'll be 6'6" post man Zach Kinney, surrounded by many talented juniors and probably an up-and-coming sophomore (one of our best JV players this year as a freshman). Then in 2 years, when Z Kinney graduates, we have our eyes on kids that we think will do very well filling in inside. BUT... our kids still need to get much better if they want to reach their goals of not just a district championship... they are setting their goals higher. But man, watching us this year, we have a long way to go.

Call me crazy and I am sure somebody will haha, but I think Smithville will win all 3 this week, with 2 on the road at Waynedale and Northwestern.

Loudonville @ Smithville on 2013-01-29

Hillsdale @ Dalton on 2013-02-01
Chippewa @ Northwestern on 2013-02-01
Rittman @ Norwayne on 2013-02-01
Smithville @ Waynedale on 2013-02-01

Dalton @ Chippewa on 2013-02-02
Norwayne @ Hillsdale on 2013-02-02
Smithville @ Northwestern on 2013-02-02
Rittman @ Waynedale on 2013-02-02

No blowouts this weekend.............

Also, I think Triway wins at least one tournament game.

Okay your crazy Russell, lol! But you never know.

Some good match ups this week, Northwestern and Smithville with a good weekend could help themselves when the seedings come around.
If Dalton would win both this weekend and a Waynedale loss that would make Dalton league champs outright, I think?

I will go with Smithville over Loudonville
Dalton over Hillsdalle
Northwestern gets revenge over the Chipps
Norwayne over Rittman
Waynedale over Smithville sorry Russell

Dalton over Chipps
Norwayne over Hillsdale
Smithville over Northwestern
Waynedale over Rittman

Mr Russell: That's not crazy and understandable given your allegiances. I've got Smithville going 2-1, but they could go 3-0. 1-2 is also possible. I think there will be a few blowouts - at least one or two. I don't think the Smithies will be involved in any blowouts, except maybe over Loudonville.

Coach: Dalton won't clinch outright unless maybe Waynedale and Norwayne both get a loss since they each have 3 losses and Dalton only 1. They are in great shape though either way. I think we picked everything the same, but it seems like there is a surprise or two every week.

If the bulldogs sweep this weekend, they clinch a share of the title. A win next Friday as well would clinch it outright unless the cats and bears both lose this weekend and while the bears could slip up, the cats ain't losing