2020-2021 Conference Preview: Portage Trail Conference

The Portage Trail Conference – Metro Division is an athletic conference spanning schools from Portage, Stark, Summit and Mahoning Counties. The high schools comprising the league include James A. Garfield, Warren JFK, Lake Center Christian, Mogadore, Rootstown, Southeast and St. Thomas Aquinas. <strong>5 Players to Watch:</strong> (schools are as of last year – unless PGH is 100% certain that a player has enrolled elsewhere) [player_tooltip player_id="91112" first="Grace" last="Mills"] - 5’8 Guard - Garfield - Class of 2021 Rachel Neer - 5’8 Forward - Southeast - Class of 2021 Karlie Duvall - 5’4 Guard - Rootstown - Class of 2021 Carley Hickle - 5’8 Forward - Mogadore - Class of 2022 Hannah Mang - 5’8 Guard - Lake Center Christian - Class of 2021 <strong>4 Thoughts:</strong> Garfield is in the midst of their last academic year in the PTC. The G-Men will move to the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference in the fall of 2021. They split with Southeast last year in league play - before advancing to the district championship game. [player_tooltip player_id="91112" first="Grace" last="Mills"] is back with hopes of an outstanding senior season to close a truly special career. She is joined by All-Ohio post [player_tooltip player_id="92518" first="Jenna" last="Smith"] and their lead guard, the sharpshooter Sarah Seaman. Madeline Shirkey provides additional athleticism on the perimeter. Southeast won the PTC last year, continuing their outstanding run of teams in the past few years for head coach Craig Nettleton. The Pirates play a physical brand of basketball - grinding out games defensively with balance scoring the basketball. All-Ohioan Rachel Neer is back to lead the way for Southeast. She is joined by sister Sarah Neer and Olivia Neer, as well as lead guard Halle Morehead and outstanding 3-point shooter Emma Keto - who is back after missing last season with an ACL injury. Rootstown is a league-title darkhorse, returning the bulk of their minutes and production from a season ago. Although the Rovers return just 1 double-digit scorer - Karlie Duvall, they also have her classmates Shaelyn Stefancik, Kyale Schoepe, Erica Moore and Kasidy Smith back for 1 more run. Juniors Marinna Atanmo and Autumn Stefancik could make Rootstown the deepest team in the league from top-to-bottom. Mogadore is rebuilding, but they have a great core to continue to take positive strides forward this winter. Tara Bunner, Hannah Roberts, Emma Peterhoff, Lydia Lentz, Mckenna Whitehead, Brooklyn Beckford and others all return to a competitive group led by standout Carley Hickle. <strong>3 Big Games:</strong> Garfield @ Southeast on December 2nd Southeast @ Rootstown on December 9th Garfield @ Rootstown on January 20th <strong>2 Fun Facts:</strong> The league looks brand new after realignment at the conclusion of the 2019-2020 school year. Cloverleaf, Coventry, Field, Norton, Ravenna, Springfield, Streetsboro and Woodridge left for the Metro Athletic Conference. Valley Christian left for the Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference. Crestwood departed for the Chagrin Valley Conference. St. Thomas Aquinas and Warren JFK joined the PTC at the beginning of this school year. Garfield’s [player_tooltip player_id="91112" first="Grace" last="Mills"] and LCC’s Hannah Mang should graduate with two of the highest scoring careers in PTC history. The senior standout guards are both already well over 1000 career points, with 1 year to pad those numbers and solidify their already outstanding All-Ohio legacies. <strong>1 League Champion Prediction:</strong> Garfield