Inter-Valley Conference Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Inter-Valley Conference was well represented in 2022. Of the 14 member schools, 4 made it to the District Finals. One of those 4, Berlin Hiland, advanced to the State Semifinals in DIvision IV before falling to eventual state champion Richmond Heights. I like this conference and especially the competitiveness it will bring this upcoming season.</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>Strasburg-Franklin</em></strong>- Lose their top 2 guys from a season ago, but have 2 seniors back that should give them the edge to compete in the conference. <strong>Dylan Walker</strong> (Sr) and <strong>Cole Hutchinson</strong> (Sr) should be those 2 names to watch.</li><li>2. <strong><em>Buckeye Trail</em></strong>- Return one of the better underclassmen a year ago in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='976067' first='Garrett' last='Burga']</strong> (Sr) who is a 4-year letterman. Also bringing back <strong>Charlie Parry</strong> (Jr) from that team. </li><li><strong><em>Malvern</em></strong>- District Runner-Up a year ago in Division IV, but now move up to Division III. Losing 4 of their top 5 from that team. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1950569' first='Mitchell' last='Minor']</strong> (Jr) was impressive last year and now has the keys to the car to help replace those lost seniors.</li><li>4-7. <strong><em>Tuscarawas Central Catholic/ Conotton Valley/East Canton/ Newcomerstown</em></strong>- It's hard to pick between these last 4 for various reasons. TCC lost their coach and their top player to transfer, but will have big man <strong>Jordan Cherry</strong> (Sr) returning still. Conotton Valley has their best player back in <strong>Gaige Galigher</strong> (Sr) who was All-District. East Canton isn't returning enough production to stay in the mix nor is Newcomerstown who won 2 games a year ago.</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>Garaway</em></strong>- Pirates were Regional Runner-Ups last season and return all their top production from that team. <strong>Alex Roden</strong> (Sr) was their top guy last season and will be back to lead this group yet again. <strong>Drew Mullet</strong> (Sr), <strong>Brady Roden</strong> (Sr), and <strong>Jarrett Wallick</strong> (Sr) all are back and are seniors. Getting out of the Regional will be hard depending on who from Columbus makes their way down. But the Pirates should again be one of the best teams in Southeast Ohio this upcoming season.</li><li>2. <strong><em>Tuscarawas Valley</em></strong>- The Trojans advanced to the District Finals last year before falling to conference rival Garaway in that game. 3 of the top 4 are back for this team that was competitive throughout the season and won 17 games. <strong>Silas Miller</strong> (Sr) returns and will try to replace the production lost by Logan Stotzer. <strong>Cody Robinson</strong> (Sr) and <strong>Connar Newsome</strong> (Sr) also return after solid seasons a year ago. Much like Garaway,, Tuscarawas Valley has seniors returning with deep postseason experience. Likely will have to get through Garaway to both win the IVC and advance out of the District. </li><li>3. <strong><em>Hiland</em></strong>- Quite a few people were surprised to see the Hawks in the State Semifinals last year. Even though they went undefeated in the IVC, Hiland didn't have as talented as a team as they had in previous years. But the coaching and the competitiveness allowed Hiland to win 3 straight big games to get to UD Arena. Repeating both feats in going to be incredibly hard as the Hawks don't return near as much depth as Garaway and Tuscarawas Valley. However, the Hawks are well coached and have <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2138662' first='Sammy' last='Detweiler']</strong> (Sr) back to lean on.</li><li>4. <strong><em>Indian Valley</em></strong>- I almost placed the Braves above Hiland due to the returning guys back from a 15 win team. Senior <strong>Isaac Klaserner</strong> and juniors <strong>Tyson Pryor</strong> and <strong>Tanyon McComb</strong> provide experience and upperclassmen to compete. The Braves are in Division II and are one of the bigger schools in the division. Hard to compete against these teams with so much postseason success ahead of them.</li><li>5-7 <strong><em>Ridgewood/Claymont/Sandy Valley</em></strong>- Ridgewood had an impressive 15 win season, but lose their top 4 from that team. Claymont only won 4 games, but are bringing back experience in <strong>Brody Moreland</strong> (Jr), <strong>Graydon Mooneyham</strong> (Sr), and <strong>Nate Barnabi</strong> (Sr). Sandy Valley will have <strong>Dantae Faiello</strong> (Jr) returning.</li></ol> <!-- /wp:list -->