Defense Is The Word For South Central/Eastern Ohio’s Top Teams

"Offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships." Coach Bear Bryant In the South Central/Eastern Ohio area, "DEFENSE" is the word that best describes the start for the Top Teams of 2019-20 season so far.  This year seems to have a different spin on it then in the previous years.  There seems to be 2 team in each division that stand apart as the first half comes to an end, with Defense the key factor in that separation.  Whether it is Full Court pressure or stifling Half Court pressure it stills drives the following teams to stand apart, D2 Circleville, Vinton County and Unioto, D3 Wheelersburg and Eastern Brown, D4 Portsmouth Notre Dame , all 6  have very good defensive play. Currently the top D2 teams in the area are all the top defensive teams as well, they control tempo with their defense. <ol> <li><strong>Circleville</strong> in the half court sets has two 6 footers, <strong>6'1" Kenzie McConnell</strong> and <strong>6'2" Meghan Davis</strong>(committed to John Carroll) patrolling the lane, controlling the defensive backboards, while on the perimeter their guards are big, strong and physical they are led by Junior<strong> 5'8" Jaylah Captain</strong> who uses her size and strength to opponents guards work hard.  .</li> <li><strong>Vinton County</strong> relies on aggressive on ball pressure and forcing the other team to speed up its game plan.  Led by Sophomore<strong> 5'10" Cameron Zinn</strong>, a long, high energy and athletic player who is all over the court, and her teammates like Junior <strong>5'11" <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/morgan-bentley/">Morgan Bentley</a></strong> rotate and trap the ball, causing bad pases forces the other team into taking quick shots as Vinton County speeds up the game.</li> <li><strong>Unioto</strong> is a tough and tenacious defense led by Senior guards <strong>5'5" </strong><strong>Emily Coleman</strong> and <strong>5'6" </strong><strong>Amber Cottrill</strong>,  along with their teammates aggressively get after their opponents.  They limit scoring opportunities by rebounding the ball as team defensively, they harass the ballhandler and don't give up straight line drives to the rim, makes the opponent work for every score.</li> </ol> The top 2 D3 teams both can score offensively, but their calling card is Defense. <ol> <li><strong>Wheelersburg</strong>, seems to have used last years Elite 8 run to motivate them to increase their defensive pressure.  They are led by one of the areas best on ball defenders Junior <strong>5'5" </strong><strong>Ellie Kallner</strong> who helps set the tone for the team, and her teammates Junior <strong>5'7" </strong><strong><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/kaylee-darnell/">Kaylee Darnell</a></strong> and Sophomore <strong>5'9" </strong><strong>Aliana Keeney</strong> are long and get out in the passing lanes and cause a lot of deflections and then it is off the races.  And with Junior <strong>5'5" </strong><strong>Lauren Jolly</strong> and Senior<strong> 5'5" Lani Irwin</strong> hustling and diving all over the floor on both ends it helps bring energy defensively.  Also this year they have a deeper bench that comes and plays hard defense as well, which improves them over last years team.</li> <li><strong>Eastern Brown</strong> seems to have reinvented themselves, no longer having the 6 footer in the lane, they are creating a lot more turnovers in the full court and half court situations.  Senior <strong>5'7" </strong><strong>Cameron Pickerill,</strong> who works hard against any player and never backs down is the leader, but with the addition of Freshmen <strong>5'6" </strong><strong>Rylie Leonard</strong> and the play of sophomore <strong>5'6" </strong><strong>Bailey Dotson</strong> who seems to get her hands on a lot of passes and pick pocketing ball handlers, makes them a tough group to advance the ball on and score in the half court.</li> </ol> D4's Top Team <strong>Portsmouth Notre Dame</strong> has been a very good defensive team for a long time it seems, with 6'1" and 6'4" patrolling the paint, it was different on the court.  Their guards were always outstanding defenders 94 feet, but now with Senior <strong>5'7" Taylor Schmidt</strong> and Junior <strong>5'5" <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/ava-hassel/">Ava Hassel</a></strong> doing even more defensively it has allowed the duo to get out and attack off steals and long rebounds.  Senior <strong>5'7" Olivia Smith</strong>, gets the other teams best player and she consistently is in their face and makes life hard for them.  Her tenacity allows the team to trap, rotate and get out in passing lanes and if you don't have ball handlers then its a long night.  All of Notre Dames players play physical and aggressive man to man defense, and as a team really rebound the ball well.