Central Buckeye Conference (CBC) Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Central Buckeye Conference celebrated a successful year last season, sending three teams to the District Finals. The conference, which is made up of schools in northern Dayton/western Columbus areas, has a lot of upside with a few teams capable of making some noise. The 2022-23 preview is below.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Contenders</em></span></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><strong>Shawnee</strong></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Braves were one of the aforementioned teams that made it to the District Finals last year before falling to Mariemont. In terms of personnel, the Braves might have the most experience returning especially considering this team was in the District Finals two straight years. The key contributors will be seniors <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1462468' first='Rj' last='Griffin']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1201838' first='Zion' last='Crowe']</strong>. Griffin brings some muscular size that can be an inside-out threat while Crowe brings athleticism that not many teams in the conference can match. Depth will be the biggest issue and has been what has held the Braves back previously.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><strong>Indian Lake</strong></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Lakers were one of the other teams that qualified for the District Finals and gave state champion Taft a battle in that game. Competing in their second straight District title shows where this team is at, and they will be returning arguably their best player. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1972338' first='Caiden' last='Nicol']</strong> (Jr) has been a standout since he stepped onto the floor for the Lakers and can fill up a stat sheet scoring the basketball in a hurry. Teammate <strong>Camdon Tuttle</strong> (Jr) has a little bit of size on the perimeter and can knock down those perimeter shots enough for defenses to account for him. While the Lakers will be losing some key seniors that filled the gaps with their experience and roles, having Nicol and Tuttle to build around could be enough for Indian Lake to compete for a District title this year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Predicted Finish</span></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kenton Trail Division-</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><li>Shawnee- Braves have the most experience and have an athlete (Crowe) few teams can directly matchup to. Moving to Division II could be a challenge though.</li></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true,"start":2} --> <ol start="2"><li>Jonathan Alder- Always a competitive team and return one of the league's most explosive scorers in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1225071' first='Peyton' last='Heiss']</strong> (Jr) after a great AAU season. Will miss some of their size and roles from a season ago though. </li></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true,"start":3} --> <ol start="3"><li>London- Could sneak up on some teams with their top guy back in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1503898' first='Zach' last='Jones']</strong> (Jr) and some role guys that impressed over the summer. </li></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true,"start":4} --> <ol start="4"><li>Bellefontaine- Struggled last year, but return more than the other teams below them. <strong>CJ Wilson</strong> (Jr) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1285245' first='Cooper' last='Sterling']</strong> (Jr) will be leaned on heavily.</li></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true,"start":5} --> <ol start="5"><li>Tecumseh- Arrows were going to be a top team, but lost their best player ([player_tooltip player_id='1491402' first='Collin' last='O'Connor']) to transfer. There's just not enough guys returning to replicate another 15 win season. Moving down to Division II will help.</li></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true,"start":6} --> <ol start="6"><li>Kenton Ridge- New coach and new look as Cougars lack roster depth to challenge at the top of the conference.</li></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mad River Division</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><li>Indian Lake- Lakers were in the District Finals last year and return a lot of scoring output in Nicol and Tuttle. This should be the year they take the division title.</li></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true,"start":2} --> <ol start="2"><li>Urbana- Last season's division winner. Could challenge again in 2022-23 with <strong>Rayvon Rogan</strong> (Sr) and <strong>Will Donahue</strong> (Jr) both returning and having plenty of Varsity experience. X-Factor will be how well they defend Indian Lake.</li></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true,"start":3} --> <ol start="3"><li>North Union- It's not often you move a 20+ win team down a few spots, but the Wildcats lose first team All-District player Zach Vernon who did a lot for them. <strong>Owen Davis</strong> (Sr) was a 3rd Team All-District last season and will have <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1469314' first='Max' last='Parish']</strong> (Jr) returning as well to have an experienced team that has the potential to go challenge Urbana for that #2 spot.</li></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true,"start":4} --> <ol start="4"><li>Graham- Falcons don't pass the eye test, but they have more back than the bottom two teams. <strong>Ben Sells</strong> (Jr) will have a lot on his plate as Graham will be without big man Eric Goddard who was a double-double threat last season.</li></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true,"start":5} --> <ol start="5"><li>Benjamin Logan- Just not enough there that I see them moving much. Raiders are losing their top player from a 2 win team a season ago.</li></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true,"start":6} --> <ol start="6"><li>Northwestern- Winless a season ago and will look to change the culture this season. Moving down to Division III.</li></ol> <!-- /wp:list -->