2019 – 20 League Preview: All-American Conference – Red Division
The All-American Conference – Red Division is an athletic conference spanning schools from Ashtabula, Mahoning and Trumbull Counties. The high schools comprising the league include Austintown Fitch, Boardman, Canfield, Howland, Lakeside and Warren G. Harding. 5 Players to Watch:…
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Continue ReadingThe All-American Conference – Red Division is an athletic conference spanning schools from Ashtabula, Mahoning and Trumbull Counties. The high schools comprising the league include Austintown Fitch, Boardman, Canfield, Howland, Lakeside and Warren G. Harding.
5 Players to Watch:
(schools are as of last year – unless PGH is 100% certain that a player has enrolled elsewhere)
Kamarah Bender – Harding
Maria Torres – Boardman
Raegan Burkey – Boardman
Grace Mangapora – Canfield
Faith Burch – Harding
4 Thoughts:
Fitch has to replace a lot of talent (and scoring that goes with it). Sabria Hunter, Jada Lazaro, Mia Jackson and Taylor Fronk have all graduated, but the good news for the Falcons is that they have a pair of guards returning. Emma Bartlett and Daria Williams will need to use their big-game experience to carry the load early in the season, as their team finds some other scoring options.
Boardman returns a trio of all-conference selections in Raegan Burkey, Maria Torres and Katie Stamp – all juniors. Clearly there should be enough scoring with that group, so the Spartans will need to make a much larger commitment to the defensive end of the floor if they want to improve on their 3-7 league and 11-12 overall records. If they do – they could be in the mix for a league championship.
Some would argue that Canfield’s Grace Mangapora is the league’s top player. At nearly 14 PPG last season, the Indiana University of Pennsylvania volleyball commit is constantly attacking defenses. The Cardinals will need to replace the production that they lost when Serena Sammarone graduated – starting with Aiden Orlovski, Gabby Demodovich, Morgan Carey and Marissa Ieraci.
In addition to explosive scoring threat Kamarah Bender – pictured above; Photo Credit – Tribune Chronicle and her 20+ points per game, Harding also returns Faith Burch and Diamond Phillips – who were both named all-league a season ago. Burch is a legitimate double-double threat every time she takes the court, averaging 11 points and 10 rebounds as a sophomore in 2018-2019. The Raiders lost some heartbreakers in league play last year – this may be the year that they win those and subsequently, a championship.
3 Big Games:
Canfield @ Fitch on January 11th
Harding @ Canfield on January 25th
Boardman @ Howland on January 29th
2 Fun Facts:
At one point, the AAC had over 20 teams with membership. However, after the 2019-2020 school year, it looks like this Red Division will be all that remains, as the 7 teams in the Blue Division have stated their intentions to leave for the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference.
There are a number of departed seniors who are continuing their careers at the collegiate level. Fitch graduate Sabria Hunter is currently on the WBB roster for Army at West Point, while Canfield graduate Serena Sammarone is on the roster at the University of Findlay and Howland graduate Alex Ochman is on the roster at Shawnee State. Ochman’s HS teammate – Kayla Clark – is playing at Lake Erie.
1 League Champion Prediction:
Warren G. Harding
***Note*** The AAC – Red may be one of the most balanced conferences in Ohio this season. On paper – it seems to be possible that any team in the conference could beat any other team on a given night. It should be interesting to see who steps up and takes control of the league race – where it’s very likely that the conference champion will not go undefeated in league play, similar to last winter when Austintown Fitch took home the crown.