2024 Stark County boys basketball preview
By Keno Sultan
Stark County Prep Press
www.starkcountypreppress.blogspot.com
CANTON--19 of Stark County's basketball minds came together Tuesday night for camaraderie, jokes, and good will before they put each other to the test in what will be an action-packed regular season at St. Haralambos Greek Orthodox Church.
Last season it was GlenOak and Jackson winning district titles and advancing to the regionals. Louisville is a team expected to get back to the district title game and Central Catholic is looking to keep their successful run going into the season.
And with the 20 year anniversary of the 2005 Division I Canton McKinley state title winning team coming up, Bulldog alum and head coach Sean Weatherspoon, who was part of their 2005 title winning squad as a senior has his charges poised for new heights as he looks to bring back the bark and bite that made McKinley the top-ranked team in the state two straight seasons in a row.
Here are the capsules for each team in the county:
LEADER OF THE BREED. Canton McKinley third-year admiral Sean Weatherspoon addresses the crowd at St. Haralambos Greek Orthodox church Tuesday night. Weatherspoon, a 2005 graduate of McKinley High School was part of the Bulldogs Division I state title winning team as a senior. (Keno Sultan/Stark County Prep Press)
Head coach: Chet Harper.
Years at school: 2nd.
Last season's record: 9-15 (6-4 EBC).
Returning starters: N/A.
Season outlook: "We have two lettermen returning. J.R. Jackson averaged 17 points per game for us last year. We are very young with one senior and multiple sophomores and juniors. We will see what we can do and go from there."
CENTRAL CATHOLIC CRUSADERS
Head coach: Matt Creamer.
Years at school: 11th.
Last season's record: 18-8 (Division III district champions).
Returning starters: N/A.
Season outlook: "We are looking forward to having a great season. Kids will have an opportunity to see some good teams. We are excited and we are going to work hard."
CANTON SOUTH WILDCATS
Head coach: Luke Conley.
Years at school: 7th.
Last season's record: 10-15 (6-8 PAC-7).
Returning starters: N/A.
Season outlook: "We graduated 7 seniors and that is 53 points of our 61 overall that is gone. We had a good JV team that went 18-4. We are hungry and want to get better. We have three seniors. By the middle of the season we want to hit our stride and finish strong."
EAST CANTON HORNETS
Head coach: Ryan McGonagle.
Years at school: 3rd.
Last season's record: 17-7.
Returning starters: N/A.
Season outlook: "The best programs don't rebuild, they reload. We expect to be competitive and we have four players back, three of them are three year lettermen. We are excited about the potential this team has."
FAIRLESS FALCONS
Head coach: Joe Moriarty.
Years at school: 1st.
Last season's record: 3-20 (2-12 PAC-7).
Returning starters: N/A.
Season outlook: "We have three seniors, four freshmen and multiple sophomores. We are young with no varsity experience. They are excited for change and have good work ethic. This is a process as we want our players to play hard and put together a product that Fairless can be proud of."
GLENOAK GOLDEN EAGLES
Head coach: Rick Hairston.
Years at school: 3rd.
Last season's record: 20-7 (8-4 Federal League), Division I district champions.
Returning starters: N/A
Season outlook: "We have a few guys coming back. We have five lettermen back. We have a loaded schedule and the Federal League is tough. You have to come ready to play every night or you will get beat. We are looking forward to having a good year."
NORTH CANTON HOOVER VIKINGS
Head coach: Mike Bluey.
Years at school: 7th.
Last season's record: 17-8 (6-6 Federal League).
Returning starters: N/A.
Season outlook: "We have a good group of kids returning. We have a lot of work to do but we got the pieces to work with this year. We have enough experience to achieve success."
JACKSON POLAR BEARS
Head coach: Tim Debevec.
Years at school: 14th.
Last season's record: 22-5 (9-3 Federal League), Division I district champions.
Returning starters: N/A.
Season outlook: "I love this group. We have a lot of guys back with seven seniors and five sophomores. We had a good offseason. The Federal League will be tough and we have to be ready to go. We will challenge our kids with a tough non-conference schedule. We are looking forward to a great year."
LAKE BLUE STREAKS
Head coach: Tom McBride.
Years at school: 26th.
Last season's record: 6-18 (1-11 Federal League).
Returning starters: N/A.
Season outlook: "We have a lot of experience back. It has been a tough two years for Lake basketball. We have good hard-working kids and everyone is enjoying each other."
LAKE CENTER CHRISTIAN TIGERS
Head coach: Greg Bryte.
Years at school: 5th.
Last season's record: 17-8 (6-4 Portage Trail Conference).
Returning starters: N/A.
Season outlook: "We have five lettermen back but we lost our two top scorers. We have eight seniors and a lot of experience coming back. We want to get better each day. We have a process and they have brought into it."
LOUISVILLE LEOPARDS
Head coach: Tom Siegfried.
Years at school: 14th.
Last season's record: 23-3 (Division I district finalist).
Returning starters: N/A.
Season outlook: "We play a really tough schedule and with the new aligment, we are now in Division III. We will play 11 games at home, eight at a neutral site and three road games. We want to battle adversity and we have a goal to get to Dayton. We have eight seniors and seven letterwinners."
MASSILLON TIGERS
Head coach: Josh Hose.
Years at school: 7th.
Last season's record: 15-9.
Returning starters: N/A.
Season outlook: "We have a great team coming up. Chris Knight is our senior leader as he averages 19 points a game. We had some good wins last year and some tough losses. We are excited to get started on December 13th against Green."
MCKINLEY BULLDOGS
Head coach: Sean Weatherspoon.
Years at school: 3rd.
Last season's record: 15-9 (8-4 Federal League).
Returning starters: N/A.
Season outlook: "We have a tough schedule that will prepare us for the tournament. I am happy to be back home."
MINERVA LIONS
Head coach: Rich Hart.
Years at school: 17th.
Last season's record: 15-10 (4-6 EBC).
Returning starters: 2.
Season outlook: "These are throwback young men who are a throwback to 20 years ago when they would work hard. We have seven returning lettermen."
NORTHWEST INDIANS
Head coach: Mike Lower.
Years at school: 18th.
Last season's record: 15-9 (10-4 PAC-7).
Returning starters: N/A.
Season outlook: "The expectations are high as we return seven lettermen. We have eight seniors who want to take ownership and lead the way for us. We have to get tough and hard on the glass. We have a lot of depth and we will see how we respond."
PERRY PANTHERS
Head coach: Matt Voll.
Years at school: 2nd.
Last season's record: 5-18 (1-11 Federal League).
Returning starters: N/A.
Season outlook: "We have a lot of energy going on right now. We have six seniors coming back for us.
SANDY VALLEY CARDINALS
Head coach: Nate Provance.
Years at school: 1st.
Last season's record: 16-7 (9-5 IVC).
Returning starters: 4.
Season outlook: "I am excited to take over and lead our program. We have four lettermen to replace. We have six seniors this year."
TUSLAW MUSTANGS
Head coach: Ryan Brotherton.
Years at school: 2nd.
Last season's record: 0-23 (0-14 PAC).
Season outlook:"We are excited what we have coming up. We have four newcomers and it will be interesting to see how they fit in. Everyone is working hard to compete and they have gotten better since last year."
Keno Sultan is a writer for Stark County Prep Press. He can be reached at 330-445-4575 or email at KenoSultan@hotmail.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment