Central Catholic League Preview

<p>The Central Catholic League saw 2 of the 5 members make deep postseason runs in the Division II tournaments. This feat definitely brought some momentum into 2022 for everyone. However though, repeating the feat will be more difficult than some may think. Find out below as I look at the CCL ahead of 2022. </p> <p><em><strong>Bishop Hartley- </strong></em>Hartley has 2 of their top 4 from a team looking to stay competitive in the CCL after watching two teams advance to the Regional playoffs out of the league. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="921787" first="Amari" last="Gaston"]</strong> returns and will be the focal point for this group this year. Can they outperform Ready and DeSales who will be the favorites ahead of the season?</p> <p><em><strong>Bishop Ready- </strong></em>The Silver Knights return 2 really talented juniors from a season ago and are likely going to be in the running in the CCL this season. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="922603" first="Kaleb" last="Schaffer"]</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1201835" first="Luke" last="Ruth"]</strong> form a solid 1-2 punch on the offensive end and will force the rest of the league to be able to defend them on a nightly basis. Can the Knights take the necessary leap and beat out DeSales as the top of the league though?</p> <p><em><strong>Bishop Watterson- </strong></em>Watterson surprised everyone making a run to the Regional Finals before falling to Chaminade-Julienne in Dayton. Watterson does have one of the their top guys from that team back in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1165506" first="Cole" last="Rhett"]</strong> (Jr), but is it enough to repeat this magical run for a second time? The Eagles can still be competitive on a nightly basis but I just don’t see this team again repeating this feat.</p> <p><em><strong>St. Charles- </strong></em>Cardinals looked like a true contender right after the season ended. However, 2 of the top 3 transferred out to new schools leaving <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1052782" first="Chase" last="Walker"]</strong> (Jr) as the only returning star. Walker’s size is hard to match but there’s no denying losing [player_tooltip player_id="921785" first="Derrick" last="James"] and Josh Whiteside leave some serious voids that will make winning the CCL again difficult to do.</p> <p><em><strong>St. Francis DeSales-</strong> </em>DeSales made it to the State Finals in Division II before falling to SVSM over at UD Arena. The Stallions best player from that team, Des Watson, is now gone to Davidson University as well as two other starters from that group. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1045470" first="Atticus" last="Schuler"]</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1195124" first="Cruz" last="Sanchez"]</strong> both are back and are seniors this season. Their experience and size gives DeSales a good chance of taking the CCL title this year. <strong>PJ Noles</strong> (Fr) is a talented freshman with a ton of upside for the guard-depleted Stallions.</p>