2019 – 20 League Preview: Suburban League – National Division

The Suburban League – National Division is an athletic conference spanning schools from Medina, Summit and Cuyahoga Counties. The high schools comprising the league include Brecksville-Broadview Heights, Cuyahoga Falls, Hudson, North Royalton, Nordonia, Stow-Munroe Falls, Twinsburg and Wadsworth. <strong> </strong> <strong>5 Players to Watch:</strong> <strong>(schools are as of last year – unless PGH is 100% certain that a player has enrolled elsewhere)</strong> Taylor Leatherman – Wadsworth Chelsea Huffman – Cuyahoga Falls Lilee Carlson – Stow Alana Ellis – Twinsburg Madison Cluse – Nordonia <strong> </strong> <strong>4 Thoughts:</strong> Until someone consistently knocks off the Wadsworth Grizzlies – an Andy Booth coached squad has to be considered the favorite to win the league championship. Wadsworth will unfortunately dive into the season without their PG, E’anna Won, who is out indefinitely with a knee injury. The Grizzlies do have Taylor Leatherman – who started on the state semi-final team in 2018. Leatherman will be joined by Regan Simpson and Maggie Long. The past two seasons, Stow has shared the league championship with Wadsworth. Kira Philpot, Lilee Carlson, Bella Adams and Ellie McCoy should have their eyes set on soul-possession of the championship this winter. Alana Ellis is one of the most talented players in all of Northeast Ohio. She can score enough points to make Twinsburg competitive on any given night. Kayla White and Jada Austin will provide support and experience that is needed to play in such a tough league. Like many of the other schools in the conference, Nordonia has battled the injury bug in recent years. If healthy, the Knights could beat anyone in the conference. All-District performers Madison Cluse and Hallie Majoros have All-Ohio potential. <strong> </strong> <strong>3 Big Games: </strong> Wadsworth @ Stow on December 7^th Twinsburg @ Nordonia on December 18^th Mercy McAuley vs Wadsworth @ The Classic in the Country on January 20^th &nbsp; <strong>2 Fun Facts: </strong> In the last 30 years, Wadsworth has won an unbelievable 27 Suburban League championships (outright or shared) – while establishing themselves as one of the state’s top big-school programs. The Grizzlies were state champions in 1997 and 2016 and also advanced to the Final 4 in 1998, 1999, 2006 and 2018. Bob Podges is entering his 21^st season as the head coach at Stow – where he has won well over 300 games. His team advanced to the district finals last season, before losing a heartbreaker to Aurora by a final score of 51-48. &nbsp; <strong>1 League Champion Prediction:</strong> Wadsworth