“We have high expectations that dominate our perspective on what we want at the end of our season,” said Tincher, who took his squad to the Division II state tournament last year. “With a Final Four appearance last year, the girls are striving to continue our good fortune.
GIRLS BASKETBALL LEAGUE PREVIEWS
» GCLC NORTH: Carroll is unanimous favorite to repeat
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BOYS BASKETBALL LEAGUE PREVIEWS
» GCLC NORTH: Eagles earn preseason No. 1 position
» SWBL SW: Franklin, Brookville share preseason No. 1
“With that being said, four SWBL teams made the sectional finals last year, and winning basketball games is getting popular throughout our league. In my opinion, (these are) some of the best overall teams on our side in league history.”
His Golden Eagles got four first-place votes and took the No. 1 spot in the preseason Southwestern coaches poll, and Franklin was second and received two No. 1 votes. Defending champion Valley View was third, Monroe fourth (with one No. 1 vote), Oakwood fifth, Eaton sixth and Brookville seventh.
“With the tradition they’ve had over the last few years, they’re the trendsetters in our league,” Franklin coach John Rossi said of Bellbrook. “But it’s going to be a war every night. It’s going to be a league where you’re going to have to take care of your home base and win a few of them on the road. It’s a good, competitive girls basketball league. Any of those top four teams probably could have taken that top spot in the poll.”
Monroe coach Chad Allen concurred.
“Our expectations are the same as Bellbrook’s, Franklin’s and Valley View’s. Why not us? We should be winning this league,” he said. “Then you’ll have four teams that are like, ‘This should be our sectional. This should be our district. This should be our regional.’ Why not? This is my fifth year, and in four of the years somebody in our league’s been ranked in the state.
“This league is very good basketball for this area in Division II. If you don’t set the bar high, you can’t achieve it, and that’s what we’re trying to do right now.”
Everybody in the division returns a lot of starters except Bellbrook. The Golden Eagles only bring back two, and an injury has sidelined one of them.
Tincher does have a considerable amount of experience returning, but it’s mostly in the form of role players.
“We’ll need those players to take a more aggressive role within the game to be successful this year,” said Tincher, who did pick up a solid transfer in sophomore guard Bailey Zerby from Wilmington.
For Franklin, everything starts with 6-foot-1 senior Layne Ferrell, a University of Akron signee. But Rossi pointed out that he’s got eight solid varsity players back this season.
Losing Southwestern Player of the Year Hunter Stidham to graduation was a huge blow for Valley View, but she was the lone senior on last year’s league championship squad. And the Spartans have two talented newcomers in 6-1 junior Audrey Stupp, a transfer from Tri-County North, and freshman forward Claire Henson.
Valley View coach Steve Dickson said the Spartans have an obvious goal — repeating as division champions.
“They have worked very hard to add 2019 to the banner,” he said.
Monroe can match anybody in the league in athleticism and likes to play up-tempo, pressure basketball. Senior guard Katie Sloneker is trying to work her way back from knee injuries and hasn’t played since her sophomore campaign.
Oakwood’s Matt Salyer is the division’s only new head coach, and he’s got one of the SWBL’s top returning scorers in senior guard Lauren Hapgood.
Eaton and Brookville were the two Southwestern teams with losing overall records last season, and both should be better this year. Eaton’s Bailey Shepherd averaged 10.2 points, seven rebounds and 2.4 steals per game as a sophomore in 2017-18.
THE PRESEASON POLL
Here’s how the coaches voted in the preseason Southwestern Buckeye League Southwestern Division girls basketball poll, with point totals and first-place votes (in parentheses):
1. Bellbrook (4) 45
2. Franklin (2) 38
3. Valley View 37
4. Monroe (1) 34
5. Oakwood 20
6. Eaton 14
7. Brookville 8
A LOOK AT THE TEAMS
Here’s a team-by-team preseason look at the SWBL Southwestern teams, with information provided by the coaches:
1. BELLBROOK GOLDEN EAGLES
Coach: Jason Tincher (15th season)
2017-18 Record: 20-9 overall, 10-2 SWBL Southwestern (second place)
Returning Starters: Brooklynn Hall (5-8 junior guard), Kayla Paul (5-10 junior forward)
Top Newcomer: Bailey Zerby (5-7 sophomore guard)
Team Strength: Experience
Area Of Concern: Most of the returnees were role players last year and Hall is out with an ankle injury
2. FRANKLIN WILDCATS
Coach: John Rossi (second season)
2017-18 Record: 19-7 overall, 7-5 SWBL Southwestern (third place, tied)
Returning Starters: Layne Ferrell (6-1 senior guard), Kaylee Harris (5-9 junior forward), Emily Newton (5-11 senior center), Jordan Rogers (5-9 sophomore guard), Skyler Weir (5-6 senior guard)
Team Strengths: Experience, size
Area Of Concern: "We're not as athletic as maybe we'd thought or we'd like to be"
3. VALLEY VIEW SPARTANS
Coach: Steve Dickson (18th season)
2017-18 Record: 20-3 overall, 11-1 SWBL Southwestern (first place)
Returning Starters: Abigail Dickson (5-3 sophomore guard), Lauren Legate (5-9 sophomore forward/center), Chloe Smith (5-9 senior guard), Aiden Valenti (5-7 junior guard)
Top Newcomers: Claire Henson (5-10 freshman guard/forward), Aubrey Stupp (6-1 junior forward/center)
Team Strengths: Experience, talented newcomers
Area Of Concern: Youth (varsity roster includes five sophomores and a freshman)
4. MONROE HORNETS
Coach: Chad Allen (fifth season)
2017-18 Record: 17-7 overall, 7-5 SWBL Southwestern (third place, tied)
Returning Starters: Sam Schwab (5-6 junior guard), Kylee Slone (5-9 junior guard), Sophie Sloneker (5-11 senior guard), Olivia Wells-Daniels (5-8 junior forward)
Top Newcomer: Rylen Carroll (5-9 sophomore forward)
Team Strengths: Experience, speed, defense
5. OAKWOOD LUMBERJACKS
Coach: Matt Salyer (first season)
2017-18 Record: 13-11 overall, 5-7 SWBL Southwestern (fifth place)
Returning Starters: Kylie Foos (5-6 junior guard), Mia Gorman (5-10 senior forward), Lauren Hapgood (5-8 senior guard), Kyndall Ketterer (5-11 junior forward), Kylie Neff (5-10 junior forward)
Top Newcomers: Kaeley Beam (6-1 sophomore forward), Olivia Caplette (5-5 sophomore guard), Ellie Duwel (5-8 sophomore forward)
Team Strengths: Quickness, team chemistry
Area Of Concern: Learning a new system
6. EATON EAGLES
Coach: Dave Honhart (fifth season)
2017-18 Record: 7-16 overall, 2-10 SWBL Southwestern (sixth place)
Returning Starters: Emily Dungan (5-5 senior guard), Annika Gels (5-7 senior guard), Becca Mowen (5-11 senior forward), Bailey Shepherd (6-0 junior forward)
Team Strengths: Transition game, sharing the ball
Area Of Concern: "Learning how to consistently value every single possession at both ends, which in turn leads to winning close games"
7. BROOKVILLE BLUE DEVILS
Coach: Braden Kindell (third season)
2017-18 Record: 6-17 overall, 0-12 SWBL Southwestern (seventh place)
Returning Starters: Christina Bronner (5-6 senior forward), Jordyn Cherry (5-1 senior guard), Emily Mason (5-10 sophomore center), Hannah Smart (5-6 senior guard)
Top Newcomers: Abbey Cousineau (5-4 sophomore guard), Bailyn Kimberlin (5-9 junior guard)
Team Strengths: Length and size, key returning starters
Area Of Concern: Team speed
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