Buckeye 8 Athletic League Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Coverage of Eastern Ohio is sometimes down due to the rural location of the state being so dense. These previews are meant to give some exposure to these schools as basketball in this part of the state tends to be very fundamental focused. The Buckeye 8 is part of a much larger conference (OVAC) which combines teams from Ohio and neighboring West Virginia. The Buckeye 8 League is split into 2 divisions, North and South.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(North Division)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><li>1. <strong><em>Harrison Central</em></strong>- Huskies on paper look like the favorites as they bring back their top 2 from a team that was competitive a year ago. <strong>Hayden Cassidy</strong> (Jr) has plenty of upside after finishing 1st Team All-District last year. <strong>Jace Madzia</strong> (Sr) also comes back after an All-District finish. Huskies could get <strong>Cabot Arbaugh</strong> (Sr) back after missing last year due to injury.</li><li>2. <strong><em>Indian Creek</em></strong>- Should be better than a season ago with an experienced backcourt. <strong>Logan Schaffer</strong> (Sr) stepped up big last year and returns along with 4-year letterman <strong>Logan Kuczykowski</strong> (Sr). Experienced guards win in the tournament.</li><li>3. <strong><em>East Liverpool</em></strong>- Potters lose skill and size with 4 of their top 5 now gone. Still a strong program and can compete. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1068248' first='Preston' last='Kerr']</strong> (Jr) is impressive and will be looked upon.</li><li>4. <strong><em>Lisbon Beaver</em></strong>- Lose their top 2 from a 13-10 team last year.</li><li>5. <strong><em> Edison</em></strong>- Only won 4 games last year, but return seniors <strong>Gage Cline</strong> and <strong>Brayden Moses</strong>.</li></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(South Division)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><li>1. <strong><em>Union Local</em></strong>- Returning 2 All-District players who also are seniors. <strong>Beezer Porter</strong> and <strong>D.J. Butts</strong> could be big for the Jets as they try to take an outright title.</li><li>2. <strong><em>Bellaire</em></strong>- Big Red have their best player back in <strong>Jakob Dowling</strong> (Sr) and showed success within the division last year. One of the bigger schools in the division and could be an under the radar team come tournament.</li><li>3. <strong><em>St. Clairsville</em></strong>- Somewhat underperformed last year with the amount of talent they had brought back. Now 3 of their top 4 are graduated. <strong>Cole Thoburn</strong> (Jr) will help alleviate some of the loss.</li><li>4. <strong><em>Martins Ferry</em></strong>- Will be without their top guy a year ago. Have one of the rising young guys in the league in <strong>Alex Reese</strong> (So). Likely a year or two away.</li><li>5. <strong><em>Cambridge</em></strong>- Struggled in their first year in the league. Won 6 games and lost their top 2 guys from that team. Expect another struggling year as the Bobcats continue to adjust to league play.</li></ol> <!-- /wp:list -->