Ohio Heritage Conference (OHC) Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The OHC celebrated a solid campaign capped off with a District champion in Springfield Catholic Central and another 20-win team in Cedarville. While the success deserves praise and recognition, it is going to be very difficult for the conference to see this success again as graduation really hurt many of the teams within the conference.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Contenders</span></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Springfield Catholic Central</em>- The Irish were the best team without a doubt last year and utilized an incredible senior class to return to the State tournament before falling in the Regional Semifinals. The 24-2 record was one of the best in the area, but it likely is short lived. Multiple starters from that team are gone leaving behind some voids that won't be easily filled. That being said, the Irish have arguably the best player in the conference back in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1462469' first='Tyler' last='Galluch']</strong> (Sr) who was a 1st Team All-District player a season ago. Galluch and fellow senior <strong>Cole Ray</strong> (Sr) will be the focal points for the Irish and their offense which should again be one of the best in the conference even with the losses they have.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Cedarville</em>- The Indians were a 20-win team and lost to Catholic Central in the tournament. While their 6'9 big man (Hayden Hanson) leaves due to graduation, the Indians are returning their starting backcourt of <strong>Drew Koning</strong> (Sr) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1068239' first='Tyler' last='Cross']</strong> (Jr) who both were two of the better scorers a season ago. Cedarville will arguably have more offensive upside than other teams in the conference, but the question will be how well do they replace the offensive/defensive attributes Hanson brought with his length? </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Greeneview-</em> The Rams were up-and-down last season and were forgotten at times due to the success of the previously mentioned schools. While the conference as a whole is down, the Rams might be one of the only teams that return more production that losing it. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1052788' first='Ethen' last='Caudill']</strong> (Sr) and <strong>Myles Witt</strong> (Sr) have been crucial pieces of the Rams team since their freshmen years. Now they have one last run and have teammate <strong>Carter Williams</strong> (Sr) also returning. The senior leadership will certainly help this group and could be a difference maker in how well they fare.</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>(North Division)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true,"start":1} --> <ol start="1"><li>1. <strong><em>West Liberty-Salem</em></strong>- Tigers were 2nd best team in the North division and return <strong>Matt Jones</strong> (Sr) from that team. Always right there in the thick of things and should take that necessary step in 2023 to separate themselves.</li><li>2. <strong><em>Fairbanks</em></strong>- Tough program to beat every season. Without their top guy from last year but should still be in the top half of the conference.</li><li>3. <strong><em>West Jefferson</em></strong>- Another program that plays hard and competes. But this team will be without their All-District top guy (MJ Book) from last year. </li><li>4-6. <strong><em>Northeastern/Triad/Mechanicsburg</em></strong>- It's hard to differentiate between these 3 teams for the bottom spots. Northeastern loses their best player (Cole Allen) from a team that was below .500. Triad moves down to Division IV this year and loses their top 2 from last season. Mechanicsburg won just 1 game in the OHC last year and didn't return much of their scoring.</li></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(South Division)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true,"start":1} --> <ol start="1"><li>1. <strong><em>Cedarville</em></strong>- Indians have solid guards and were in the mix a season ago. Can take it outright this year.</li><li>2. <em><strong>Greeneview- </strong></em>Hard to not like this team considering Caudill and Witt have been around awhile.</li><li>3. <strong><em>Springfield Catholic Central</em></strong>- Have the best player in the conference in Galluch, but too one-dimensional in him to take another title.</li><li>4. <strong><em>Madison-Plains</em></strong>- Spent last year in the bottom half of the conference, but return their best player in <strong>Michael Bearden</strong> (Sr).</li><li>5. <strong><em>Greenon</em></strong>- Lose of the best players in program's recent history (Jaden Journell). Should take a drop.</li><li>6. <strong><em>Southeastern</em></strong>- Not enough returning talent to warrant higher than #6 in the division.</li></ol> <!-- /wp:list -->