Marquee Matchups: Week 9 in Northeast Ohio
Week nine in Northeast Ohio includes a headliner from the Dunk 4 Diabetes Shootout on Sunday at John Carroll.
Jan. 26: Garfield Heights at St. Ignatius
Garfield Heights is searching for their first January win coming into a Friday night road game against Iggy. The young talent of Garfield Heights will matchup with a consistent group of seniors in the Wildcats.
Ignatius will need major contributions from senior frontcourt Aymin Bahhur and Luke Wiskes to matchup with Alonzo Gaffney and Brison Waller.
Jan. 27: Cleveland Central Catholic at St. Ignatius
The schedule doesn’t get much easier for Ignatius in the night following, as they welcome CCC into the building. Unlike the Garfield game, Ignatius will shift their gameplan to protecting the ball against lockdown perimeter defenders. Specifically, the twins Delshawn Jackson and Dyshawn Jackson will pressure Chase Toppin, Tevin Jackson, Neeko Melendez, Jon Barnes and Josh Ozanne. This game should come down to execution in the halfcourt, including the turnover battle.
Jan. 28: Shaker Heights vs. Pickerington North at John Carroll
Shaker Heights is 7-1 when Christian Guess plays and 0-2 without him. Their one loss with Guess came at Garfield Heights in overtime, when the 6’6” senior wing left the game with cramps in the fourth and Dale Bonner fouled out. So, look, Christian Guess is active for this game and we’ve got a treat on Sunday at the Dunk 4 Diabetes Shootout.
On the other end, Pickerington North looks like the team to beat in Ohio right now. They haven’t lost since Dec. 9 at South Bend Riley (IN) and their last five wins are against Pickerington Central (home), Princeton (neutral site), Dublin Coffman (road), Beechcroft (home), and Reynoldsburg (road). They have a notable size advantage against Shaker, as the Raiders are faced with a tough decision of who to use Guess against on defense — Jerome Hunter or Eli McNamara?