1. Can Lima Central Catholic get back to the state tournament for a third consecutive season?
The Thunderbirds were Division III state runner-up last season after winning the Division III state title in 2013. They have five of the top six players back from the team that lost 63-50 to Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph in the state championship game last season – Dantez Walton, Tre Cobbs, Josh Dixon, Nick Taflinger and Ethan O’Connor.
Finding a replacement for Jake Williams inside and staying healthy will be important if the Thunderbirds are going to make it back to Columbus.
2. Will Lima Senior take the next step and reach the state tournament for the first time in 24 years?
The Spartans have almost every player who got significant playing time last year back and more talent moving up from the junior varsity team. They finished 23-4 and lost in the Division I regional championship game 50-42 to Lakewood St. Edward.
Point guard Xavier Simpson signed with Michigan and was Division I Co-Player of the Year on the All-Ohio team. Jaylin Thomas was second-team All-Three Rivers Conference, and Rico Stafford and Ruben Flowers were honorable mention All-TRAC.
3. Can Lima have another Mr. Basketball?
Xavier Simpson goes into the season as one of the top candidates for this annual award, which honors the top basketball player in Ohio.
Some of Simpson’s toughest competition might come from Columbus Northland’s Seth Towns, the only other junior on the Division I first team last year, and Gahanna Lincoln’s Nick Ward, who signed with Michigan State. Towns signed with Harvard after turning down offers from Ohio State, Michigan and UCLA.
If Simpson wins, it would be the fifth time a Lima player was named Mr. Basketball. Lima Senior’s Greg Simpson won in 1991 and 1992, Lima Central Catholic’s Aaron Hutchins won in 1994 and Shawnee’s Jamar Butler was the 2004 Mr. Basketball.
4. Can Delphos Jefferson’s Trey Smith reach 2,000 points in his career?
The 6-foot, 5-inch senior, who has signed with Air Force, already has the Jefferson career scoring record with 1,441 points.
He averaged 27 points a game last year and would need to average just under 25 points a game this season to reach 2,000.
5. Will offense continue to disappear from high school basketball more and more every year?
Scorers like Smith and Simpson are the exception rather than the rule these days.
Consider these numbers from score lists in Dan Kern’s book about Putnam County League basketball:
Putnam County League boys basketball teams scored fewer than 50 points in 49.7 percent of their games last season (92 of 185).
Twenty years earlier in the 1994-95 season, PCL boys teams scored fewer than 50 points in 22 percent of their games (39 of 173).
Forty years earlier in the 1974-75 season, PCL boys teams scored fewer than 50 points in 2 percent of their games (4 of 168).
6. How close to 900 career wins can Kalida coach Dick Kortokrax get in 2015-16?
The veteran Kalida coach has 877 wins going into this season, the record for Ohio coaches.
This will be his 56th year as a head basketball coach. The other seven Putnam County League boys basketball coaches have a total of 32 years as a head coach among them.
7. What are a few of the most intriguing non-league games in the area?
Dec. 12 – Ottawa-Glandorf at Lima Central Catholic. This is it. There will be no tournament sequel this season.
Jan. 19 – Dayton Chaminade-Julienne at Lima Central Catholic. A rematch of their Division III state semfinal.
Jan. 18 – Lima Senior vs. Dayton Thurgood Marshall in the Flying To The Hoop tournament.
Jan. 26 – Lima Senior at Lima Central Catholic. No explanation needed.
8. What are a few of the most intriguing league games in the area?
Jan. 15 – Bath at Wapakoneta. Former Bath coach Doug Davis goes against his former team for the first time.
Jan. 22 – Ottawa-Glandorf at Defiance. The two Western Buckeye League schools with recent state championships take the court.
Feb. 5 – Crestview at Spencerville. The Bearcats won the Northwest Conference last year, and Crestview won it in 2014. Both teams could be among the top teams in the NWC and beyond this season.
9. How will Ottawa-Glandorf’s move up to Division II affect that division in the tournament, and how could it change the Division III regional that the Titans and LCC have dominated in recent years?
The Titans have won state championships in both Division II and Division III, so it should not be a major difference for them. Like the other nine Western Buckeye League schools, they would go through the Ohio Northern district.
The biggest change in the tournament setup might be in the Division III regional at Bowling Green, where Columbus teams will not be part of the equation this season.
10. Will it be a mild winter?
Because Easter is early this year, the state tournament also will be earlier than it is many years. So scheduling make-up games could be a little more challenging than most years.
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