BBC PREVIEW … Pettisville’s Cayden Jacoby goes to the basket against Liberty Center in a non-league game last season. Jacoby is one of four returning starters for the Blackbirds who look to improve on last year’s 12-10 record. (PHOTO BY JACOB KESSLER, STAFF)
By: Nate Calvin
Pettisville and Stryker return plenty of experience from last season as the Blackbirds welcome back four starters and Stryker brings back a solid group from last year’s team that advanced to districts.
Edon, who shared the league title with North Central last season, must replace 72% of their scoring as they try to replace six letterwinners.
North Central has some big shoes to fill also with the graduation of BBC Player of the Year Zack Hayes and his 19.3 ppg and 6.7 rpg.
Here are the previews for each team in order of their finish in the BBC last season.
T1. Edon (Last season: 13-9 6-1 BBC; Lost in Division IV sectional finals to Ayersville 56-40)
HEAD COACH: Matt Ripke (2nd season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: Drew Gallehue, Jack Berry, Cassius Hulbert, Ethan Steinke, Gannon Ripke, Jayden Craven
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Caden Nester, Carter Kiess, Cohen Hulbert
NEWCOMERS: Peyton Trausch, Max Radabaugh, Carter Steinke, Kendol Brigle
STRENGTHS: “Our returning letterwinners from last season provide us with varsity experience along with a group of newcomers that are hungry and will be counted on to provide much needed depth throughout the year.”
“This group was very coachable this summer and look to pick up where we left off.”
WEAKNESSES: “Obviously losing 72% of our scoring offense is a major concern. Perimeter shooting is one of the key areas that we need to continue to improve on for us to build depth & be successful this season.”
LEAGUE OUTLOOK: “The Buckeye Boarder Conference will be very competitive this year. We think our early season schedule helps prepare us for BBC play and we hope to be in the mix come February.”
ABOUT THEIR SCHEDULE: Season Opener: November 25 – Ayersville (A); BBC Opener: December 15 – Holgate (H)
T1. North Central (Last season: 14-10, 6-1 BBC; Lost in Division IV district semifinals to Ayersville 56-45)
HEAD COACH: Chris Fidler (9th season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: Zack Hayes (19.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg), Colin Patten (3.9 ppg, 2.4 rpg), Mason Sanford (2.9 ppg, 2.2 rpg)
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Senior – Quin Burt (1.3 ppg); Juniors – Joey Burt (11.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg), Cohen Meyers (3.0 ppg, 3.4 rpg), Ben Pettit (7.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg)
NEWCOMERS: Senior – Clayton Douglass; Juniors – Jake Turner, Gage Kidston, Ethan Beard, Johnny Hicks
STRENGTHS: solid guard play, scrappy, depth
WEAKNESSES: undersized
SEASON OUTLOOK: “We look to repeat as BBC champions this year, but we anticipate that both Stryker and Pettisville will both also be hovering at the top with us.
“We should be competitive in every game we play in this year and look to build on our 14-10 season from last year.”
LEAGUE OUTLOOK: “Should be a very competitive league race again this year. I anticipate that the top three teams will include North Central, Stryker and Pettisville.
ABOUT THEIR SCHEDULE: Season Opener: November 29 – Evergreen (A); December 15 – Stryker (H)
3. Pettisville (Last season: 12-11, 5-2 BBC; Lost in Division IV sectional finals to Stryker 54-50)
HEAD COACH: Brian Leppelmeier (7th season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: Zakkai Kaufmann (4.2 ppg, 2.3 apg), Gideon Myers (1.3 ppg), Josh Basselman, Nate Rupp
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Seniors – Cayden Jacoby (15.4 ppg, 9.3 rpg), Jaret Beck – (10.0 ppg), Sean Adkins (5.1 ppg); Junior – Joey Ripke (7.9 ppg)
NEWCOMERS: Senior – Dane Waidelich; Junior – Johnny Fenton, Freshman-Jack Leppelmeier, Creighton Aeschliman
STRENGTHS: “We return four starters: Cayden Jacoby, Joey Ripke, Jaret Beck, and Sean Adkins. We will rely on their experience and leadership to carry this team.”
WEAKNESSES: lack of depth
LEAGUE OUTLOOK: “The conference will be very balanced and competitive.”
ABOUT THEIR SCHEDULE: Season Opener: November 25 – Delta (H); December 15 – Hilltop (H)
4. Stryker (Last season: 11-13, 4-3 BBC; Lost in Division IV district semifinal to Antwerp 47-15)
HEAD COACH: Tyler Woolace (6th season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: Teyvon Harris (9.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg), Peyton Cioffi (7.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg)
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Levi Barnum (5.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.0 apg), Mateo Villanueva (3.0 ppg), Michael Donovan (5.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg), Jacob Cadwell (6.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 3.0 apg), Elijah Juillard (6.0 ppg, 5.0 ppg)
NEWCOMERS: Daniel Donovan – (“He will be a solid young player coming off the bench. He has an ability to score and is a good defender.”)
“We have other underclassman that will have a chance to earn a varsity spot also.”
STRENGTHS: “We have some experience and good pieces returning this year. We did lose our top two scorers from last year and our top rebounder.”
WEAKNESSES: “Depth is a concern for us. The first part of the season we are going to need to find those 7,8,9 spots off the bench to help us.”
“Depth we knew was going to be an issue, but I’ve seen some good things in the first week of practice.”
SEASON OUTLOOK: “This year looks promising but as always, we must be ready every night. Our schedule is tough, and we just need to keep getting better every week.”
LEAGUE OUTLOOK: “The BBC looks strong like always. Many similar teams with good coaching all around. If we want to have a chance for the league at the end it’s going to take being ready every league game.”
ABOUT THEIR SCHEDULE: Season Opener: Season Opener: November 25 – Toledo Christian (A); BBC Opener: December 15 – North Central (A)
5. Fayette (Last season: 10-12, 3-4 BBC; Lost in Division IV sectional semifinals to Pettisville 46-35)
HEAD COACH: Todd Mitchell (22nd season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: Elijah Lerma (18.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg); Quinn Mitchell (10.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg), Owen Lemley
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Seniors – Kaden Frenn (8.3 ppg, 3.9 ppg), Skylar Lester (4.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg), Demetrius Whiteside (2.2 ppg, 2.1 rrpg), Chase Moats (1.1 ppg); Juniors- Wyatt Mitchell (3.4 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.9 apg), Xander Dunnett (5.1 ppg, 1.8 rpg)
NEWCOMERS: Junior – Dylan New
STRENGTHS: “We have three starters and three other players with varsity experience coming back.”
“We are looking to have a balanced scoring attack with several different players able to score on any given night.”
“This is a fun group, and they make coming to practice a joy each day.”
WEAKNESSES: “We won’t have a lot of depth so staying healthy will be a very important part of the season.”
SEASON OUTLOOK: “This group of boys have put a lot of time in during the offseason. Now it is time to transfer that onto the basketball court this year.”
“We look forward to competing every night and leaving everything on the court.”
LEAGUE OUTLOOK: “The league will be very competitive again this year.”
“With the new league format again this year it will be very important to be playing your best basketball as we enter league play.”
ABOUT THEIR SCHEDULE: Season Opener: November 26 – Pettisville (H); BBC Opener: December 15 – Montpelier (H)
6. Holgate (Last season: 7-15, 3-4 BBC; Lost in Division IV sectional semifinals to Toledo Christian 53-37)
HEAD COACH: Anthony Jackson (1st season)
No requested information submitted by deadline
ABOUT THEIR SCHEDULE: Season Opener: December 2 – Miller City (H); BBC Season Opener: December 15 – Edon (A)
7. Hilltop (Last season: 3-19, 1-6 BBC; Lost in Division IV sectional semifinal to Montpelier 48-41)
HEAD COACH: Connor English (1st season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: Ian Hoffman (8.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg), Carson Jennings (6.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg), Matt Wyse (5.1 ppg, 2.5 rpg)
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Raace Haynes (7.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.2 apg), Anthony Eckenrode (7.8 ppg), Aiden Funkhouser (3.2 ppg, 2.4 rpg)
NEWCOMERS: Drew Bailey, Carson Crossgrove, Brock Kesler, Devin Dempsey, Cameron Schlosser
STRENGTHS: quickness, ability to shoot the ball
WEAKNESSES: size, experience
SEASON OUTLOOK: “Entering year one as a varsity coach we are looking to build what we started in the summer league.”
“We want to build team chemistry from the seniors through the freshman and through the coaching staff.’
“We want to be competitive in all the games we play in. The team is really young with a lot of sophomores getting extended minutes that they did not get last year as freshman.”
“Their impact this year will really be beneficial to us. We are excited to see the leadership of our juniors and seniors come out and really make it their team this year. We are excited and ready to get the season rolling.”
ABOUT THEIR SCHEDULE: Season Opener: November 25 – Montpelier; BBC Opener: December 15 – Pettisville (A)
8. Montpelier (Last season: 3-20, 0-7 BBC; Lost in Division IV sectional finals to Antwerp 69-31)
HEAD COACH: Nick Ramos (2nd season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: David Bowman, Collin Mattern
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Seniors – Jamison Grime, Garret Walz, Trent Thorp; Juniors – Grant Girrell, Chavez Martin
STRENGTHS: quickness, shot making, length, defense
WEAKNESSES: “We will lack size this year. We don’t have much size with our height, outside of Grime.”
“We will look to him to be a big body down low and battle for key rebounds, as well as using his voice on the backside of the defense.”
SEASON OUTLOOK: “Even though we are coming off a two-win season, as I’ve said before, the team is really gelling and playing well together.”
“They are starting to figure out their roles and where they need to be for us to function as a team and not as a group of individuals.”
“We look to finish around .500 and hopefully put ourselves in the conversation around the top of our conference at the end of the season and try to get a favorable seed in state tournament.”
ABOUT THEIR SCHEDULE: Season Opener: November 25 – Hilltop (A); BBC Opener: December 15 – Fayette (A)
Nate can be reached at sports@thevillagereporter.com
