Mar 3, 2011

Weekend Sectional Final Preview:

A great weekend for HS hoops fans, including a tough decision to be made Saturday evening between the Middletown-Winton Woods and Mason-Withrow games. Check back in often as CPHR will have full coverage of who will be heading up to Dayton for district play.

Friday:
  • Summit vs Shroder: 5:30 @ XU- Two very talented D3 teams will be leaving it all on the court in this one, both teams are very familiar with each other and bragging rights will be on the line. The key for Summit will be slowing down Jalen Billups' production around the basket. Shroder will need to focus on not letting Summit's shooters have open looks and on stopping Kevin Johnson in transition.
    • Prediction: Could easily go either way but CPHR is going to take Summit.
  • Taft vs Clinton Massie: 7:00 @ XU- The first two teams couldn't test Taft, nothing will change here.
    • Prediction: Taft by at least thirty.
  • Clark vs Reading: 8:30 @ XU- Just like the first game this one is an interesting meeting of two evenly matched teams. Clark's up and down style that focuses on pressure will clash with the more traditional Reading style.
    • Prediction: Clark wins a close game.

Saturday:
  • Winton Woods vs Middletown: 6:30 @ UC- Semaj Christon vs Geovonie McKnight, that should be enough said right there; with college coaches from UC, Georgetown, West Virginia, and more expected to be in attendance this one has all the hype of a heavyweight prize fight. Dennis Thomas, Dion Dearmond, Thomas Owens and the rest of the Warrior supporting cast facing off against Kirby Wright, Vince Edwards, Mikey Brown, Josh Johnson, and the rest of the Middies should make for some exciting basketball as well. The key to this game will be the Warriors ability to control pace and not let the bigger Middie squad control the paint. If Christon continues to play like he has been playing and Dennis Thomas knocks down shots it will be hard for McKnight and the Middies to put up enough points to get this win. But, if Kirby Wright and Vince Edwards can establish themselves down low then Winton Woods lack of interior depth might get exposed.
    • Prediction: Not sure which way to lean on this one. The last time that one of these teams lost was January 21st. Middletown has looked very vulnerable in their two tourney games while Winton Woods looked excellent against Lakota West on Wednesday. So, Winton Woods appears to be slight favorites and that's who CPHR is picking, but it's a real toss up.
  • Elder vs Princeton: 8:00 @ UC- GCL South teams are always tough to eliminate come tourney time but Princeton is playing very well, especially in their first tournament game against West High. The Vikings just have too much athleticism, depth, and talent for Elder to deal with.
    • Prediction: Elder will find a way to stick around but Princeton wins by about 10.
  • Moeller vs Fairfield: 3:00 @ Cintas- Who would've thought that Fairfield would be playing in a sectional final game? Well, after wins over Glen Este and Turpin the Indians have earned that right. Their prize? Moeller, a team with only two losses all season. The Crusaders looked good on Tuesday, finally rebounding from their brief skid, and are trying to get to clicking on all cylinders again before district play. Look for this to be a similar result for Moeller.
    • Prediction: Moeller wins big.
  • St. Xavier vs Lakota East: 4:30 @ Cintas- The Bomb Squad has floated under the radar as a really solid team this season, and they're no stranger to state ranked opponents (they played Moeller and LaSalle twice). East has been dominant all year, only losing one game, and has blown out both of their tourney opponents so far. X might be good but they probably don't have enough to take down the Thunderhawks.
    • Prediction: Lakota East wins.
  • Withrow vs Mason: 6:00 @ Cintas- Another game that everyone has been talking about. Two totally different styles here as Mason is very deliberate in their attack while Withrow plays as fast as they can with the ball. The sharpshooters of Mason will need to be on their mark and Mason will have to contain Withrow's great athletes. Withrow will need to stay disciplined on both ends of the court and limit their turnovers and bad shots to win. This could be one of those games where Aaron Thomas turns in a special performance.
    • Prediction: Should be a good game with Withrow getting the win.
  • Aiken vs LaSalle: 7:30 @ Cintas- LaSalle is playing as well as anyone in the state, while Aiken has been up and down all season long. But, the Falcons do have the talent on the perimeter and the big game experience to match LaSalle. The Lancers are major favorites but if Aiken can get hot early then they could give LaSalle quite a scare or maybe even pull an upset.
    • Prediction: Aiken hangs around for a while but LaSalle gets the win.
  • North College Hill vs McNicholas: 6:00 @ Mason- The Trojans handled their business on Tuesday against Indian Hill and now will focus on doing the same against McNick.
    • Prediction: NCH cruises.
  • Roger Bacon vs Finneytown: 7:30 @ Mason- Finneytown has had a very successful season but Roger Bacon is playing excellent basketball right now.
    • Prediction: Roger Bacon.

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