OHSAA Division IV Preseason Watchlist Part 1

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The OHSAA basketball season is less than a month away and we're previewing each Division with the top 10 teams and an additional watchlist of teams to keep an eye on this season that we think have the best chance to make it to Dayton. In this article we'll take a look at Division IV where some familiar faces remain at the top but there's some new blood to watch out for this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Cleveland Central Catholic</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2410846' first='Donovan' last='Driscal'] is the name to know for CCC as he's one of the most productive guards from northeast Ohio's 2027 class. The Ironmen have been building up their program by allowing younger players to get experience and develop and this could be the season where it pays off with a deep postseason run.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Benedictine</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The new kids on the block, head coach Winston Grays Jr comes over from his time as an assistant with Saint Ignatius and brings along [player_tooltip player_id='2532427' first='Stephon' last='Bohanon'] to help add to the Bengals guard depth. [player_tooltip player_id='2816340' first='Gio' last='Ramos'] will be a key returner for Benedictine this winter as his experience within the program and breakout summer on the prep hoops circuit makes him a name to watch as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Ontario</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I think Ontario is a year away from breaking into our top 10 rankings with a 2028 trio that is as good as any in the state. [player_tooltip player_id='2532122' first='Cardae' last='Brown'], [player_tooltip player_id='2525631' first='Trey' last='Remy'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2529515' first='Trindon' last='Flenoury'] all impact the game in different ways and they continue to improve with experience. I expect Ontario to be at the top of our list in the 2026-27 and 2027-28 seasons if this core remains together but as of right now they find themselves on the watchlist as Sophomore's.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Caledonia River Valley</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>An excellent run all the way to the regional final last season was one of the best in school history but a strong senior class walks out the door for River Valley who will need 2027 forward [player_tooltip player_id='2803653' first='Carter' last='Myers'] to lead the Vikings in a tough conference and district setup in Division IV from central Ohio. Can River Valley find the same March magic this season? We'll just have to wait and see.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Chillicothe Unioto</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Shermans fell in the Convo to River Valley last season but return all-state guard [player_tooltip player_id='2803645' first='Blake' last='Fitch'] to the team. With OHSBCA Division IV coach of the year Matt Combs guiding the team, Unioto should always expect to compete for conference and district titles.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->