Cleveland Basketball Classic Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As the season approaches, I am continuing my coverage of opening weekend events to check out. This article will look at the Cleveland Basketball Classic, which will feature multiple teams from NE Ohio all at Baldwin-Wallace University on November 27th. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>12:00pm- <strong><em>Padua</em></strong> vs <strong><em> Hawken</em></strong>- The event begins with 2 Division II programs battling it out. Padua is currently playing still in the football playoffs meaning they could be missing some of their top guys who play on that team. Hawken struggled last year and do not have much production coming back. The missing Padua guys could actually allow Hawken a chance to pull an upset and start the season off on a bright note.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>1:45pm- <strong><em>St. Edward</em></strong> vs <strong><em> Medina</em></strong>- The Eagles will begin the new season with a matchup with an always competitive Medina team. St. Ed's is returning a lot of guys from a season ago and should again be upperclassmen heavy led by seniors <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1201831' first='Cameron' last='Grant']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1163454' first='Danny' last='Lavelle']</strong>. Medina is losing some of their guys and will be looking to several young players to help relieve those losses. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1163463' first='Carter' last='Hipp']</strong> will need to really improve his game to give the Bees a chance to win this opener.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>3:30pm- <strong><em>Gilmour Academy</em></strong> vs <strong><em>Toledo St. John's</em></strong>- Gilmour enters this game as the defending State Runner Up in Division II. The return of <strong>Desh Melton</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1163471' first='Brandon' last='Rose']</strong> will make things tough for St. John's defensively. The Titans have some solid guards led by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='867941' first='CJ' last='Hornbeak']</strong> coming back to counter the Lancers' backcourt. Both teams are going to focus on defensive tactics to win this opener.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>5:15pm- <strong><em>Solon</em></strong> vs <strong><em>Richmond Heights</em></strong>- This game could be one of the more exciting matchups to watch. Solon is always a tough team to compete against and they will lean heavily on <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1163461' first='Rayquan' last='Thompson']</strong> in this one to win. Richmond Heights enters the event as my preseason #1 team in Division IV and will have <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1432015' first='Dorian' last='Jones']</strong> returning along with some other key guys. This will also give viewers a first look at <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1352459' first='Hosea' last='Steele']</strong> with his new team as he transferred from Cleveland Heights.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>7:00pm- <strong><em>Olmsted Falls</em></strong> vs <strong><em>Benedictine</em></strong>- The finale will feature 2 teams that had opposite finishes last year. Benedictine struggled and don't appear to be adding much returning from that team to vastly improve. Olmsted Falls won 19 games last year, but are now without Charlie Ciolek who was a leader for that team. <strong>Michael Candow</strong> returning certainly will help in this one.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->