With NBA, College, and soon Elder basketball here, there is one more league students at Elder can look forward to – CYO.

As many know, the junior and senior leagues have a chance of going up to Toledo or Akron for a state title. This year, the Western Basketball Conference will have a tough choice on who to send up there for a chance at the title. Here’s a look:

Lourdes

Lourdes has continuously improved since freshman year. Led by point guard Dave “And One” Huhn they hope to continue that progress. Next to Huhn in the Tigers’ backcourt they have Matthew “Lee” Tucker, Matthew Meyer and Bomber Austin “Rogaine” Brown. This year joining the backcourt is ex-Elder basketball player Craig Roberto, and as long as Syd isn’t in the stands to distract him, he is sure to light up the court.  Down low they have their big men and Bombers Tyler Harvey and Anthony Durso. Not only do they do have a powerful starting 5 and bench but they also have their secret weapon “Nimmy” (no one is sure of his real name) from Oak Hills. Last year they came out strong with the huge recruitment of Drew Paolercio from the St. James parish, but with his meniscus torn he is doubtful to play the first few weeks, hopefully they can stay afloat until he gets better. Maybe Trevor “Kneedeep” Gunn won’t oversleep every game like last season and will make a couple games year. Either way, the Tigers will be contenders.

St. Lawrence

In my opinion, the Eagles will be the biggest surprise this season. With four ex-Elder Basketball players, Joe “Duna” Dunajcik (Done-a-check), Lamar “Angry Bird” Norman, TJ Nicholson and recently cut Ryan “Canks” Fricke. Jeremy Schlachter will be bringing the ball up for Lawrence. Joey Antoni (whoever that is) and David Harbin will come off the bench for Lawrence. They had a shaky 6-4 record with a loss in the second round of the playoffs last year but with the additions of Nicholson and Fricke, the Eagles hope to bring home a state championship to the carpeted gym of Price Hill.

St. Jude – Gold

St. Jude will once again be sporting two teams this year in this titanic league we call CYO. There’s no doubt Austin “Duke” Koch is the player to watch for Jude’s Gold team. Nick “Yiggz” Peters will be down low with Bomber Tyler Burkhart. Burkhart continuously pounds the ball inside all while keeping a perfect flow of hair the fans of grown to love so much. When the Bulldogs need a big shot they know they can dish it out to Davis “Renegade” Rensing or Ben Flick who know how to compose themselves due to their golf background. Diver Mitch Godar will be returning this year with Jude Gold’s two sets of twins, Kyle and Tyler Rickett and Randy and Cal Rahe, who always are ready to smoke out the competition. Bulldogs have always been in the middle of the pack and they look for a break out year under Coach Bryan “Fizz” Peters.

St. Jude – Red

St. Jude Red has no hope for this year. With an 8-22 record and never reaching the playoffs, they know there won’t be much change. With a unanimous decision by the team, Jude Red has also fired their coach in hopes of a few more wins. Their two point guards are Alex Reid and Evan “Graeters” Mullaney. At their shooting guard position they have Alec Schramm, Nick Krogers and Andrew “Cline” Cole who is also known to the Elder basketball program as “The one that got away”. They have a few small forwards with Jake Hoferer, Alex Singler, truck enthusiast Tim Diener and big footed Ryan Murray. Their big men are their most valuable assets with O-lineman Ben Klenk, who chooses to play only a couple minutes a game, and all 70 pounds of Matthew Nortmann. It was promised by Cline’s father that after every win he will buy the team ice cream, so hopefully that will serve as some motivation.

St. Antoninus – Black

St. Antoninus Black is the obvious favorite this year for the road to state. The Jaguars are led by 23 year old ex-Elder basketball player Jake Lammers. Their 10-0 campaign last year had the help of Nick Harp and Andrew Sportsman. In the paint they had the moving truck Daniel Fishburn and Jack James. The Jag’s starting 5 has an insane amount of talent and hen the starting 5 need a break from destroying the other team, tennis player Luke Groene and Austin “Dr. Phil” Stiemle get some PT. Antoninus Black looks to go up to Toledo and Akron and bring home a state title to the hollow floored gym of Cleves Warsaw.

St. Antoninus – Yellow

Antoninus Yellow have been overshadowed over the years by their brother team but that doesn’t shy them away. The Yellow Jags are led by a three guard set of Dom “Paillace” Faillace, Tim “Schiller’s Island” Schiller and Nick “Big Play Tay” Taylor. Nick “Cheese” Marcheschi hopes to improve their already impressive 7-3 record for the state tournament. Cross country runner John Reiter will go along for the ride as well as Danny Russel and Nathan Wuest (Woost?, Weest?). The Antoninus Yellow team hopes to take the league by storm.

Victory

The Vipers have always had a decent team and that won’t change this year. They are led by a barrage of threes thrown up by ex-Elder Basketball player Chris Smedley,  lax Jake Luebbe, Bomber Thomas Millea and Noah Burbink. At the power forward and center positions they have volleyball player Ben Smith, Tim Kemen, and their newest editions Curtis Johnson and from the St. William’s parish and ex-Elder basketball player of one week Mike Eillerman. Off the bench they have Jason Hulsman, Patrick Haley and another new edition Michael Grizwold. Rumors have been flying through the Schaeper Center bathroom stalls that Douglas Lee Lutz Jr. might come back after hanging up his jersey freshman year. Either way, as long as Smedley’s lungs hold up, they could have a chance of taking their team to state as Victory’s senior team did last year.

Visitation – Blue

Visitation Blue did not fair to well last year. The Vikings went 2-8 behind the Brown triplets. Alongside the Browns they have Joe Ratterman, Bomber Nick tensing and St. Bernard native Eavan Feldman. Their big men consist of Jake Siry, Buck Williams and St. X student David Elsen. Visitation Blue looks to rally back from a not-so-good season.

Visitation – Orange

Visitation Orange is another no hope team. Mark “Knight” Mazza, Michael “Leila” Bailey, and Tony Mazza, Kyle Janson are the scorers, when they finally do find the bucket, for the Vikings. The rest of the team is a little shaky when it comes to basketball skills with Gunnar Fox, Mark “Wanny” Wandstrat, and Tyler Eckstein. Their newest edition on the team is Joe Middendorf, and as long as his knees don’t give out he could be a valuable asset to the team. With a whopping one win over Williams junior team last year; they hope to improve a little under new head coach Matthew Medberry and assistant Kevin Biggs.

St. Dominic

Dominic is the last but not least hopeless team in this highly competitive league. The Dirtybirds have had just as little success as Jude Red. Tyler Dugan has led the team in scoring the past couple seasons with Austin Pitchford bringing the ball up and passing it off to Seth “Murdz” Mason, who usually throws the ball up to hard due to inability to successfully use his Creatine filled arms.  Matt Fuhr will be there next to Brent Bethel, Brandon Bell, Kyle “Do like Bernie” Berndson, the red-headed Billy Angel and Highlander Noah Morris this year as well as the spaz himself Jimmy Alexander. The Dominic Dirtybirds just like going out there, having fun, and playing some basketball – because that’s all they can hope for.

St. Ignatius

Just a bunch of tools from Lasalle.