Cam Elwer is Division VII basketball’s most dynamic player…but to be fair, he has more help than teams in nearly every division. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
The long-awaited regional round of the boys tournament is here and gone, and with it some reader responses on Sunday, asking the inevitable questions…if Tri-Village and Marion played again…would there be a different outcome?
It had been a question of great interest throughout the regular basketball season regarding the #1 and #2 team in the state in Division VI. If, and when Marion Local and Tri-Village might meet in the regional tournament, who do you think will win?
And to a lesser degree, there were some of the same questioners who asked about Botkins playing Delphos St. John in Division VII. What would you expect, and could the Trojans somehow crack the code?
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And Sunday, following the Marion Local win over Tri-Village, and St. John’s taking down Botkins, many of the same asked again, only now…if they played again who do you think would win?
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I’m always careful about making predictions in basketball because the rim is only 18 inches wide, the ball is about 12 inches, and there are nights when you swear that one shrinks and the other swells.
And regardless of how much the contemporary basketball goons want to see physical play and officials swallow the whistle, basketball is still about your ability to shoot the ball effectively. You can hang on the rim and pimp and preen all you want, but if you can’t shoot the basketball you should be doing something else. Boys or girls, it doesn’t matter. Basketball is a game of skill, not physical will, and we saw dozens of examples of games lost this year because someone couldn’t hit a critical free throw at winning time.
So, how did I assess the four teams that played in the Division VI and VII regional finals Saturday night at Butler?
Starting with the Delphos St. John vs. Botkins game, Delphos showed for the 27th time this year that their ability to probe defenses, their ball movement, and their asset of having five players on the floor that can shoot puts them in a class by themselves, regardless of division. I give a lot of credit to Botkins for their commitment to defense and their tenacity to compete. But in the first half when Delphos standout Cam Elwer would draw Botkins’ best defensive posture, all he had to do was kick the ball to another player named Elwer…and have that player hit the three-point shot. He didn’t have to because the Jays’ ball movement and instinct for each other is in a class by itself, but it’s going go be a problem again this weekend in the Final Four for whomever.
Botkins’ tough-minded Eli Pitts (above), defended Camron Elwer as well anyone we’ve seen in 2025-’26 basketball.
What I’m saying is…that Delphos has so many shooters that they force opposing defenses to defend and respect each of them. And when you do that you leave Cam Elwer to work you over one-on-one, and when that happens you’re beaten.
Credit too, to Botkins guard Eli Pitts, because I thought Eli was one of the best defensive players in area basketball this year at the guard position on the nights when I saw the Trojans play. And he played Elwer as well as anyone I observed. And Cam Elwer still got his 28 points because he has so many other options…if he wants.
“They’re one of the best offensive teams I’ve ever coached against,” said Botkins coach Phil Groves. “And they can become explosive in the time it takes you snap your fingers. You have to match buckets with them, because if you don’t they just keep scoring.”
Having said all that, if Botkins had made more shots – in Groves’ words, matched better – the Trojans had the ability on defense to make that game very interesting at the end. Because, quoting Delphos coach Aaron Elwer, afterwards…”They just keep coming at you. You expect Botkins to make a comeback, just because that’s what they do. They’re as tough-minded as anyone we’ve played.”
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Relative to Tri-Village and Marion Local, you can sum it up simply by saying that while unbeaten Tri-Village scheduled heavily out of conference this year to prepare for a matchup with Marion, Marion was still the best team they played all year (including Kettering Fairmont), and they didn’t beat Marion.
Marion Local is a deceiving team because you tend to think of their size and their ability to play hard, physical defense. But what you don’t expect is at least four players in their lineup are capable of shooting you out of the game from behind the arc on a given night. Not in the way that Cam Elwer does it, but Grant Kremer, Luke Everman, Brayden Mescher, and Brennan Hess have shown that they can all shoot from range. And Kremer’s re-emergence as a three-point threat has become a special boost to the Flyers’ arsenal.
Rivaling Houdini for his ability to shoot against pressure and in traffic, Tri-Village’s Trey Sagester still scored 25 points in Saturday’s regional loss to Marion Local.
And Saturday night I think Marion had more players make big shots than Tri-Village did. The Patriots had Trey Sagester, who scored 25 points. Marion had Mescher, Kremer, Everman, and Oliver Huelsman all hit threes in that game, and on nights when there’s so much on the line that becomes frustrating.
So let me add, too, that while Tri-Village goes out of its way to play good competition outside of the league, Marion Local faces the in-conference gauntlet every night against the likes of Minster, St. Henry, Versailles, Coldwater, New Bremen, and Delphos St. John. In fact, I was there the night Delphos St. John beat Marion, 60-33, the Flyers’ lone loss. And you might equate Trey Sagester as being the impact that Cam Elwer is for Delphos.
But on that night in January, Elwer simply had more help from more players than Sagester did against Marion on Saturday. Having said that, Trey Sagester is one of true gems in Ohio basketball. For one, his ability to score, and two, for his ability to understand the game as he plays in it…the coach on the floor, it you will. And he will progress wherever he plays at the next level. If Marion Local didn’t stop him, I don’t see others doing it, either.
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As a final observation I’ll share that Kurt Goettemoeller has explained Marion basketball to me for years. And Kurt’s a math teacher and his explanations about the game always remind me of my dad, who was also a math teacher. There’s a touch of probability with it, in math terms. But to me, my sense about Marion is that because of their improbable success in so many sports over 25 years – the 15 state titles in 25 years of football – their confidence in themselves and what they’re doing is simply hard to overcome. What they represent is what many teams give lip service to, but at Marion Local they really do trust in each other. They expect to win. And the community expects it, too.
And if they played again…who would win?
Again I point to the fact of shooting, the rim, and on any given night. Because no two teams in the area are better coached than Tri-Village and Marion Local. I’m convinced that on any given night, if they played a three-game series one or the other would find a way to win.
But in a one-and-done, like this upcoming weekend? Unless the rims shrink Marion Local is going to be very hard to overcome. If they can shoot, I certainly like their chances.
And there will be some very good coaches there…to see if they can find a way.
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