Playoff Previews and Predictions: Round Two

<p>There are some very interesting playoff games on the schedule for this week. Some are rematches from contest that took place in the regular season while some are first time matchups. Let’s get you ready for the 2^nd week of the playoffs with our Playoff Previews and Predictions: 2^nd Round edition.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>Division I</u></strong></p> <p><strong>#5 Princeton vs. #13 St. Xavier (Hamilton H.S.), Tuesday 7:30pm- </strong>These two teams met back in December with the Bombers winning a close one 44-42. In that game the Bombers held the Vikings talented guard trio of <strong>DeAirius Barker, Kaleb Crawford and Khalil Davis </strong>to a combined 23 points on 9/27 shooting. If the Bombers can repeat that performance defensively they could walk away with the victory.</p> <p><strong>Prediction: Princeton</strong></p> <p><strong>#20 Colerain vs. #22 Western Hills (Fairfield H.S.), Tuesday 7:30pm- </strong>This game goes to show that regular season records do not matter in the playoffs. While the Cardinals had a first round bye, Coach Mitchell and the Mustangs recorded a first round victory over Western Brown who came into the tournament play with a 15-8 record. West High has some of the best young talent in the city and a tourney run like this will give this program huge confidence going into the off-season.</p> <p><strong>Prediction: Western Hills</strong></p> <p><strong>#9 Turpin vs. #14 Mt. Healthy (Lakota West H.S.), Thursday 6:00pm- </strong>Two really good defensive teams will battle it out in this contest. The Owls have a lot of depth and athleticism on the perimeter and one of the more underrated players in the city in <strong>2020 F Brandon Lanier </strong>too definitely pull off the upset. While Turpin will look to the high scoring backcourt tandem of <strong>Nick Haddad (2019) and Jackson Holt (2021) </strong>to lead them to battle, they will need production from those not named Haddad and Holt if they hope to walk away the victor.</p> <p><strong>Prediction: Turpin</strong></p> <p><strong>#4 Oak Hills vs. #10 Elder (Hamilton H.S.), Thursday 6:00pm- </strong>Another battle of two teams who battled in the regular season with the lower seeded Panthers winning that battle 45-31 back on January 22^nd. Expect a low-scoring, defensive brawl between these two west side Cincinnati programs.</p> <p><strong>Prediction: Elder</strong></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p><strong><u>Division II</u></strong></p> <p><strong>#1 Hughes vs. #6 Indian Hill (Mason H.S.), Tuesday 7:30pm- </strong>Before this seasons double-digit win by Big Red, the previous two matchups between these two programs were decided by a total of 3 points. But with all that being said, expect Hughes to advance.</p> <p><strong>Prediction: Hughes</strong></p> <p><strong>#4 Aiken vs. #5 McNicholas (Mason H.S.), Thursday 7:30pm- </strong>Another rematch from the regular season with the Rockets walking away as the victors 59-51 back on February 9^th. Tempo will be a big factor in this game as McNick will want a much slower tempo will Aiken will be looking to push the pace. The Falcons also will need major contributions from senior forward <strong>Tremaine “Noodles” Smith, </strong>who finished with zero points in the last meeting on 0-7 shooting.</p> <p><strong>Prediction: Aiken</strong></p> <p><strong>#6 Madeira vs. #8 Clark Montessori (Western Brown H.S.), Wednesday 7:30pm- </strong>This will be the best game in the D-III bracket so far. Can Madeira slow down the trio of <strong>Sean Ealy (2020), D’Shawnti Hawkins (2019) and Marlin Lyons (2019)? </strong>And will anyone besides <strong>Eric Hoeffel and Steven Noung </strong>provide an offensive spark for the Mustangs? If Madeira can answer these questions, they can pull off the victory. If not, it will be a long night for the ‘Stangs.</p> <p><strong>Prediction: Clark</strong></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p>