Great Lakes Classic Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Great Lakes Classic will feature some of the top northeast Ohio talent going at it during the opening weekend of the Ohio high school basketball season at Cleveland Heights High School.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Friday, December 1st</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The opening day of the event is a standalone boys game between rivals Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights. Shaker Heights will have a younger roster after graduating some key pieces including Kellon Smith and losing guard [player_tooltip player_id='1742316' first='Noah' last='Chambers'] to transfer. Cleveland Heights has an impressive 2025 core led by [player_tooltip player_id='1432029' first='Braylyn' last='Irby'], [player_tooltip player_id='2047495' first='Carter' last='Armstrong'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1432059' first='Jayquan' last='Stubbs']. The host Tigers will look to start off the season strong with a win in this rivalry battle.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Saturday, December 2nd</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prep programs ISA and Spire open up the second day of the event. ISA has formed a new squad and will take on a Spire squad headlined by [player_tooltip player_id='1677089' first='Abdou' last='Yadd'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1677090' first='Djiby' last='Ly']. The second game of the day matches up Holy Name and Riverside, two programs coming off very strong seasons in 2022-23. Holy Name is led by [player_tooltip player_id='1875366' first='Maxwell' last='Bollin'] while Riverside returns [player_tooltip player_id='1708728' first='Andrew' last='Taggart']. Third game of the day is University School against Maple Heights. [player_tooltip player_id='1225068' first='Justin' last='Belcher'] is a top scorer for University School and coming off an impressive summer on the grassroots circuit. Maple Heights returns [player_tooltip player_id='1432061' first='Dave' last='Aniton'] as a big in the middle and transfer [player_tooltip player_id='1373988' first='Kenyon' last='Giles'] from Rhodes will help them replace a deep senior class that helped the Mustangs establish themselves as one of the top teams in NEO last season. The nightcap is Garfield Heights against Euclid. Garfield Heights is one of the most talented teams in the state and will look to start their campaign with a win over a Euclid squad that always has talented guards, including [player_tooltip player_id='2209595' first='Myckel' last='Davis'] who stood out at our 250 expo.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Sunday, December 3rd</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The final day of the event features six games with the first action tipping off at 11:30 A.M. Shaw takes on Orange in a battle of squads looking to rebuild this season. The second game features Cleveland Central Catholic Vs Mayfield, Cleveland Central Catholic started last season strong but faded with a tough schedule, can the Ironmen regain that form this year? Mayfield comes off an impressive second place finish in the WRC and is looking to take the conference crown this winter. Benedictine takes on John Marshall in the third game of the day as the Bengals return a majority of their core from one of the younger rosters in the area last season. John Marshall opens up their season looking to improve of last year's six-win campaign. Cornerstone Christian then takes on Glenville in what should be an intriguing battle. Quinn Kwasnaik is one of the top 3-point shooters in Ohio while Glenville has the athleticism and size to turn opponents over and score on the inside. Brush takes on Lutheran West in the penultimate game of the day. Brush has a new look squad with seniors like [player_tooltip player_id='1506015' first='Aliyy' last='King'] ready to step up alongside potential breakout Junior [player_tooltip player_id='1432058' first='Damari' last='Dammons']. Lutheran West has state title sights with [player_tooltip player_id='1477054' first='Jayson' last='Levis'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1352458' first='Derek' last='Fairley'] back for one final ride. Finally, Lutheran East takes on VASJ in a competitive smaller division private school battle. Lutheran East will be led by [player_tooltip player_id='1222354' first='Jesse' last='McCulloch'] with other tough seniors like [player_tooltip player_id='1421137' first='Ronald' last='Taylor'], [player_tooltip player_id='1480840' first='Chauncey' last='Brashers'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1955296' first='Anthony' last='Bruce']. VASJ is coming off a season where they found their stride after a 2-8 start, going 9-7 to end the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->