Preview of Tuesday's Games

Huber Heights Wayne SR PG Travis Trice
is Michigan State bound after this year.

A couple of late Christmas gifts to Cincinnati hoops fans with two great games tomorrow, as well as some coverage of out of town tourneys. Also, a few more top Cincinnati teams will be in action locally: 

• Lakota East @ Huber Heights Wayne: Two of SW Ohio's finest meet up in the Dayton suburbs for this playoff like match-up. Wayne features two high major players in Michigan State signee Travis Trice, the 6-0 SR PG is the son of the coach and a great shooter; and Marcus Crider a 6-6 SR SF who has signed with Providence. Crider is a great athlete that can put points up on the board. While East might not have two players as talented as Trice and Crider they do have a team loaded with senior talent. Expect Mike Boyd, Jalen Goodwin, Cameron Lee, RJ Leppert, and the rest of the team to come out ready to play. The key to this game for Lakota East might be the production of Mark Minch. Minch, who likely will guard Crider, will be counted on to put pressure on Wayne's defense and to match Wayne's superior athleticism.

  • 

    Wayne SR forward Markus Crider
    will be playing in the Big East with
    Providence next season.
    
    

    Prediction: Should be a close game as long as LE can handle the road atmosphere; if they can contain Crider then I like their chances of pulling the upset. 

• Roger Bacon @ North College Hill: Everyone is going to want to see this matchup of Cincinnati's top two D2 teams. Roger Bacon, as always, will be led by the senior trio of PG Paul Byrd, versatile forward Jabriel Coaston, and postman Jared Bryant who should be back from a minor injury. These three will try and lead the Spartans against NCH Trojans star small forward Greg Sevilla. Sevilla is a big time scorer from distance as well as off the dribble, and he can surprise you with his athleticism in transition. NCH might not look like a great team but they have the overall team size, depth, athleticism, and hustle to make them a tough opponent for anyone. The winner of this game will be able to claim to be Cincy's top D2 team.
  • Prediction: This will be NCH's first home game and they seem like they're on a mission to prove their doubters wrong. If they can slow down Coaston and Bryant's production inside then I think NCH takes this one with a big second half.

• Out of Town Tournaments:
  • Withrow plays game three of The Motorcity Roundball Classic against Detroit Renaissance
  • Moeller plays game two of The VistaMesa.com Challenge (AZ)
  • LaSalle plays game two of The Kingdom of the Sun Tournament (FL)
  • Taft plays game one of The Piggly-Wiggly Roundball Tournament (SC)
  • Summit plays game one of The Holy Ghost Prep Tournament
  • Middletown plays game one of The Gaslight Holiday Classic

• Other Local Matchups:
  • Colerain @ Mount Healthy
  • Winton Woods @ Hamilton
  • CHCA @ Madeira