Wayne County Athletic League Basketball

• Bloody Toothbrush

  

  Now that were roughly halfway through the season, the WCAL has been a little more entertaining than I thought.
  
  Hillsdale and Dalton are definately(spelling?) the cream of the crop and one of them will win the title.....
  
  the battle for 3rd is what seems to me is going to be very exciting....
  
  Northwestern?.... still haven't had the Dalton experience...probably won't win another non conference game....McKean still carries too much of the load. All that being said, Alberts has them in the conversation.
  
  Rittman?....nice bunch of athletic talented kids...but they don't seem to make adjustments well, probably more of a coaching issue.....the Indians have the talent to win the league, but they won't....still, 3rd place is there for the taking.
  
  Smithville?....the Smithies have done about as well as expected....Frizzell & Bates are a nice one-two punch...It raises the question..Could Snowbarger have done better with this group, the answer is NOOOOO!!! (sorry, mr. russell - I'm a jerk & couldn't resist the cheap shot) The even bigger question is...Can the Smithies take 3rd place?...my answer is maybe leaning towards yes.
  
  Norwayne?....Can't say much about them because I haven't seen them play yet. Everything I read points to them being talented...beating Dalton, hanging with Hillsdale...yet dropping games by double figures to Rittman & Northwestern...quite an enigma.
  
  Any thoughts out there on 3rd through 6th in the WCAL????
• 1486wd

  really tough to rank these teams right now. There is just not a remendous talent gap from 1-6. I do agree that Hillsdale and Dalton are probably the most talented, but as we have seen, they can both be beaten. The falcons are big and good. Dalton is fast and deep - any or all of theor bench guys on the floor do not seem to hurt them at all. Norwayne beat dalton at their place which is not easy to do. They won by outhustling the bulldogs (also hard to do) and forcing dalton to hit outside shots (which they did not do in that game) instead of driving and dishing which is their preference, they have a very solid guard in maxwell and good strength inside. I haven't seen the huskies yet so i will reserve judgement there. As I said earlier, rittman is very athletic and a good big man in rufener but they have no bench and run no offense most of the time. I have all ready given my thoughts on the smithies as well. I just can't figure out how i would actually rank them at this point.
• BRF

  

  Tomorrow night's game between the Riders and the Bob Cats should be interesting and help fill bloodytoothbrush's analysis out.
• OQB

  

  Tonight's game should be a dandy between the Riders and Bobcats!
  
  Good luck to both schools, but Go Riders.
• THE4RINGZ

  

  Norwayne plays physical ball.
  Norwayne fouls Orrville often.
  Orrville shoots 50% from the line.
  Norwayne wins by 12.
  
  
  IMO
• OQB

  

  IMO Orrville isn't really known for their foul shooting....we will see what Orrville team shows up tonight.
• riders1

  

  THE4RINGZ;634071 wrote:Norwayne plays physical ball.
  Norwayne fouls Orrville often.
  Orrville shoots 50% from the line.
  Norwayne wins by 12.
  
  
  IMO

  
  Well 3 out of 4. Lids on both baskets tonight.
• Mr. Russell

  

  Bloody, it's fine haha. I do know this. A team coached by Snow, or Jim Bates, or Burney Besanscon, wouldn't have lost to Northwestern because somebody dropped 31 on them. They would have got the ball out of that kid's hands, they wouldn't have barely beat a horrible Buckeye team in overtime, and they wouldn't have been tied with central christian at halftime. With that being said, 5-3, congrats, if that is what you think is good enough for this year's team. I don't. Were losing by double digits to Rittman in the second half also.
  
  Norwayne has been disappointing this year. I thought that Norwayne was the team to win the league this year. I saw them play Chippewa last week and the shot selection wasn't the typical from a Brian West coached team. Not as disciplined as past years, not getting the ball in the post.
  
  Chippewa is much improved.
  
  Waynedale, 18 points in a game? Come on now......
  
  Brennan McKean and the Huskies are getting the job done. Congrats to them, I don't think they have much talent as an overall team, but they play hard and smart. Guys made clutch shots down the stretch and that is huge.
  
  Rittman, tons of talent, just have lost some close ones. I bet they make a run in the d4 tournament.
  
  Hillsdale and Dlaton are having a great year as expected, with Hillsdale providing more guys lighting up the scoreboard, and Dalton getting after it defensively.
  
  Wooster d3 district could be the most balanced it has ever been this year. Who wants to draw Orrville, or Triway, or Smithville in the 1st round if they don't get a high seed?
• Coach 08

  Mr. Russell your comment about Snow, Bates, or Besancon not losing to Northwestern if they were the head coach is a joke! Next you are going to say if you coached the team you would not have lost that game either, give me a break. Get a clue and think before you post.
• Mr. Russell

  

  Coach 08, I know your feelings about members of that group of people. You made it very clear after the Cleveland Central Catholic game in 2009. We can agree to disagree. And I would strongly encourage you to think before you post as well. I have been thinking about that post, since that game. Yours obviously is defensive. Don't take things so personally.
• Coach 08

  Moving on what match-ups are we looking at tonight or going to?
• Mr. Russell

  

  I'll be at Norwayne, first time the Smithies play in the new gym. Could be very ugly. Norwayne's size against Smithville's guardplay.
• madman11

  Wish I could get out to it but Rittman @ Hillsdale could be a good one. The league's two biggest teams and with the way the Indians have been playing I give them a shot.
• dhs22p

  

  Can't wait to listen the Dogs/Huskies game tonight! If the Dogs bring a strong defensive efforts I see them coming away with this one.
• Mr. Russell

  

  I will give all the credit to the Smithies coaches and players tonight. Dominated Norwayne. Frizell and Bates lit it up, Douglass and Klotzle grabbed every board down low, and the role players came in and shot well. 8 players scored in the first half for Smithville, very impressive.
• Bloody Toothbrush

  

  Pretty good game at Northwestern friday night. The Huskies badly need a "Robin" to go along with "Batman"(McKean)......rematch at Dalton will not be as close........
  
  13-1 or 12-2 probably wins the WCAL. Waynedale, Chippewa, Rittman & Norwayne pretty much done for. Northwestern on the chopping block. Smithville still hangin'.....Hillsdale & Dalton both control their own destinies....
• 1486wd

  good solid road win by the bulldogs on friday. One concern i have with them is consistency from the free throw line. They have a lot of good foul shooters, but have had some games where they just haven't knocked them down. I think they were 8 of 19 or something like that against the huskies. They hit 65% of them and they don't have to sweat at the end. A lot more sloppy saturday against central, but they cleaned it up in the second half to cruise. Looking forward to a good one friday night when hillsdale comes to town.
• dhs22p

  

  What do you guys think of the showdown on Friday between the Dogs and Falcons?
• 1486wd

  hard to predict this one - both teams still played like they had their cleats on in the first matchup with dalton going two rounds in the playoffs and hillsdale three. Both should be a lot smoother now. Hillsdale has the obvious physical size advantage and creates matchup issues for Dalton but, who doesn't. Dalton creates their own problems for opponents with the whole roster able to drive and dish as well as shoot outside. Dalton is a tough place to play but I think the dawgs will have to hit free throws as well as some outside shots. I suspect the falcons will pack their size in a little and try to limit dalton's drives to the lane which is their bread and butter. My pick is another close Bulldog win.
• 1486wd

  great ballgame last night, neither team probably played up to their potential, but both defenses had a lot to do with that. Tied at 31 going into the fourth, i have to give the hillsdale coaching staff credit asthey changed up their defense to a 1-3-1 trap and really took Dalton out of their offensive rythm. The falcons hit enough of their foul shots to close out the game. Not quite as good of a game as the first go round, but close.
• beverboy1

  to many turnovers
  to many easy shots miss
  again to many miss shots at the line
  i think the defense played great , off. struggle
• Mr. Russell

  

  Really disappointed in how the Smithies handled that fourth quarter yesterday. Talk about not playing to win. Oh well. Play for the tournament now.
• Mr. Russell

  

  Drew Frizell and a monster game on the verge of a monster upset at Hillsdale! 3 minutes left, streaming online.
• Mr. Russell

  

  Well I think I jynxed the Smithies. They lose it in double overtime, Drew with 38, tied for second most in a single game in school history. Congrats Hillsdale, can't wait for the rematch, although the Smithies title hopes are shot, they know they can play with anybody in the district now.
• madman11

  I don't see how the Indians managed to lose it even with a career night from Patrick Rufener..... I guess 32 points 10 boards isn't enough