OHSAA Division VII Preseason 1-5

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The OHSAA season is just about a month away from tipping off and in this article we'll preview our top 5 teams in Division VII in our preseason rankings. With the expansion from four to seven Division's we almost doubled the amount of preseason Divisional rankings to post. With that being said, expect a heavy dose of preseason team rankings over the next two weeks.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">1. Delphos St John's</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The clear preseason favorite in Division VII, the Blue Jays are led by the last name 'Elwer'. With star senior point guard Cameron who is committed to Furman and a Mr basketball candidate leading the way alongside his two younger brothers, junior wing Andrew and sophomore guard Easton and dad Aaron guiding them on the sidelines, it's a family affair for DSJ. After playing a tough schedule last season that included numerous sold-out games between heavyweight opponents, it's going to be another fun winter following the Bluejays. With a schedule to prepare them for a state title push, the Bluejays will look to get past the regional final where they fell last season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">2. Genoa Christian</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>New to the OHSAA playoff system, Genoa Christian is a team on the rise thanks to star 2027 wing [player_tooltip player_id='2395245' first='Jackson' last='Kirura']. Recently picking up an offer to Ohio, Kirura also holds D2 offers to Ashland and Cedarville already. We'll see how Genoa Christian looks in the smallest Division, their talent level suggests they should be able to compete for a state title right away but with so many unknowns with this being their first season eligible for the playoffs we'll have a lot to learn about this team in games against teams like Bishop Hartley and Bishop Watterson.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">3. Minster</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A perennial powerhouse in the MAC, Minster usually starts the season a little slow with so many players coming off deep football playoff runs but by the turn of the year the Wildcats are as tough as anybody. Last season, Minster began the year 4-5 and ended the regular season going 10-3. [player_tooltip player_id='1429557' first='Cole' last='Albers'] is the big name to know as the Hillsdale commit has the size and strength to cause nightmares for smaller teams in the area.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">4. Botkins</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another school that consistently competes for conference, regional and state titles, Botkins once again should be one of the stronger Division VII teams in Ohio. It seems like every season the Trojans graduate key pieces and the next year they continue to find ways to win games. 2027 guard [player_tooltip player_id='2694034' first='Eli' last='Pitts'] is a name to know for Botkins this winter in the always competitive SCAL.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">5. Cedarville</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After a 14-9 season in 2024-25 the Indians got a big boost when [player_tooltip player_id='2841671' first='Brayden' last='Trimbach'] transferred over to the program, providing a big boost offensively. It'll be fascinating to see how this move shakes up the conference race as Trimbach had 3 games with 38 or more points as a freshman.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->