OHSAA Division VII Preseason Rankings: 1-5

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's time to release preseason top 10 rankings for each of the seven Divisions as we prepare for the upcoming OHSAA season. In this article we'll take a look at the top five teams in Division VIII.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">1. Russia</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After falling short to Richmond Heights in the final four back-to-back years, Russia is now the preseason favorite to win the title with Richmond Heights bumped up to Division V. Russia returns [player_tooltip player_id='2385573' first='Benjamin' last='York'], [player_tooltip player_id='2385576' first='Braylon' last='Cordonnier'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2694016' first='Dominic' last='Francis'] from their team last season and should have some new players stepping up with a talented group of seniors that graduated from last year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">2. Delphos St John's</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the most talented players in Division VII is [player_tooltip player_id='1827696' first='Cameron' last='Elwer'] and he will lead the Bluejays after helping them win a conference title last season. After coming up short in the district last season, I think Delphos St John's has a chance to win the whole thing this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">3. Warren JFK</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>No team in Division IV came out on fire like Warren JFK did last season with some marquee wins including one over the defending Division I state champion. They couldn't roll that momentum throughout the whole season but with Nick Ryan returning and an unselfish brand of basketball, I expect Warren JFK to be the favorite from the northeast region in Division VII this go around.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">4. South Webster</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It looked like [player_tooltip player_id='1432019' first='Eli' last='Roberts'] and the Jeeps would make it to UD Arena but a huge Berlin Hiland comeback caused South Webster to fall one game short. With a majority of their core back from last season, it's now or never for South Webster.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">5. Cornerstone Christian</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Quinn Kwasniak leads a Cornerstone Christian squad that has been feisty but never quite able to compete with Richmond Heights. Now with the Spartans out of their Division, could Kwasniak and company have the scoring firepower to make it to the final four?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->