Tri-Valley Conference Preview

<p>The Tri-Valley Conference will be turning a new page in 2022 as they will be watching many talented players from last season graduate and leaving their respective schools. While there are some good players returning and some quality looking teams, the conference will be hoping to improve all together after only sending one team to the District round of the tournament. There’s always room for improvement and this year is no different.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Contenders</strong></span></p> <p><em><strong>Vinton County- </strong></em>The Vikings are returning quite a few from a solid 12-7 team last year. Lance Montgomery is gone, but their next best 3 are back and all are seniors this year. <strong>Braylon Damron</strong> should lead the cause and will have support from <strong>Eli Radabaugh</strong> and <strong>Asa Davidson</strong>. Vinton County’s division is going to struggle with many of the teams losing much of their scoring output/talent from a year ago. The Vikings will also need to show they can take care of business when it comes to winning in the Sectional tournament as they will competing with teams including Waverly, Hillsboro, and Jackson come tournament time.</p> <p><em><strong>Trimble- </strong></em>The Tomcats were the only team in the TVC to make it to at least the District Finals, as Trimble took it a step further and made the Regional tournament in Division IV. The good news is Trimble likely will do this again as they return their top guys from that team. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="967179" first="Blake" last="Guffey"]</strong> (Sr) leads the charge and has been a key player for this program for the last two years now. He’s got plenty of seniors around him that bring experience and clearly togetherness. I don’t think there’s a team in the conference with the combination of experience and talent that can equally match what Trimble brings to the table. This could be a team capable of being a Regional contender in Division IV again this year.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Rest of the Conference</strong></span></p> <p><em><strong>Alexander- </strong></em>Return their top guy in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="976070" first="Kyler" last="D’Augustino"]</strong> (Jr) but just don’t have the depth to contend with VC at the top of their division.</p> <p><em><strong>Athens- </strong></em>Bulldogs were one of the better teams in the division last year and now must replace 2 of their top 3 including rebounding nightmare Brayden Whiting.</p> <p><em><strong>Meigs- </strong></em>Bring back 1st Team potential player <strong>Coulter Cleland</strong> (Sr) as long as he truly plays (Davidson football commit).</p> <p><em><strong>Nelsonville-York- </strong></em>Buckeyes not bringing back a ton of guys from last year which could be an issue only finishing 5-15 last year.</p> <p><em><strong>River Valley- </strong></em>Raiders are without 3 of their top 4 from a team that underperformed last season at 10-12.</p> <p><em><strong>Wellston- </strong></em>Rockets return very talented <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1090155" first="Cyan" last="Ervin"]</strong> (Jr) and could surprise some teams with their performances.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><em><strong>Belpre- </strong></em>Lose their top 2 from a year ago. Struggles will exist as they lean on new names.</p> <p><em><strong>Reedsville Eastern- </strong></em>Won one game last year and don’t have a ton back.</p> <p><em><strong>Federal Hocking- </strong></em>Lancers lose their top 3 from a solid team last year. Can they find the pieces to continue their sold play?</p> <p><em><strong>South Gallia- </strong></em>The Rebels might have the best chance within the division to challenge Trimble. Return <strong>Brayden Hammond</strong> (Sr) and <strong>Tristan Saber</strong> (Sr).</p> <p><em><strong>Southern- </strong></em>Lose their top guy in Arrow Drummer from a 7-12 team a year ago.</p> <p><em><strong>Waterford- </strong></em>Wildcats have two good players in <strong>Holden Dailey</strong> (Sr) and <strong>Jarrett Armstrong</strong> (So) back, but who else can be that 3rd/4th level scorer?</p>