NEO 3 on 3 League – Five Takeaways from Week #2

As June progresses – HS basketball teams in Ohio are working hard to develop chemistry and improve with sights on the 2019-2020 season. There are a number of shootouts and leagues that coaches and players take advantage of. One of these leagues is the NEO 3 on 3 league. A rare non 5-on-5 setting, this 3 on 3 league has proven to be valuable and a good indicator of future success for some of the state’s top teams. Week #2 of the NEO 3 on 3 league was held at Wooster High School and we have 5 takeaways from that first night of games – which featured nearly 150 match-ups for HS/College teams from all divisions. <strong>This is an all-time special group at Berlin Hiland. </strong> The past two seasons, Berlin Hiland has been eliminated in the DIII state tournament by McDonald's All-American Jordan Horston and eventual state champion Columbus Africentric. Horston is gone now - headed to The University of Tennessee - but nearly all of Hiland's roster returns and this could be the year that they bring home another state title. Bowling Green commit Zoe Miller, standout guards <strong>Brynn Mullet - pictured above</strong> and Morgan Yoder and a host of other Lady Hawks give legendary coach Dave Schlabach one of his deepest and most talented rosters ever. Hiland has two teams in the NEO 3 on 3 League and both of them went undefeated in week #2 with 7-0 records. <p class="x_MsoNormal"><strong>Loudonville looks a lot different - but they can still win a bunch of games. </strong></p> The 1000-point plateau is one that special scorers reach in high school girls basketball. It is extremely rare for a team to have 2 1000-point scorers on the same team. During another 20-win season in 2018-2019, the Loudonville Redbirds girls basketball team had 3 players reach the 1000-point career mark. Two of them are gone, as Nikki Weber is heading to Malone University and 1st-team All-Ohioan Celeste Ryman is headed to Clarion University. However, Emily Seboe is back and joined by her twin sister Annie Seboe, as well as experienced juniors Grace Vermilya and Sydney Snyder. <strong>Hoban has a new coach and a lot of questions to be answered.</strong> Thousands of basketball followers across the state of Ohio were shocked to hear the news that Pam Davis was leaving her post at Canton McKinley to become the new head coach at Archbishop Hoban in Akron. Hoban, who finished their regular season undefeated last winter and ended up losing to powerhouse Wadsworth in the district semi-finals, has a lot of new faces at the varsity level, where they will need to find an identity for their new coaching staff. They finished 4-3 during week #2 of the 3 on 3 League. <strong>Karli Anker is really good - Manchester could win the PAC this year.</strong> Karli Anker is one of Ohio's top guards in the Class of 2021. Through two seasons, she has already scored nearly 1000 points. In a 3 on 3 setting, she has so much room to show her array of moves off of the dribble. She commands double-teams and does an outstanding job of creating scoring opportunities for her teammates. As Manchester returns a number of solid role players around Anker - including Chloe Perry, Haley Webb, Bri Brown, Abby White and Emma Stamperd - they should compete for a PAC championship in 2019-2020. <strong>Orrville has to replace their entire lineup - expect them to get better as the year progresses. </strong> Not only does Orrville have to replace their long-time coach Mark Alberts Sr., also need to replace a senior class that made-up the entirety of their line-up during their back-to-back PAC championship runs in 17-18 and 18-19. New bench boss Maggie Davault does have an outstanding wing to start with in Tamara Turner, as well as a heady guard in Amari Slaughter to build around. There is a lot of athleticism on the Red Riders squad - so as they learn Davault's system and become more comfortable in it, we can expect some big wins down the stretch.