Top 5 Teams of the Past Decade

[Air Force I]

Just curious, what are the opinions on the top 5 teams from the past decade?

[bbjunky81]

Hard to argue against the 2006 South Webster team. 2 Division 1 players, and most importantly, the State Championship to back it up. The Wheelersburg team that year was insanely good as well, but came up just short at State.

Chillicothe team that won it all in D2 is probably the overall best. Portsmouth did make it to the State Championship last year, they have to be considered.

[Bandwagoner]

Oak Hill has a state title in the past 5 years, Piketon has an appearance in the final four, and Portsmouth had a final four appearance 2 years ago... Just adding to your list.

[TribeManiac10]

Hard to argue against the 2006 South Webster team. 2 Division 1 players, and most importantly, the State Championship to back it up. The Wheelersburg team that year was insanely good as well, but came up just short at State.

Chillicothe team that won it all in D2 is probably the overall best. Portsmouth did make it to the State Championship last year, they have to be considered.

Did anyone else on that Webster roster play in college? I have to agree that the Chillicothe team that beat Buford's Libbey in the final was probably the best southeast team in the past 10yrs.

[bbjunky81]

A few of them went to play small school ball, but I'm not sure if any of them stuck with it.

Interesting tidbit about Webster's State Championship team, is how several of them are now coaching Basketball.

Bowman - Graduate Assistant at Eastern Kentucky University
Waginger - Assistant at Western Carolina University
Fenton - Assistant at South Webster
Lower - Assistant at South Webster
McClintic - Was an Assistant, but I'm not sure if he still is or not

[fightingtigers45]

Ironton's 26-1 team in 2004-2005 is certainly right there at the top.

[trojandave]

In the past decade, only 2 schools have gone to the state back to back years......Wheelersburg did it in 2006 and 2007, while Portsmouth accomplished the feat in 2011 and 2012. South Webster went to the Schott in 2004 and 2006, winning it all the latter year. As far as the best team of the past decade, I might give the nod to the 2008 Chillicothe Cavaliers who posted an outstanding 25-2 record, featuring outstanding PG Anthony Hitchens, and playing a rugged D2/D1 schedule, beating William Buford and Toledo Libbey at the buzzer for the state championship........I would rate the 2005 Ironton Fighting Tigers as a very close 2nd, as they went 26-1 and almost pulled off an improbably upset of the OJ Mayo-Bill Walker led North College Hill Trojans in the state championship.

One interesting note about last year's Portsmouth Trojans state runnerup team.......they defeated SVC champion Piketon in the district semifinals, beat SOC II champion Valley in the district final, beat OVC champion Chesapeake in the regional semifinal, then knocked off a very good Ironton Fighting Tigers team in the regional final. Don't know if a school has ever knocked off 3 conference champions consecutively in the postseason, but I would say it's an extremely rare feat.

[pembrook burrows III]

Some good observations,Dave. The 2005 Ironton team featured a couple of kids that played in Division I (Waginger at W. Carolina and Gagai at WVU before he transferred to Northern Kentucky, a D-II program). It also had a D-I football player in Marcus Williams at Ohio State, and a very talented big man in Clifton Howard, who for whatever reason, never sought to further his education beyond high school.

The Tigers lost a heartbreaker in the 2005 finals to one of the best collections of high school talent to come along in some time at North College Hill. It featured two NBA kids in OJ Mayo (Memphis Grizzlies by way of the USC Trojans in the PAC 10) and Bill Walker (New York Knicks by way of Kansas State of the Big 12). Two other kids on that team made their way to D-I basketball (Darion Goins at San Jose State of the WAC, then at Bowling Green of the MAC, and 6-11 Keenan Ellis, who had a cup of coffee with Alabama-Birmingham in Conference USA before off the court troubles did him in). Mayo and Walker won a pair of Ohio state titles while at North College Hill, then a West Virginia AAA title at Huntington High, but by far their toughest championship test was the 2005 Ironton team.

I'll too will give my #1 nod to Chillicothe's recent state championship team that beat Toledo Libbey, but the 2005 Ironton Tigers are a close second IMO. A few remnants from that 2005 Ironton team (mostly Gagai) beat South Webster's 2006 state championship team during the 2006 regular season after Waginger had departed Ironton.

My Top 5 of the Decade:

1. Chillicothe 2008 State D-II Champs (25-2; #2 in AP Poll)
2. Ironton 2005 State D-III Runnerups (26-1; #2 in AP Poll)
3. South Webster 2006 D-IV Champs (26-2; #5 in AP Poll)
4. Wheelersburg 2007 D-III Semifinalists (23-3; #6 in AP Poll)
tie 5. Oak Hill 2009 D-IV Champs (25-2; #4 in AP Poll)
tie 5. Portsmouth 2012 D-III Runnerups (24-3; #6 in AP Poll)

[Super trooper]

Reedsville Eastern in 05 would've won the state title if not for Afrocentric winning it then getting stripped.

[JIMMY THE GREEK]

2008-2009 Piketon Redstreaks 24-3, SVC, Holiday Classic, Sectional, District, Regional Champions. AP State Ranked #6, Beat five League Champions, went 6-0 vs D2 schools, starting five had (2)-1000 point scorers (Cody Smith & Jordan Brabson), Caleb Southworth playing college D1 football (Central Michigan), Evan Legg (Rio Grande) Conference Freshmen of the year and Keenan Brush (Rio Grande). Lost in State Semi-Finals to state champion Cleveland Central Catholic.

*I'm sure they would be in the top eight.

[danicalifornia]

2008-2009 Piketon Redstreaks 24-3, SVC, Holiday Classic, Sectional, District, Regional Champions. AP State Ranked #6, Beat five League Champions, went 6-0 vs D2 schools, starting five had (2)-1000 point scorers (Cody Smith & Jordan Brabson), Caleb Southworth playing college D1 football (Central Michigan), Evan Legg (Rio Grande) Conference Freshmen of the year and Keenan Brush (Rio Grande). Lost in State Semi-Finals to state champion Cleveland Central Catholic.

*I'm sure they would be in the top eight.

They would have to be in the argument for Top 8 for sure, but possibly only topped by Chillicothe on the scale of most exciting games to watch! The District Final with Westfall was a great, great game, then they have an thriller with North Adams(what a show by Kraig Unger!), and then the massive comeback against Grandview Heights. Extremely exciting and deep team who just didn't have enough to win it all, but gave everyone a heck of a show on the way there.

My top 5:
1. Chillicothe, 2008.
2. Ironton, 2005
3. South Webster, 2006.
4. Logan Elm, 2009. Lost in OT in the Semi's after barely missing a runner to end regulation, led nearly the entire game. Brandon Amman and Tim Congrove were studs.
5. Oak Hill, 2009.

I love the Wheelersburg and Portsmouth teams as well.

And then you have some great teams who didn't make it to the Schott, with Southeastern(2003), Dante Jackson's McClain Tigers(04-07), Chillicothe(07), and Western Pike(07) as just some of them.

[trojandave]

I would definitely rate only 2008 Chillicothe and 2005 Ironton above the 2012 Portsmouth Trojans in my top 5 of the decade........I wouldn't rate South Webster or Oak Hill over PHS just because they won the state title, nor would I rate the 2009 Logan Elm team over the Trojans.......I saw all 3 of those teams play........I believe PHS would match up very well with those squads, considering that the Trojans had a dominant big man, Dion McKinley, and outstanding guard play in Wayne Evans, Zaide Whitley, and Jayllen Carter. Also those teams did not have a coaching edge, with Eugene Collins having led Portsmouth to back to back Final 4's. The Trojans lost only 2 games in the regular season, to Ironton and Warren, but they split with those teams also.

As I said in an earlier post, the 2012 Trojans beat 3 conference champions consecutively in the tournament........none of those teams listed accomplished that rare feat.......and then to win the regional against a very rugged Ironton team......the tourney run of PHS was a tough road to navigate.

I actually think the 2008 Logan Elm Braves may have been a better team than the 2009 edition which went to the Final 4.......the 2008 LE squad only lost to the 2008 state champion Chillicothe Cavaliers 49-48 in the district final after having a 4 point lead with just 2 minutes remaining.

The Wheelersburg team of 2007 was one of the very few teams in the past decade to have 2 D1 college players playing together........Cam Miller and Drew Spradlin.......I believe South Webster's Nick Aldridge and Brigham Waginger both played D1.......those are the only 2 teams I can remember having such........Chillicothe's Anthony Hitchens went to Akron, but he was the only one who went D1 off that state championship team. I believe that Ray Chambers and Stuart Beverly got offers, but I don't think they were D1.

Just because a team advanced to the state (or even win the state) doesn't mean they were a better team than some others who didn't make it......I know that at Portsmouth that is certainly the case........I can probably name 6-7 Trojan teams who didn't make it to the state that could beat the 2011 or 2012 PHS squad. Consider if the 2011 Trojans had Andrew Bendolph all year instead of just for 10 games.......PHS went 15-0 with Andrew until their loss to defending D3 state champion Cleveland Central Catholic in the D3 state semis.......in the regionals, the Trojans beat SOC champion Wheelersburg in the semifinal, then beat a great Chesapeake team in the final 69-68, a game in which many had already given the Panthers the regional title.

[pembrook burrows III]

The 2012 Trojans were a very fine team, Dave. They did not have a superstar, but they meshed very well together and played with good chemistry. Plus, they were willing to guard people.I think that in a head-to-head matchup, the 2012 Trojans would beat the 2009 Oak Hill squad. I just felt that I had to put a state champion somewhere in my Top 5.

As to 2012 Portsmouth versus 2007 Wheelersburg or 2006 South Webster, I am not sure that I agree with you. As you say, those 2 squads featured a pair of D-I players each. It's tough to beat another team when they may have the two best players on the court. Plus, both Wheelersburg and South Webster had the size to match Portsmouth inside; both teams were well coached. Wheelersburg lost in the 2007 D-III semifinals in overtime to an excellent North College Hill team, and Webster cruised to its D-IV crown. In any event, these hypothetical matchups would be barn-burners. This is a fun topic to discuss!

[danicalifornia]

Ray Chambers starts at Troy University, which is in the Sun Belt.

[TribeManiac10]

I would definitely rate only 2008 Chillicothe and 2005 Ironton above the 2012 Portsmouth Trojans in my top 5 of the decade........I wouldn't rate South Webster or Oak Hill over PHS just because they won the state title, nor would I rate the 2009 Logan Elm team over the Trojans.......I saw all 3 of those teams play........I believe PHS would match up very well with those squads, considering that the Trojans had a dominant big man, Dion McKinley, and outstanding guard play in Wayne Evans, Zaide Whitley, and Jayllen Carter. Also those teams did not have a coaching edge, with Eugene Collins having led Portsmouth to back to back Final 4's. The Trojans lost only 2 games in the regular season, to Ironton and Warren, but they split with those teams also.

As I said in an earlier post, the 2012 Trojans beat 3 conference champions consecutively in the tournament........none of those teams listed accomplished that rare feat.......and then to win the regional against a very rugged Ironton team......the tourney run of PHS was a tough road to navigate.

I actually think the 2008 Logan Elm Braves may have been a better team than the 2009 edition which went to the Final 4.......the 2008 LE squad only lost to the 2008 state champion Chillicothe Cavaliers 49-48 in the district final after having a 4 point lead with just 2 minutes remaining.

The Wheelersburg team of 2007 was one of the very few teams in the past decade to have 2 D1 college players playing together........Cam Miller and Drew Spradlin.......I believe South Webster's Nick Aldridge and Brigham Waginger both played D1.......those are the only 2 teams I can remember having such........Chillicothe's Anthony Hitchens went to Akron, but he was the only one who went D1 off that state championship team. I believe that Ray Chambers and Stuart Beverly got offers, but I don't think they were D1.

Just because a team advanced to the state (or even win the state) doesn't mean they were a better team than some others who didn't make it......I know that at Portsmouth that is certainly the case........I can probably name 6-7 Trojan teams who didn't make it to the state that could beat the 2011 or 2012 PHS squad. Consider if the 2011 Trojans had Andrew Bendolph all year instead of just for 10 games.......PHS went 15-0 with Andrew until their loss to defending D3 state champion Cleveland Central Catholic in the D3 state semis.......in the regionals, the Trojans beat SOC champion Wheelersburg in the semifinal, then beat a great Chesapeake team in the final 69-68, a game in which many had already given the Panthers the regional title.

Beverly plays at Ohio Chillicothe.

[sparky]

bbjunky,
where is the big boy who played on that team that attended a few different schools? is he playing in europe?

[The Ghost of Swanker]

he went to Australia and suffered a back injury. hes back in the states and his career is likely over.

As for burg and PHS going back to back, don't forget SW was put out by the illegal Africientric team the year between state appearances. nobody can say for sure if it would've been 3 appearances in a row.

[juanmorales]

I LOL everytime I see the 2012 Ptown team ranked above SW 2006. Lets not forget that in 2006, Burg was VERY good, Ironton was VERY good, Chesapeake was VERY good, as well as SW. I would put those 4 teams ahead of the 2012 Ptown team. Unbelievable amount of talent in 06-07 classes that no teams in the past 2-3 years can match. Don't get me wrong Ptown was a good team but take any of those Wheelersburg teams in 06 or 07 and they FOR SURE win a state title in D3 2011-2012, and they win it pretty easily! This past year's D3 was the weakest I have ever seen it

[bbjunky81]

Swanker is correct. An unfortunate back injury may have ended Aldridge's career after an impressive first year in Australia.

I also agree with Juan. Hard to argue the Portsmouth 2012 team over Wheelersburg (2 Division 1 players) and South Webster (2 Division 1 players). Talent speaks for itself. Did anyone from Portsmouth go on to play college basketball? It seems like I heard Evans is at Shawnee, but that's all I know of.

[TribeManiac10]

Swanker is correct. An unfortunate back injury may have ended Aldridge's career after an impressive first year in Australia.

I also agree with Juan. Hard to argue the Portsmouth 2012 team over Wheelersburg (2 Division 1 players) and South Webster (2 Division 1 players). Talent speaks for itself. Did anyone from Portsmouth go on to play college basketball? It seems like I heard Evans is at Shawnee, but that's all I know of.

Len Collins is at Shawnee. I thought Evans was going to UC Clermont? Whitley was good enough to play basketball at a smaller college but is playing football at D2 Lake Erie.