OHSAA Division III State Title Contenders

<p>In our third edition of state title contenders we’ll be looking at division III this time. This division has a wide range of schools, from private school powers to rural public schools. All of these teams have talented players you’ll want to learn before tournament time.</p> <p>Lutheran East: I think among any division I might be the most confident in Lutheran East as my state title pick. This isn’t to speak down on the rest of division III, but the Falcons are one of the 5 best teams in the state regardless of class in my opinion. Senior high major forward [player_tooltip player_id="552857" first="Jalin" last="Billingsley"] leads the way. A senior trio of guards with lots of experience in [player_tooltip player_id="918983" first="Sirr" last="Hughes"], [player_tooltip player_id="918991" first="Collin" last="Albert"] and [player_tooltip player_id="919043" first="Jalen" last="Knott"] all play key roles in making the Falcons so tough to beat because of their ability to space the floor. Throw in transfer from Michigan in [player_tooltip player_id="1078606" first="Jared" last="Lary"] who adds some needed length from the wing position. [player_tooltip player_id="918993" first="BJ" last="Busbee"] and Jordan Cannon will also provide valuable minutes for the Falcons. With the amount of experience, chemistry and depth Lutheran East will be extremely tough to beat come playoff time.</p> <p>Worthington Christian: I was maybe a year too early on Worthington Christian, but the Warriors came very close to defeating [player_tooltip player_id="800834" first="CJ" last="Anthony"] last year, and that was extremely difficult for everybody. [player_tooltip player_id="809594" first="DJ" last="Moore"] should be more capable of taking control of the game in crunch time situations as a Junior and the Warriors have a lot of depth returning. [player_tooltip player_id="805179" first="Tyler" last="Kindberg"], [player_tooltip player_id="805209" first="Kobe" last="Buford"] and [player_tooltip player_id="805206" first="Isaiah" last="Hazelwood"] are all seniors who got solid playing time last season. Losing Derick Hardin will be tough to replace, but maybe a guy like Drew Faieta will be able to come close to replicating his outside shooting.</p> <p>Cincinnati Taft: [player_tooltip player_id="867936" first="Rayvon" last="Griffith"] is the most talented player in this entire division, and his talent alone will make Taft a tough out this year. Taft doesn’t return very many scorers from last year but have a variety of upperclassmen who received varsity time last year who should be ready for bigger roles. Aj Lowe and JaMarco Berry are the two potential players that could explode onto the big stage come playoff time if Griffith is able to lead his team to the final four.</p> <p>Fairland: Fairland were one of my favorite teams to watch last season and basically everybody is back in 2020-21. [player_tooltip player_id="967169" first="Aiden" last="Porter"] looks much more capable of creating offense for himself this fall relative to last season. Seniors Clayton Thomas and [player_tooltip player_id="967143" first="Jacob" last="Polcyn"] work so well together, Thomas is one of the best shooters in the state and Polcyn can really pass the ball from the forward position. They have defensive depth with Jordan Williams and Gavin Hunt. This team showed they were capable of beating the big boys with a season opening win over CHCA at Mason. I expect Fairland to run through the regular season once again and am excited to see them potentially get their chance against more well known schools in the playoffs.</p> <p>Ottawa-Glandorf: I feel like OG has shown enough year in and year out that despite maybe having less known talent, they deserve to be on this list. This isn’t to suggest that OG doesn’t have talent this year, [player_tooltip player_id="967132" first="Owen" last="Nichols"] and Brennen Blevins are more than capable enough of filling the hole that [player_tooltip player_id="711978" first="Ben" last="Westrick"] leaves in the middle. I thought last year that OG was the best team in Division III, they just were so complete of a team and didn’t get the deserved media attention for their talent level. I’d like to become one of the reasons why that doesn’t happen again in 2020-21.</p> <p>North Union: North Union went unbeaten last regular season and have a couple starting pieces back this season. With [player_tooltip player_id="1082240" first="Zach" last="Vernon"] manning the middle and [player_tooltip player_id="967142" first="Preston" last="Crabtree"] lighting up the scoreboard from downtown they should be tough once again. They don’t have the depth as Connor Terrill and [player_tooltip player_id="917597" first="Harley" last="Day"] have graduated. I still think with the winning experience they gained last season, they’ll be one of the better D III teams this season.</p> <p>Other teams to watch</p> <p>Central: Bishop Ready, Africentric, The Wellington School</p> <p>Southwest: Greenview, National Trail</p> <p>Southeast: Wheelersburg, Chesapeake,</p>