Miami Valley Conference Preview

The Miami Valley Conference had some special teams last year. Summit Country Day and New Miami advanced to District Finals while Cincinnati Country Day had a successful regular season finish. Graduation hit this conference hard as some teams lost much of their cores from a season ago. 2022 may be an identity building year for many of these programs as they look to develop their talent and build off of previously achieved success. CHCA- The Eagles always find a way to be competitive and again were successful last season with a 17-4 finish. Even with losing 2 of their top 3 from that team, I expect this group to again challenge within the conference. Eric Rakestraw (Sr) returns and is the primary option for the Eagles ahead of the season. Cincinnati Christian- The Cougars had an unexpected season last year finishing below .500 and just not looking the same as previous years. Granted part of this was due to graduating and losing most of their lineup from a Regional Semifinalist team in 2019-20. This upcoming season looks more optimistic as they return their top 2 from that team in Matthew Cardwell (Sr) and Caleb Reifsteck (Sr). The mixture of upperclassmen, underclassmen, and coaching makes me think this year is a turnaround year for the Cougars. Cincinnati Country Day- CCD had an incredible year in 2020-21. Unfortunately, their season ended much earlier than expected as they were upset by Purcell Marian in their tournament opener. What’s even worse is the amount of talent graduated is enormous. 5 of the top 6 guys from last season are now gone. The lone returner is Ashton Snell (Sr) who will have huge shoes to fill. Repeating this feat is going to be incredibly hard and this season may serve more of a rebuilding year vs competing yet again. Clark Montessori- Clark has had a history of being one of Cincinnati’s best small schools in the past. Last season was not one of those years as they won 3 games and struggled inside and out of the MVC. What’s worse is leading scorer Markus Murray also graduates after being Top 5 in scoring a year ago. Looking ahead, this season may be another struggle as they look to replace that scoring output. Lockland- NOT ENOUGH INFO TO REPORT Miami Valley Christian- The Lions struggled last year winning only twice during the season and then taking a 40 point loss to Cincinnati College Prep in their tournament opener. The bad news is John Riley graduates and takes his 15 rebounds per game with him. Losing that presence on the glass will be difficult for the Lions to navigate around the MVC. Gabe Jackson (Sr) is promising at the guard spot, but needs more help for the Lions to make any noise within the conference. New Miami- The Vikings finalized a tremendous run as this graduating senior group went to 3 straight District Finals and fell all 3 times. No denying during this run New Miami was the best D4 program in Cincinnati. Now however that group is gone as the top 3 players graduate. The void left is quite large and makes things complicated for the Vikings to repeat this incredible success. I would expect this season to be a learning year as the next generation of talent adapts to the game. North College Hill- The Trojans had high hopes of advancing their game and building off of a strong season last year. Now though, 2 of the top 3 from that team are gone. [player_tooltip player_id="1285290" first="Jaden" last="Jefferson"] transferred out to Western Hills and Antonio Harmon graduated. Tejay Bouldin (Jr) however returns after a solid sophomore campaign that saw him finish Top 5 in rebounds in the conference. Bouldin will be the focal point of this Trojans team as they look to try and compete not only in the MVC but come tournament time too. Norwood- Norwood loses their top scorer and two-way player in Kevin English from an 8-12 season. Tyreq Palmer (Sr) is the top returning player and should be relied on heavily this year. Purcell Marian- New year new look for the Cavaliers as they bring in a new coach and begin life in a new conference after leaving the GCL Coed this past season. The Cavaliers were winless in the regular season, but found success in the postseason, including upsetting Cincinnati Country Day and taking Greeneview to overtime in the Sectional Finals before losing by one point. Now the Cavaliers can only go up and they have a nice backcourt to do it. [player_tooltip player_id="1045460" first="Andre" last="Simmons"] (Sr) was one of the best scorers in the GCL Coed last season and returns likely to be one of the conference’s best scorers this season too. Fellow senior [player_tooltip player_id="1285307" first="Colby" last="Penn"] also returns and brings more defensive tenacity to the table. Purcell showed signs of life during the postseason run and this new move could be just what they need to start back up this year. Roger Bacon- The Spartans joined Purcell Marian leaving the GCL Coed for the MVC, but unlike the Cavaliers, Bacon loses their two best players from that team and now must look for some new faces to lead them. Jacob Goyette (Sr) will be the leader of this group and be leaned most on for support on both ends of the floor. Roger Bacon always finds a way to compete though and even coming to a new conference, I’m confident they will be able to adjust and ultimately challenge in their inaugural season. Seven Hills- Simply put, Seven Hills struggled and struggled badly failing to win a game last year. The only place to go is up as the Hornets look to rebound in the conference. Summit Country Day- Summit was in the District Finals last year before falling to a very good Springfield Shawnee team. The Knights were conference champions in route to a 16-5 finish on the year. Coach Ryan Fleming has a decent amount of guys leaving as he trys to run it back again in 2021-22. Keenan Schomburger (Sr) is the top name returning and anchors the frontcourt for the Knights. Patrick McHugh (Jr) also returns after being much of a role guy as a sophomore. Summit has always had success and will try to replicate this success again in 2022. St. Bernard- NOT ENOUGH INFO TO REPORT