Ohio Heritage Conference Preview

The Ohio Heritage Conference is a competitive small-school league with solid talent every year. The league is made up to the North Division (Fairbanks, Mechanicsburg, Northeastern, Triad, West Jefferson and West Liberty Salem) and the South Division (Catholic Central, Cedarville, Greeneview, Greenon, Madison Plains and Southeastern). <span style="font-family: ’arial black’, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">5 Players to Watch</span></strong></span> [player_tooltip player_id="92522" first="Mallory" last="Mullen"], 6-0 2022, Springfield Catholic Central Claire Henry, 5-7 2023, Greenon [player_tooltip player_id="312662" first="Ciara" last="Horney"], 5-11 2022, Cedarville [player_tooltip player_id="315018" first="Carly" last="Lehman"], 5-6 2023, Fairbanks <em>(feature photo above)</em> [player_tooltip player_id="269819" first="Serenity" last="Castle"], 5-9 2022, Springfield Catholic Central <span style="font-family: ’arial black’, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><img class="size-medium wp-image-325803 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/09/79-Serenity-Castle.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />4 Teams to Watch</span></strong></span> Springfield Catholic Central are the early favorites to claim a conference title with three of the top players from the Dayton area leading the charge. Mullen is a major D1 track prospect who looks to utilize her athletic ability to control the boards. She will just outjump you for the ball.  Also improved her post moves. Castle <em>(pictured left) </em>had a great summer on the PGH Circuit with the Dayton Metro, has excellent court vision and passing ability, and can score. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="216011" first="Jordyn" last="Smoot"] is a 5-9 guard who can beat you numerous ways. She is quick and can get to the rim, and has good range from the perimeter. One of the most talented groups every year is West Liberty Salem, but they lost a lot of firepower from last year, plus their key returning senior suffered an injury and will not play. Never count Dennis McIntosh out as he will have them ready to go. Watch out for a very talented sophomore class with Megan Hollar, Chaley Wade and Bailey Poppe. Aubrey Williams is a senior who should contribute this year also. Never count out the Tigers. Another traditional power is Mechanicsburg, but they lost a major offensive threat in Grace Forrest to graduation. They also have some solid players returning with 5-6 2024 Addie DeLong, who scored nearly 8 per game as a freshman. Senior Lani Wilhelm is a 5-6 2022 also capable of producing while 5-4 2023 Taylor Rausch also has some experience. The player to keep a close eye on is the development of 5-6 2024 Olivia Skillings, who I expect to explode onto the scene this season. West Jefferson lost Gabbie King to the next level, but Taylor Roberts is a 6-1 2022 who is strong on the boards and can score well around the rim. Her production looks to go up this season stepping into the leaders role. They return three players who all averaged between 7-8 points per game last year; 6-0 2023 Brooke Mannon, 5-8 2022 Emma Crace and 5-10 2023 Laney Lambert. <span style="font-family: ’arial black’, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><strong>3 tidbits about the OHC</strong></span> West Liberty Salem will be playing without their top returning player, as 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="32610" first="Emily" last="Hollar"] is out recovering from an injury. She is a D1 soccer signee with Bowling Green and would have given the Tigers great leadership and guard play. Danielle Roe takes over a Springfield Catholic team with several great weapons. Roe played college basketball and later went onto coach at both the college and high school ranks. Greenon has moved into a new gym, in a new school. Lonnie Robinson brings back a team who has two outstanding players in Henry and 5-9 2023 Abby West. Both of them are outstanding leaders and are capable of scoring and defending. Also former area basketball standout Baylee Bennett brings her young enthusiasm to the game as the former Cedarville University point guard is on the bench with the Knights. <span style="font-family: ’arial black’, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><strong>2 Games to Watch</strong></span> West Liberty Salem at Mechanicsburg- December 11 Springfield Catholic Central at Wayne- November 22 <span style="font-family: ’arial black’, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Rising stars to be on the lookout for</span></strong></span> Elaina Lahmers, 5-5 2023, Fairbanks Ellie Snyder, 5-5 2022, Greeneview Rylee Davis, 5-11 2022, Madison Plains Olivia Skillings, 5-6 2024, Mechanicsburg Lily Hudson, 5-10 2022, Southeastern