Who wins DI?

Who wins DI?

  • Garfield Heights

    Votes: 3 2.8%

  • Westerville South

    Votes: 12 11.2%

  • Lakewood St. Ed

    Votes: 44 41.1%

  • Huber Heights Wayne

    Votes: 48 44.9%
  • Total voters
    107
  • Poll closed .
 
Should be a good Final Four. St. Ed's-Wayne could be an epic matchup. Teams under the radar seem to do well in States in D1. Keep an eye out on South and Garfield. It's hard to go against the defending champs; they are tough and well coached. Wayne is loaded and tested, might be their year.
 
My money is on St. Ed's. Garfield Heights is immensely talented, but I'm not sure it will be enough. Don't know much about the other two schools, but it would be nice to see an all-Cleveland area final.
 
I like Wayne, but they need to use their athleticism, depth and length to their advantage. I thought they played a bit tight until the 4th quarter against Springfield. If they play the way they played the 4th against St Eds they should move on.
 
What's Westerville South like? Looks like they didn't play many games against teams that weren't from the Columbus area, so it's hard to get a read on them.
 
South has the Wesson brothers, 6'8 Kaleb and 6'6 Andre. They are surrounded by a bunch of athletic guards. Their strength is their pressure D; their guards will work you over. Ed Calo is in his 28th year as South coach; he has won everything but a state title. Saw them dismantle Dublin Jerome after losing the first game against them. The ingredients are there for a state title but the Wessons can't get in foul trouble. The team is virtually all juniors. Kaleb Wesson is a sophomore; built and plays like Jared Sullinger. A tough out at The Schott.
 
If Wayne plays physical, they beat Ed's Imo. Also Eds beat us by penetration and very short range shots. Force them to shoot from outside and you'll beat them.
 
Spartan87 said:
If Wayne plays physical, they beat Ed's Imo. Also Eds beat us by penetration and very short range shots. Force them to shoot from outside and you'll beat them.
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Wayne is very physical and plays in your face defense. They adjust well to how a game is called.... They go 9 deep and often wear out other teams. They do have game lapses at times. Wayne did blow out Cleveland CC (the only team I remember them playing from NEO this season).
 
Maybe the final game will go to 8 overtimes and they can give out
2 trophies (like they did in hockey).

;) :D ;)

:>---
 
Stoping Kipper Nichols is very difficult. How every college in America doesn't want that kid is crazy to me, he is a winner and just takes over games.

Ohio State needs to offer him already.
 
I like Westerville South; they are deep, quick, have shooters, and have post play as well. Mostly juniors so they will be back next year. Coach Calo is on of the best coaches in the district/regional of Columbus. They win state by beating Wayne.
 
vamp2syd said:
Wayne is very physical and plays in your face defense. They adjust well to how a game is called.... They go 9 deep and often wear out other teams. ....
Click to expand...

Normally that would be an advantage, but in the State-semis & Finals the TV
timeouts will negate that. Just when you get the other team sucking air, an
extended TV timeout will allow them to 'rest' their weary legs and lungs.


P.S. TV timeouts for HS are a pet peeve of mine!

:>---
 
comparable scores?

Has anyone seen all four of these teams play throughout the season and can give a comparison? Same opponents/score comparisons between anyone? At this point, that really doesn't matter - but just curious.
 
BwareofthePhog said:
Has anyone seen all four of these teams play throughout the season and can give a comparison? Same opponents/score comparisons between anyone? At this point, that really doesn't matter - but just curious.
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Wayne 66 Cleveland CC 44

I may be wrong I am pretty sure Cleveland CC defeated St. Ed's this year.

Wayne scrimmaged Franklin and blew them out while Franklin defeated St. Ed's.... .... you are right, at this point of the season it does not matter....

I've seen Wayne in just about all of their games. I saw Westerville South against Jerome, a game they lost. I saw Ed's against Franklin and Shaker Hts. I am not sure if I've seen Garfield Hts or not... if I had it was very early in the season.
 
After all the things I've heard and read about HHWayne, I wouldn't be surprised if they take home the state title. Haven't seen any of the 4 D1 schools play, but I've had more than one person tell me that Wayne is the team to beat. A matchup with Lakewood St.Edward in the semifinals is intriguing because of the D1 football championship loss suffered by the Warriors to the Eagles.
 
Scibourne said:
Can someone give me a scouting report on Garfield Heights? I don't know anything about them.
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Garfield is a very well-balanced, athletic team with several solid perimeter shooters, some size down low to clog up the paint and gobble up rebounds, and an inside-outside wing player that can do a little bit of everything on both ends of the floor, including shutting down an opposing scorer. They have three or four players that on any given night can put up 20+ points. The Bulldogs were co-champs of the rugged NOC Valley Division, but did lose at home in mid-January by 16 to St. Edward.
 
vamp2syd said:
Wayne is very physical and plays in your face defense. They adjust well to how a game is called.... They go 9 deep and often wear out other teams. They do have game lapses at times. Wayne did blow out Cleveland CC (the only team I remember them playing from NEO this season).
Click to expand...

Lima Sr plays the same style game as well.......in your face defense and they can go 9 deep as well. St Eds struggled with Lima's pressure. Like Spartan87 said force them to take outside shots and stop them from driving to the basket is the key.
 
vamp2syd said:
Wayne 66 Cleveland CC 44

I may be wrong I am pretty sure Cleveland CC defeated St. Ed's this year.

Wayne scrimmaged Franklin and blew them out while Franklin defeated St. Ed's.... .... you are right, at this point of the season it does not matter....

I've seen Wayne in just about all of their games. I saw Westerville South against Jerome, a game they lost. I saw Ed's against Franklin and Shaker Hts. I am not sure if I've seen Garfield Hts or not... if I had it was very early in the season.
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Yes you are correct, Cleveland Central Catholic beat St.Ed's late in the regular season.
 
No way I could pick a winner in Division 1, ALL 4 teams are good!

It's unfair that Wayne and St. Eds play in a Semi-final game.

Then you have Garfield Heights who's PIPING HOT but then you bring in Westerville South...... who's more than legit, I respect what they've done.

4 great D1 teams this year...WOW
 
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http://www.thisweeknews.com/content...face-garfield-heights-in-state-semifinal.html

Westerville South to face Garfield Heights in state semifinal
By FRANK DiRENNA
Wednesday March 25, 2015 12:46 PM


In coach Ed Calo's 28 seasons at Westerville South High School, his boys basketball teams have traveled to several venues, won 10 league titles and captured four district championships.

The Wildcats, however, had fallen short of one goal until last weekend, when they secured their first Division I state tournament berth and a trip to Ohio State's Value City Arena.

South earned a state berth by defeating Northland 70-63 in a regional final March 21 at the Fairgrounds Coliseum.

"When I was a young coach and didn't know what I was doing, I thought it was more about me," Calo said. "I wised up early in my career. I know it's never about me and it's always about us. I feel good for the kids. I'm not reflecting, 'Hey, I've been here a long time and I'm finally down there.'

"What the thought is: We have a great group of kids and I'm thrilled for them and just so happy that they're going to have that experience."

South (26-1) plays Garfield Heights (24-3) in a semifinal at 5:15 p.m. Friday, March 27, with the winner playing Lakewood St. Edward (21-5) or Huber Heights Wayne (24-4) in the title game at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, March 28.

Ranked fifth in the final regular-season state poll, the Wildcats are the highest-ranked team in the state tournament. Wayne was eighth, and Garfield Heights and St. Edward were not ranked.

"I knew we were good and I knew we could go far, but I didn't know we were going this far," junior forward Andre Wesson said. "I really like this."

Garfield Heights defeated Shaker Heights 61-56 in a regional final March 21. The Bulldogs are coached by Sonny Johnson, who was named Ohio Mr. Basketball in 1998 while playing for Garfield Heights.

Willie Jackson, a 6-foot-5 junior forward, was averaging 17 points and 14 rebounds before the regional tournament. Other top contributors include 6-4 junior forward Frankie Hughes (17 points per game), 6-7 senior center Branden Johnson (10 ppg), 5-10 senior guard Kyle Stergis (8 ppg) and 6-5 senior guard Raymel Franklin (7 ppg).

Garfield Heights played in the state tournament in 2011, losing to Northland 67-59 in a semifinal.

"Garfield Heights is very athletic," Calo said. "They play very hard. They're obviously very good. They're resilient. With the fact that they lost to Shaker Heights twice (57-50 and 77-68 during the regular season) and beat them in the regional final is a testament to their resiliency and determination. They've played an outstanding schedule. They have a lot people that can score and they pressure quite a bit."

St. Edward won state titles in 2014 and 1998 and was runner-up in 2008. Key players for the Eagles are 6-6 senior guard Kipper Nichols (18.5 ppg), 6-6 senior forward Mike Ryan (10.1 ppg) and 6-10 junior forward Derek Funderburk (13.7 ppg).

Wayne, which also is playing in its first state tournament, features 6-8 senior post player Xeyrius Williams, a Dayton recruit, 6-6 senior wing player Ahmad Wagner and 6-1 senior guard D'Mitrick Trice, the son of coach Travis Trice.

The Wildcats also defeated Newark 73-64 in a regional semifinal March 18 at the Fairgrounds. Newark (62-57 in 2008) and Northland (80-62 in 2011) had defeated South in its previous two regional final appearances.

"It's ironic that the two teams that beat us in the regional finals, Newark and Northland, are the two teams that we beat in the regional to get (to state)," Calo said. "That's kind of a getting-the-monkey-off-our-back-type situation."

Against Northland, which finished 22-6, the Wildcats used an early spurt to open a 10-point lead in the first quarter and a 15-0 run in the second half to secure the win. Wesson had 21 points and 10 rebounds, Jordan Humphrey scored 14 points, D.J. Dingess had 12 points and Kaleb Wesson added 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Northland's Seth Towns had 20 points and 11 rebounds.

"We started getting stops (in the second half)," Andre Wesson said. "That's the No. 1 thing that happened, we started getting stops and once we get stops we can get out in transition and that's what we're best at."

Against Newark, Andre Wesson had 17 points and seven rebounds. Dingess had 14 points, Kaleb Wesson scored 13, Jelani Rogers had 12 and Humphrey added 11.

South led 10-0 midway through the first quarter and withstood several Newark challenges, but never lost the lead.

Newark's Jordan Dartis, an Ohio University recruit, scored 22 points.
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