Whats D-5 have to offer this year? people's thoughts.......

[nothing but the facts 00]

I think the d-5 basketball year could be very, very interesting this year, with both finalists from last year, the cougars of north star(the champs) and the conemaugh twp. indians(runners-up) losing key sr. players and the area losing it's best player possibly ever Drew Shubik...the cougars of north star and the conemaugh twp. indians are going to have to look for balanced attacks...although ct does have the perenial area player of the year in andy byer...one player cannot win championships and if both teams want to get back to UPJ this year, they will have to look for sr. leadership and balanced scoring and defensive attacks....the cougars from what ive researched are led by a plethora of sr. starters starting at the pt. guard position with nick mignogna who will move over from small fw/shooting guard last year to take over drew's pt. guard spot....at shooting guard the cougars will probablly knock josh ryan out from his forward spot to take over the shooting position(if his shot improved), he will still look to grab rebounds for 1st year coach kevin nicklow(taking over for andy shubik)...at the 3 postition the cougars will likely start dave younkin....and the 4th spot will be given to john shank and controlling the center postition last year's 2nd best big man to steve miller in the district will be john hornick who last year i think made 2nd team all confrence....the cougars dont have much of a bench at all so they will look for these 5 seniors to lead them to UPJ and try and duplicate what the cougars have been doing much of the past 5 to 6 years...winning district championships.........the indians are obviuosly led by andy byer who will lead the county and district and w-pac in just about every category and probably average 30 a game im guessing....no one is this district can guard him BUT he will need some help to make it all the way...my guess is a lot of his help will have to come from ben watkins down low who showed abilitiy last year and also on the football field this year...if the indians get help to andy byer who will light it up this year...they could possibly run the table come playoff time.....i along with these two teams, windber has to be an early favortie...they return all 5 starters including 1st all country member dave kitcho from last year's semi-final squad and we all know, come playoff time it's tough to win in windber so don't wish that as a 1st round game if ure anyone....those 3 are probably the powers of a fairly "down" district 5 b-ball year...tussey my. could be a sleeper and other teams might cause havoc for the favorites....only time will tell....thats just what i know...as for my EARLY prediction, i say your 4 semi-finalists in order are: Windber-North Star-CT-and tussey mt. with windber and ns in the finals...as for my champ....well thats just too early to tell.....lets me watch the games up til x-mas and ill get back to that......i want to hear other people's predictions for top 4??? top 2??? champ of 2005??? give me inputs!!! also a westpac champ??? my guess would be ns or shanks. or wind. or ct........also other than andy byer......who are the top players in d-5 this year??!!!??? should be a great year for h.s. b-ball.....give me ure inputs people.........thanks!

[HOLLYWOOD]

We will just have to wait and see, little too early to make predictions for playoffs at this point!! Chestnut Ridge and Bedford are pretty tough down here but single A I would say it will be a toss up, I don't know if there is anyone that will run away with it!!

[nothing but the facts 00]

i know its too early.....just wanted to strike up the topic and see what people think here reallyyyyyyyy early in the season.....just interested in people's thoughts......i also agree no one will run away with it hollywood........come on other people.....post some info.!! lol thanks!

[HOLLYWOOD]

good post facts!!

[Head Roadie]

First of all nothing but the facts...get your facts straight. You do get an "A" for enthusiasm though.
Con. Twp. is not "AA" this year, they are down to A. I think undoubtedly Bedford is a prohibitive favorite to win 5-AA this year with C.Ridge, Windber, N.Star and Everett looming. And Troy Harris at Bedford and Brian Barefoot at Ridge would have a lot to say about who the best player in D5 is this year...it's certainly not the Andy Beyer show.

In "A" look for Con. Twp. and Shanksville from Somerset Co. and McConnellsburg and S.Fulton from the Sideling Hill League to be the top contenders in a wide open race. Sleepers include Northern Bedford and Berlin.

[nothing but the facts 00]

head roadie....thats my bad on CT....they jump around from single A to double AA every year.....last year they were double so i assumed they might stay put for 2 years in a row.....and my apologies to bedford and ridge'....im not from down that way so i totally left out them 2 teams....one of which now i think of....bedford probablly being at the head of the pack....so i agree with you on that team....i dont put them above the rest though.....i just throw them in the mix of teams...theres no one on ns,wind,or everett that can come close to guarding harris and barefoot so with them alone they are favorites to win as well....theres a good 5 teams that could be there in the end....but now that i have new facts from you roadie im saying the top 4 will be bedford,ns,windber, and everett...i would have to say itll be tough to tell from there....its early, but i just like to strike up early discussion....as for top players....i forgot about harris and barefoot totally that is yet again my bad SO with that said i would say the top 4 players are as follows....harris,barefoot,byer,and kitcho.....as for single A......shanksville is locked and loaded this year with talent and have 5 starters back including jeff berkey who might have the best shot in the entire area or at least one of the best.....they will win single A in my eyes....double AA is a toss up still.........some winnners i heard of from tuesday night in double AA were ns over salisbury, berlin over ct, and im sure theres others...i also saw that shanksville pummeled windber by 26 or 27 pts. even tho. windber was without Kitcho..thats a blowout..........im enjoying the posts,predictions,info, and input.......keep it coming!!! thanks

[basketball101]

Nothing but the facts ----- your talking about nothing but nonsense
All your doing is posting to get other people to talk, and your rambling on about things it seems you have no idea about.

5-AA
1.) bedford .... the lhac may be too much for them, and might not make playoffs
2.) north star .... no shubic is no problem if the well rounded team plays like a team
3.) windber .... kitcho is hard to defend when healthy and returns all starters

5-A
1.) shanksville .... dont need to say much, returning alot, well rounded, good ball team
2.) c. twp. .... byer is good, NOT great though .. he could be if he cared more... he's a GOOD player playing on a weak team ... still the will contend
3.) berlin .... came as a surprise so far this season ... guess mccormick (sp) is playing well..... winning must be contagious at berlin



TOP PLAYERS:
The harris brothers ..... best in the area if you ask me

Byer .... doesnt create enough on his own, doesnt use his team (understandably) enough... could be GREAT but isnt quite there

barefoot .... OVER-RATED .... nothing special ..... wayyy too over rated... decent player, not the next MJ though!!!!

kitcho .... quick, can shoot and handle.... is short however and staying healthy is questionable

[nothing but the facts 00]

yeah no kidding im just posting for people's replies...thats what a message board is all about basketball101......if it wasnt and it was like you obviously want it to be, it would be a lot of people arguing about who is right and wrong!! its a forum for talk and thats what im trying to strike up.....and ive been a follower of b-ball since i was 8 so i do know my stuff...i just know absolutly nothing about OVER THE MOUNTAIN TEAMS.....such as bedford and ridge' which you obviously know a lot about and i dont.......im just trying to state facts, give my opinion, and see other people's opinion.....thats what the forum is all about.....so if you wanna seem "tough" and think you know it all and cut on me....go ahead....im still ganna post my opinion and NOTHING BUT THE FACTS and i mustve not said that top 3 would include bedford ns and windber and shanksville is tops in single A and that i had all the top players listed that you did in my last post....hmmmm im still ganna state facts and opinions ....that i know.....or in your eyes i dont know which if i dont....im sorry im not a basketball wizz....i just like to watch the game and talk about it.... but to everyone that just wants to talk basketball...keep posting your thoughts and opinions and ill keep posting mine......thanks!