Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

CHESAPEAKE — It’s a live preview of teams in Southeast Ohio.

The annual Beast of the Southeast boys’ basketball shootout will be held Saturday at Chesapeake High School beginning at noon and features five games.

Coal Grove (3-5) faces Logan (5-3) at noon in the tip-off game that features a couple of 6-foot-8 players.

Logan is led by 6-8 Kevin Fisher who averaged 18.1 points and 8.8 rebounds a game. He had 40 points in a 75-69 overtime win over Lancaster.

Chance Cox is a two-year letter winner and the 6-1 senior guard teams with 5-10 junior Lane Little for a solid backcourt. Little averages 12.3 points, 3.8 assists and 3.9 steals while Cox scores 10.1 points a game and is the top 3-point shooter.

Coal Grove will counter Fisher with 6-8 Austen Pleasants who is a verbal commitment to Ohio University in football. He had 27 points the Hornets overtime win over St. Joseph on Tuesday.

Athens plays Washington Court House at 6 p.m. and the Bulldogs are 7-0 with five key players who were part of the state runner-up football team.

Ohio State-bound quarterback Joe Burrow leads the team in scoring with 20 points a game including 25 on Thursday in a win over Logan Elm. He had just returned from the Semper Fi All-American Game in California.

Two key players inside who can rebound and score are twins Adam and Ryan Luehrman, the top receivers on the football team.

Rounding out the top six are Sam Vander Ven, Nick McDaniel and point guard Griffin Lutz.

Court House has won two straight and is 4-6. The Blue Lions are led by Alec Wayne and Cameron Eckles.

At 2 p.m., Fairland (7-1) takes on Eastern Brown who is led by Brandon Covert, Mick Hundley and Marcus Day. The Warriors are usually one of the top teams in the Southeast district.

Alexander (6-3) and Lucasville Valley (5-2) will be an outstanding matchup at 4 p.m. Both teams are enjoying successful seasons.

Mason Chapman, Kyle Howard and Seth Richardson are key players for the Spartans. Valley is led by Bryan Rolfe and Ryan Brown.

The final game of the day features host Chesapeake and the Hillsboro Indians (5-4) who have a balanced offense led by Zach Young.

Chesapeake is 8-0 and ranked 10th in the current Associated Press poll.

Here is the schedule:

Beast of the Southeast

Coal Grove vs. Logan, noon

Fairland vs. Eastern Brown, 2 p.m.

Alexander vs. Lucasville Valley, 4 p.m.

Athens vs. Washington Court House, 6 p.m.

Chesapeake vs. Hillsboro, 8 p.m.