ThisWeek Community Newspapers Westerville
Page B2
January 20, 2011
Boys Basketball
Several of district’s top teams to be on display By JARROD ULREY ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Three central Ohio high school boys basketball teams ranked in the top 10 in the Division I state poll, as well as several other expected area powers, will be in action this weekend at a pair of college venues. The ninth annual Ohio Play-By-Play Classic, which in past years has been held at Ohio State, features four games Saturday at Capital University and three Sunday at the Schottenstein Center. An event Saturday at Ohio State forced organizers to find an alternative location for games that day. “We haven’t played at Capital before, but it’s a really nice facility,” said Dublin Coffman coach Jamey Collins, whose team opens the event at 2 p.m. Saturday against Walnut Ridge. “They had a little jam up because the Schottenstein Center wasn’t available on Saturday, but the organizers were up front about it. It’ll be good for the kids to be in that environment.” Below is a breakdown of the matchups at the Play-By-Play Classic: •Dublin Coffman vs. Walnut Ridge — After winning a Division I district championship and going 20-4 a year ago, Coffman was fourth in the ThisWeekSPORTS.com Super 7 for Jan. 10-16 despite having several new players in key roles. Senior guard Christian Heine is a four-year varsity play-
er and key member of the team’s backcourt and senior guard Zack Riddle is averaging 17 points in his first season with the Shamrocks after transferring from Watterson. Walnut Ridge was first in the City League-South Division entering play last Tuesday and features one of the area’s biggest frontcourts. Senior Austin Traylor, a 6-foot-4 forward who has verbally committed to play football for Wisconsin, is averaging 19 points. Senior Dwayne Bazemore is a 6-10 post player. “They’re just loaded with talent,” Collins said. “They’re the type of team we’ll have to play in the tournament, so it will be a good test for us.” •Gahanna vs. Chillicothe — The only matchup that features two stateranked teams will pit Gahanna, the No. 4 team in Division I last week, against Chillicothe, the No. 2 team in Division II a week ago. The Lions are led by senior Stevie Taylor, an Ohio University signee who is averaging 16 points, three assists and 2.7 steals. Jamel Morris, Brandon Smith and Trey Warr are other key players among a nine-member senior class that has Gahanna ranked second in the ThisWeek Super 7 poll. Chillicothe sports a frontcourt that features 6-9 junior Malik London and 6-7 senior Jalen Ragland but also has a pair of talented players in the backcourt in sophomore point guard Zach
Schedule Below is a list of the games in the ninth annual Ohio Play-By-Play Classic: SATURDAY (games at Capital University) 2 p.m.: Dublin Coffman vs. Walnut Ridge; 3:45 p.m.: Gahanna vs. Chillicothe; 5:30 p.m.: Westerville South vs. Burlington (N.J.) Life Center Academy; 7:15 p.m.: Northland vs. Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary SUNDAY (games at Ohio State) 12:15 p.m.: Canal Winchester vs. Hartley; 2 p.m.: Teays Valley vs. St. Bernard Roger Bacon; 3:45 p.m.: Fairfield vs. Peebles
Johnson and senior Tyler Manion. “I love Capital’s gym,” Lions coach Tony Staib said. “It’ll be a good environment.” •Westerville South vs. Burlington (N.J.) Life Center Academy — South, which was ranked sixth in the state poll last week and third in the Super 7, has a Division I recruit in Wisconsin-signee Traevon Jackson. The 6-2 guard averages 17 points and more than four assists for the Wildcats, who have a trio of other ball-handlers with significant experience in seniors Ben Jones and Damarkeo Lyshe and junior Isaiah Rogers. Life Center won nine of its first 12 games and features 6-8 senior forward Laquinton Ross (21.5 ppg, 10.9 rebounds), senior guard John Johnson (18.5 ppg, 3.6 assists) and junior guard Andre Horne Jr. (13.5 ppg, 7.2 rebounds). Ross signed with Ohio State
in November. •Northland vs. Akron St. VincentSt. Mary — Northland is off to another solid start despite losing 2010 Naismith Player of the Year Jared Sullinger to graduation, with senior guard Trey Burke taking on the leading role. A Michigan-signee, Burke heads a cast that also features 6-8 juniors Jalen Robinson and Devon Scott as well as junior guard Jordan Potts. The Vikings were fifth in the state poll last week and first in the Super 7. St. Vincent-St. Mary split its first 10 games, as senior DeVonte Beard (14.9 ppg), senior Ricky Johnson (11.8 ppg) and 6-6 junior Lorenzo Cugini led the way offensively. •Canal Winchester vs. Hartley — Two of central Ohio’s best Division II teams this season have been the Hawks and Indians, who were first and third, respectively, in the area coaches poll last week. Hartley, which snapped DeSales’ 50game home winning streak with a 5140 victory Jan. 7, is led by 6-6 sophomore post player Jacob Matuska and senior forward Kendal Sherrod. Seniors Joe Collier (6-5 post player), Sam Jones (6-0 guard), Kyle Schriml (6-1 forward) and Michael Walker (510 guard) are among the top players for Canal Winchester. “Kids enjoy playing at the (Schottenstein Center),” said Indians coach
Kent Riggs, whose squad last competed at the Play By Play Classic in 2008. “It’s been a good experience for us over the years. Hartley is playing really well right now, so we know we’ll have our hands full.” •Teays Valley vs. St. Bernard Roger Bacon — Teays Valley opened by winning seven of its first eight games, holding opponents to an average of 40.5 points. Senior Nate Anderson, a 6-9 post player and North Carolina-Wilmington signee, leads the Vikings. Other key players are Tyler Dresbach and Cole Bowling. Roger Bacon was 7-3 at the mid-point of its regular season, with senior guard Paul Byrd (15.6 ppg, 4.3 rebounds) and 6-6 senior Jabriel Coaston (11.9 ppg, 4.7 rebounds) leading the way. •Fairfield vs. Peebles — Fairfield won six of its first nine games, as junior guard Jeff Woods led in scoring (9.7 ppg). The Indians have been holding opponents to an average of 46 points per game. Peebles got off to a 6-1 start, with 6-2 seniors Andy Countryman and Blake Justice leading the way. Justice had 42 points in a 67-65 loss to Manchester on Dec. 28, and Countryman scored 29 in an 89-49 win over Chillicothe Southeastern on Dec. 3. julrey@thisweeknews.com www.ThisWeekSPORTS.com
NORTH assists per game. Point guard Monique Jones averages 11.0 points and 3.6 assists per game with 14 3-pointers, and Clegg averages 8.8 points with 15 3s. “We have to play at North (where the Warriors are 7-0 this season), and stopping Kusan and Jones is always tough,” Martin said. “(The Warriors) have lost two games in a row, but to their credit, they battled against two really good opponents.” In their three losses, North fell by no more than six points. It also lost to Scioto 47-41 on Dec. 17. Kusan had 17 points with two 3-pointers in the loss to Olentangy, and Jones added eight points with two 3s. “We also had Kayla Angermeier step in for us and play pretty well with six rebounds in the second half and scored six points for us,” Kloepfer said. “That’s the kind of effort we’ll be needing from everyone. When we have people out, we have to step up and make the plays.”
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game, Reiland averages 5.6 per game and Auker 5.5. “This is probably the healthiest we have been in the past few seasons,” Martin said. “I liked that we held (Central) to 25 points and we scored 47 points, which is one of our top tier offensive games this year. We also had single-digit turnovers, which meant we took care of the ball well.” North has lost two consecutive games, falling to Dublin Coffman 51-46 on Jan. 8 and to Olentangy last Friday. The Warriors played the last two games without senior forward Bri Clegg and last Friday without guard Ellie Vosler. “Bri should be back (Friday) after injuring an ankle, but Ellie Vosler is out probably at least another week with a concussion,” Kloepfer said. “We played well against Olentangy, but they hit some shots down the stretch. Now we have to play a Jerome team that played us tough last time and they keep improving.” Senior Caitlin Kusan leads North by averaging 13.2 points and 10.7 rebounds. The 5-foot-10 shennen@thisweeknews.com senior post player also adds 1.9 steals and 1.9 www.ThisWeekSPORTS.com
By Paul Vernon/ThisWeek
Kamorin Harris of Central goes after a loose ball with Marysville’s Craig Runyan during the Warhawks’ 58-39 victory earlier this season. Harris was leading Central in scoring and rebounding before last Tuesday’s game against St. Charles. The Warhawks play host to South on Friday.
CENTRAL Continued from page B1 Warhawks’ top rebounder, averaging 6.6. •The girls team is looking to avenge a 41-37 loss to South on Dec. 8 when it travels to South on Saturday for an OCCCardinal game. “We have to do a better job of handling their pressure,” said coach Doug Etgen, whose team is 5-8 overall and 3-5 in the OCC-Cardinal. “That’s probably going to be a big key to that game. We have to identify where the scorers, their shooters, are. We didn’t do a good job of that in the first game. “Offensively, we have to take advantage of some of the matchups that we think are maybe in our favor and try to exploit those a little bit more.
SOUTH Continued from page B1 6 last year before Johnson and Andre Horne joined the team. Horne, a 6-3 guard who is playing at his third school in three seasons, averages 13.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. “We just have to come out and concentrate on playing our style of play and try to get people to do what we want to them to do,” Jackson said after scoring 12 points against Liberty. Jackson, a Wisconsin recruit, likely is the first player Life Center Academy will look to stop, although South has been winning games with its defensive effort and 3-point shooting. The Wildcats made nine 3-pointers against Liberty led by guard Stephen O’Daniel, who made three. One thing that has the Wild-
At a glance Below are the recent results and coming schedules for the Central boys and girls basketball teams: BOYS *Last Friday — Defeated Dublin Jerome 67-62 Last Tuesday — Played St. Charles *Friday — Home vs. Westerville South *Tuesday — At Westerville North Of note: The Warhawks were 7-4 overall before last Tuesday and are 5-2 in
Are we going to be able to consistently score? That’s been a thing for us the whole time. Are we going to be able to put 10, 12, 14 points on the board every quarter? If we can do that, I think we can play well enough on defense to hopefully turn that score in the opposite direction.” Central then plays host to North in a league game on Wednesday. The Warriors beat the Warhawks 61-29 on Dec. 11.
the OCC-Cardinal. GIRLS *Last Friday — Lost to Dublin Jerome 47-25 Last Saturday — Def. Centennial 4630 *Saturday — At Westerville South *Wednesday — Home vs. Westerville North Of note: The Warhawks are 5-8 overall and 3-5 in the OCC-Cardinal. *OCC-Cardinal game
Central split two games last weekend, losing to Dublin Jerome 47-25 last Friday and defeating Centennial 46-30 last Saturday. Against Centennial, Abby King scored 15 points and Brianna Pond scored 12. “We’re just trying to get better every day,” Etgen said. King leads the team in scoring, averaging 9.5 points, followed by Aly Jurcenko (7.4).
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At a glance Below are the recent results and coming schedules for the South boys and girls basketball teams: BOYS *Last Friday — Defeated Olentangy Liberty 68-33. Last Monday — Def. Fishers (Ind.) Hamilton Southeastern 63-61 (OT) in Flyin’ to the Hoop Classic in Kettering *Friday — At Westerville Central. The Wildcats won 74-45 on Dec. 7. Saturday — Burlington (N.J.) Life Center Academy in Play-By-Play Classic at Capital University
cats feeling confident is their success in close games. Despite beating teams by an average of about 26 points this season, South was taken to overtime twice and won both games. The Wildcats beat Reynoldsburg 82-78 in overtime Dec. 14 and Westerville North 77-73 in overtime Jan. 4. In both games, the Wildcats held late leads only to watch their opponent fight back to tie it. Against North,
*Jan. 28 — Home vs. Dublin Jerome Of note: The Wildcats are 11-0 overall and 7-0 in the OCC-Cardinal. GIRLS *Last Friday — Lost to Liberty 44-41 Last Tuesday — Played Olentangy Orange *Saturday — Home vs. Central. The Wildcats won 41-37 on Jan. 8. *Jan. 28 — At Jerome Of note: The Wildcats were 4-7 overall before last Tuesday and are 3-5 in the OCC-Cardinal. *OCC-Cardinal game
South led 33-24 in the third quarter and 46-42 to start the fourth but North tied it at the end of regulation. “I don’t like being in those situations,” Calo said. “But I think down the road I like that we were able to win in two close games. That’s always good to know to find out about something about our team.” www.ThisWeekSPORTS.com
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