The Seven Hills boy’s basketball team had a strong 2023 season, finishing 12-9 and setting the stage for a solid performance in 2024. This season is critical since it marks the final year of seniors Devan Willis and Terrance Yarborough, the team’s two stars and leading scorers. This year, the Stingers bring back nine out of thirteen players while adding junior transfers Lamari Lewis and Greg Richardson, along with additional JV skill.
Despite their returning talent, the Stingers have lost Rex Shaffer, Jackson Calloway, and Nick Cohen, three of their most essential starters. Shaffer and Cohen graduated last year, and their incredible shooting skills and team spirit will be missed. Further, Calloway’s return to Northwest High School was a devastating blow as he was the team’s tallest player. Junior Lemuel Zyyon will step in as the team’s new height, and the Stingers will have to compensate for Calloway’s exit by dominating in shooting from outside the perimeter.
Non-Conference Games
12/27 Bluegrass United
This season is unique for Seven Hills, as they will play a tournament in Kentucky over Winter Break. The Stingers’ first game is confirmed, but the range of skill in the tournament is unknown. I expect the Stingers to take care of Bluegrass United, a homeschooled coalition of basketball players, due to the league’s weak schedule and record. Overall, I predict Seven Hills will have multiple wins and losses in Kentucky.
Prediction: Win
1/7 Beechwood
Seven Hills will travel to the inferior side of the Ohio River, in Northern Kentucky, to play at Beechwood, an enormous high school. This game will be challenging, as Beechwood competes and often competes against some of the largest schools in Kentucky, such as Taylen Kinney’s Newport team last year. While Beechwood had a mediocre record last year, they were playing against larger, more talented schools than Seven Hills. Although this game will be a challenge for Beechwood, unfortunately, I predict they will beat us.
Prediction: Loss
1/11 Madeira
Seven Hills has a history with Madeira due to their win over the Mustangs in the 2022 playoffs. This loss was devastating for Madeira because Seven Hills ended a season where the Mustangs were the number one seed in the region and had the CHL player of the year on their roster. Madeira will be set on revenge; however, their record was disappointing last year. Despite their importance as a team, it will not be enough to beat the Stingers.
Prediction: Close Win
Non-League Games
12/7 Roger Bacon
On the first Saturday of the year, Seven Hills will play Roger Bacon. Although the team gained a strong legacy from preventing Lebron James’s St. Vincent St. Mary’s team from winning a state title in 2002, the Roger Bacon basketball program has recently experienced a historic downfall. Roger Bacon competes in the higher MVC basketball division and plays against massive schools like Elder, Wyoming, and La Salle. In addition, Roger Bacon brought back their second-leading scorer, Christian Byrd, and faced bad luck when their leading scorer, Jesse Eubanks, played just three games all year due to injury. Overall, I think this will be a tight game where Roger Bacon has more talent, but Seven Hills has better coaching.
Prediction: Narrow Loss
1/18 Summit Country Day
In mid-January, our biggest rivals, Summit, recently bitterly beat us in the Boys Soccer Regional Championship. Many players, such as Zyyon and Lewis, are most excited to play Summit. Our boy’s basketball team has a chance to avenge the soccer team. Unfortunately, Summit leading scorer Cayleb Walters and key contributors L.J Stocks and Brayden Woljeicz will be returning this season. Summit has also added one of the best freshmen in the city to their roster: Max Joiner. In fact, the Instagram account “Cincy Hoops” named Summit a top ten team in the city. Last year, Rex Shaffer’s three-pointer determined the loss. However, this year, the game will be closer. Seven Hills hasn’t beaten Summit since the first Trump administration, and this is one of Summit’s most talented teams ever. Unfortunately, Summit has an opportunity to win.
Prediction: OT Loss (Sorry, Stingers, I can’t be biased)
2/1 Purcell Marian
Purcell Marian is the school of famous streamer “IShowSpeed” and is well known for its elite girl’s basketball team. The Cavaliers destroyed Seven Hills by thirty last year. However, a lot can change in twelve months. Purcell lost six seniors while the Stinger’s team improved. While Purcell still has shooting talent in Chris Washington III and Vinnie Clark, the Stingers have frequently scrimmaged the Cavs throughout the offseason and look like the better pick.
Prediction: Win
2/4 Clark Montessori
The Cougars’ strengths are the Stingers’ weaknesses. Last year, the Stingers beat Clark Montessori in an interior battle, and the Cougars only hit one three in the entire game. Clark lost most of their seniors and relied on offensive rebounding, which is the Stinger’s weakness due to their lack of height. Lemuel Zyyon will be crucial in what should be a big win for the Stingers.
Prediction: Win
Conference games
12/3 and 1/17 MVCA
MVCA was the best win of last year’s Seven Hills season. The Lions ended their season with a 17-9 record and won two postseason games. Despite their successes, they were defeated twice by Seven Hills. MVCA lost most of its seniors and is now much weaker. The away game will be more difficult: as junior Miles Rizor said, “They had the best atmosphere of all the teams we play.” However, this should be an easy win.
Prediction: Two Wins
12/6 and 1/14 St. Bernard Elmwood Place
Last year, St. Bernard’s big-time win against the Stingers created a terrible start to the Seven Hills season, jumping their momentum. However, after losing star forward Frank Latham to Winston Woods, the Titans’ abilities are expected to take a complete 180. The games should be two easy wins for the Stingers.
Prediction: Two Wins
12/13 and 12/24 CCDS
When I asked Terrance and Devan which player they were most excited to face, they immediately named CCD’s star point guard Bryce Snell. Unfortunately for Snell, his supporting cast is weak. His brother, Sheppard Snell, graduated last year along with star center Andrew Zimmerman, who had multiple 17-plus point games versus us. Without Zimmerman’s strength, CCD would be weak and unlikely to beat the Stingers in either game.
Prediction: Two Narrow Wins
12/14 and 1/31 Lockland
Lockland is weak after losing a strong senior class. Lockland was unable to host us due to school renovation and will be unable to do so again, so they will have to play at our court twice. They upset us two years ago and forced us to play a poor game last year. Overall, one game might be weak, but I still expect two solid wins.
Prediction: Two Solid Wins
12/20 and 1/28 New Miami
Of all the teams, Sophomore John Haney was most excited to play New Miami. Though the Vikings are number one on the MVC must-list, they are still fun to play against. Last year, Clayton Blust rained in threes at the Vikings gym in his season-high 26-point performance. If Seven Hills basketball were Chick-fil-A, New Miami basketball would be White Castle. Here’s a fun fact: one of their players looked like Abraham Lincoln last year.
Prediction: Two Easy Wins
1/10 and 2/14 Cincinnati Christian Schools
CCS has an amazing atmosphere, so their home games can be tricky for the Stingers. However, the team’s skills sometimes fail to live up to the school’s spirit. The Cougars were the number one team in their district two years ago but have since struggled to maintain their winning momentum. This team is unlikely to see significant improvements, as they lost key seniors and lack strong talent in their JV lineup.
Prediction: Two Decently Challenging Wins
Record Prediction (not including additional games at the Kentucky tournament): 16-3
Overall, I expect a very quick, successful season with a long playoff run. Our easy conference will likely provide a lot of wins and will hopefully result in an MVC conference title. And again, this awesome record cannot happen without students attending our games and cheering on the Stingers.
