OHSAA Division IV Preseason Rankings: Watchlist

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's about a month from the start of the OHSAA basketball season so we are projecting which teams have the best chance to make it to Dayton and win a state championship in March. This way we can talk about the top teams in the state from every Division. In this article we'll take a look at teams that just missed our top 10 rankings for Division IV.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Cincinnati Taft</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A talented team that will once again be very young, Taft is led by a 2027 duo of [player_tooltip player_id='2286927' first='Monsana' last='Torbert'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2453391' first='Keion' last='Griffin']. The Senators also have a talented freshman class coming into the mix as well. After finishing second in the CMAC last season, Taft will look to get back on top with a youth movement this winter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">CHCA</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1888360' first='Luke' last='Sanders'] is one of the top small school scorers in Ohio and CHCA has quietly been very successful during his team leading the program. After winning 16 games last season, CHCA returns their top 4 scorers and Sanders will have [player_tooltip player_id='2469918' first='Griffin' last='Ridner'] to help him out in the paint on both ends. I think this could be a 20 win team this season if the pieces all fit together.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Valley View</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another team going with a youth movement, [player_tooltip player_id='2194416' first='Brody' last='Denny'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2458958' first='Ty' last='Fritz'] are one of the best 2027 duos in the state at the small school level. These two can fill it up and they really stood out in June at Dayton's team camp where they were scoring the ball efficiently and quickly. I think this is a team people in the Dayton area need to know about.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Ottawa Glandorf</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mr Basketball winner Colin White graduates and leaves a legacy that's one of the best in all of northwest Ohio behind for a Titans program that knows nothing but winning. After four straight regional titles, I expect the Titans to go through some growing pains leaning on some new pieces but this team has championship DNA and certainly will not go down without a fight.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">VASJ</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>VASJ quietly won 18 games and a district title last season, sneaking up on some teams in northeast Ohio's Division II. With [player_tooltip player_id='2438772' first='Sean' last='Shenker'] back and some other intriguing younger pieces, there's no reason to expect VASJ to not remain one of the better teams in their area in Division IV. I wouldn't be surprised if they found themselves in our top 10 at some point during the regular season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">New Lexington</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Panthers are having one of their best football seasons in recent memory with quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1832082' first='Isaiah' last='Stephens'] leading a high-flying offense. He hopefully won't have much time to rest from fall to winter as he's the guy who makes the Panthers go on the hardwood as well. The MVL just sent a team to the state championship game last season, could the Panthers crash the party this year?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->