OHSAA Division VII Preseason 6-10

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We are about a month away from the OHSAA basketball season tipping off and in this article we'll break down the teams who finished between 6 and 10 in our preseason Division VII rankings.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">6. Cardinal Stritch</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2392357' first='Erick' last='Graham'] is a name to know for Cardinal Stritch who play in the always competitive TAAC. I expect their regular season schedule to prepare them for a deep playoff run. Don't let last year's 4-18 record fool you, this team has the talent to make a huge jump and play teams mostly from bigger divisions throughout the regular season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">7. Zanesville Bishop Rosecrans</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After a strong 8-1 start last season, Bishop Rosecrans ran into some bumps in a tough schedule but still managed to win the MSL-Cardinal. Thanks to their backcourt of [player_tooltip player_id='2807597' first='Tyler' last='Bernett'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2808135' first='Brody' last='Boothe'] returning, Bishop Rosecrans finds themselves in the top 10 of our rankings.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">8. Racine Southern</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After a 17 win season and a TVC Hocking title last season plus the return of all-state guard Andre Chandler, things were swirling upwards for the Tornadoes who projected to be one of the better small-town teams in southeast Ohio. Toss in star [player_tooltip player_id='2751430' first='Reed' last='Brinager'] who returned to his home school after helping Meigs to a 21-1 regular season last year and Southern has sky high expectations in 2025-26 as they should have one of the best teams in school history.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">9. Montpellier</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Montpellier actually defeated Cardinal Stritch in the playoffs last season after they won the BVC title. That was the Locomotives lone playoff win as Edgerton defeated them in the next round. I have more confidence in a deep run this season with Cj Fidler back in the mix after an all-state season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">10. Old Fort</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A program that doesn't get the credit they deserve, Old Fort is coming off an unbeaten SBC-River season. Another 23 wins in 2024-25 after 21 in 2023-24 and 20 in 2022-23, the Stockaders have won 20+ games every season since 2019-20. That type of success is rare for small town teams and I'm putting them in our top 10 with Isaac Gallagher back after an all-state season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->