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Grandview is looking good in Division III.

Division III Dogfight (1/19) -- Grandview Heights  62, North Union 61 -- A non-league match and the only significant local action Monday evening, but this was an important preview of two area teams that are poised for success come Division III tournament time. Grandview improved to 9-2 while North Union dropped its second straight to fall to 9-2 overall as well. Evan Jamison and Klarke Ransome had 18 and 17 respecively for North Union, which could not hold the lead after an 18-9 third quarter outburst. The Bobcats were led by star Casey Rouch , who netted a game high 21. Standings Sneak Peek -- A full current standings link is contained below, but here are some highlights of the top teams. City League North -- 1. Northland (9-0, 5-0), 2. Beechcroft (8-1, 4-1); City League South -- 1.  Walnut Ridge (6-4, 4-1), 2. Independence (5-5, 4-1), 3. Eastmoor (4-4, 4-1), 4. Marion-Franklin (6-3, 3-2); Central Catholic -- 1. DeSales (10-2, 4-0), 2. Worthington Christian (9-2, 3-1); OCC Capital -- 1. Franklin Heights (8-2, 5-1); 2. Mount Vernon (8-3, 5-1), 3. Olentangy Orange (8-3, 5-1); OCC Cardinal -- 1. Dublin Scioto (10-1, 7-0), 2. Westerville South (8-3, 6-1); OCC Central -- 1. Dublin Coffman (10-1, 7-0), 2. Upper Arlington (10-1, 6-1); OCC Ohio --  1. Grove City (10-1, 6-1), 2. Newark (10-2, 5-1), 3. Reynoldsburg (9-3, 5-2); MSL Ohio -- 1. Lakewood (10-1, 5-1), 2. Newark Catholic (10-1, 5-1); MSL Buckeye -- 1. Canal Winchester (9-2, 6-0), 2. 2. Logan Elm (9-1, 5-1); MSL Cardinal -- 1. Fisher Catholic (8-3, 6-0), 2. Grandview (8-2, 5-1); MOAC Red -- 1. Highland (8-0, 5-0), 2. North Union (9-2, 5-1).

Brian Hecker is top scorer now, D IV top player last year

Statmasters (1/19) -- Again, peek at the link below for more full listings, but let's take a glance at the area leaders right now as we are over halfway though the regular season for most area teams. Scoring -- 1. Brian Hecker, Worthington Christian 24.5, 2. Jared Sullinger, Northland 22.4, 3. Ryan Cosgray, Grove City 21.7, 4. Brandon Amman, Logan Elm 21.2, 5. Anthony Jackson, Westland 20.8, 6. Matthew McCollister, Madison Plains 20.6, 7. Luke Roesch, Fisher Catholic 19.5, 7. Ben Seifert, Hartley 19.5; Rebounding -- 1. Jared Sullinger, Northland 14.8, 2. Riley Cannon, Johnstown 12.8, 3. Tanner Furno, Whetstone 11.9, Seth Faulkner, Madison Plains 11.6;   Assists -- 1. Matthew McCollister,  Madison Plains  8.6, 2. Adam Blake, Logan Elm 8.2, 3. Tyler Worstell, Franklin Heights 7.2, 4. Trey Burke, Northland 7.0; Field Goal % -- 1. Jared Sullinger, Northland .686, 2. Brad Harrah, Pleasant .680, 3. JD Weatherspoon, Northland .675; Free Throw % -- 1. Matt Jones, Centennial .969, 2. Ryan Dierks, Newark .857, 3. Ryan Clark, Ready .841, 4. Ryan Cosgray, Grove City .829.      Flying to the Hoop -- Kettering, OH (1/17) -- Northland 56, San Diego High 39 -- Gotta go on with the show, despite the snow. Actually, it was the -15 degree temperatures that closed Columbus city schools on Friday, triggering the application of a new rule that no athletic games could go forward on the weekend. San Diego had already spent  a ton of money and time to come to Ohio for the game, though, and wisely Columbus administrators saw the light and gave Northland the go ahead. This one had been billed as a battle of rising stars Jared Sullinger (Northland, committed to Ohio State) and Jeremy Tyler of San Diego. The two did not disappoint, as Tyler scored 22 of his team's 39 in the loss, but it was Sullinger and Northland who stole the show. Sullinger had 23 points and 9 rebounds, including 13 in the final frame as the Vikings pulled away. Tyler was shutout by Northland in the fourth quarter. Also -- Cle. Benedictine 64, DeSales 61 -- DeSales unfortunately had a tougher time against a top non-league foe on Saturday, suffering its second loss of the season as Nick Kellogg, son of OSU great Clark Kellogg, missed on a trey at the buzzer that would have tied the game. Kellogg had 20 points on the game. Ohio State recruit Cameron Wright of Benedictine scored 22. Cle. Shaw 56, Eastmoor Academy 54 (OT) -- This one was a good test for Eastmoor, which played a tight game but came up a little short. However, the competition and experience gained here should help the Warriors in the stretch run in the City League South with Independence, Walnut Ridge and Marion-Franklin. Doug Thorpe had 25 in Eastmoor's loss, including 4 treys. Other Weekend Scores -- Dublin Coffman 60, East 55; St. Charles 68, Worthington Kilbourne 65; Grove City 74, Hilliard Darby 53; Tree of Life 59, South 52 (OT); Whetstone 81, Thomas Worthington 70 (OT); Fisher Catholic 59, Harvest Prep 56; Canal Winchester 54, Bloom-Carroll 40; Logan Elm 75, Amanda-Clearcreek 56; Big Walnut 65, Watkins Memorial 48.

Connor Viers has led Coffman all year.

The OCC Office (1/16) --  Central Contenders Clash -- Dublin Coffman 49, Upper Arlington 44 -- The OCC Central saw its marquee game live up to expectations Friday night as host Dublin Coffman (9-1, 7-0) bested state AP Division I No. 2 Upper Arlington (10-1, 6-1) with a narrow second half comeback effort. The Golden Bears had led by eight at the break, and all seemed to be going well for a continuation of UA's undefeated season until the Coffman defense shored up and the shots started going in during an 18-8 Shamrock third quarter. The Coffman defense kept UA's Kevin Sullivan to only 11 points, well under his 17.4 ppg average, while Brian Sullivan and Akram Hidmi could only muster 10 and 7 respectively. Coffman's scoring leaders were Connor Viers (14) and freshman Kyle Molock (13). Both were essential in holding off the Sullivan brothers, who have often dominated games for the Golden Bears this year. Olentangy Orange 60, Delaware 49 -- Perhaps this is the budding of a new Delaware County rivalry in the OCC Capital. Though Orange is in its first season, their home win last night knocked Delaware (7-5, 2-4) further from the league pack and asserted Orange (8-3, 5-1) as a true OCC Capital title contender. Taylor Rigger put in 19 for Orange and Zack Joseph, former Worthington Christian star from the 2007-08 Division IV state championship game, had 14. There's company at the top of the OCC Capital, though, as Franklin Heights (8-2, 5-1) won in overtime at Big Walnut Friday night 75-69 on 20 from Dorrell Taylor and 17 from Pete Ivery. Mount Vernon (8-2, 5-1) also kept pace defeating New Albany 55-53 on a late jumper by Joe Scott after long ranger Ben Severns, whose three point antics wowed us last year, banged a trey with 30 seconds left to tie. Severns ended with 19 for the Yellow Jackets. Westerville South (8-3, 6-1), Westerville Central (8-3, 4-3) and Westerville North (6-4, 4-3) each won at home in the OCC Cardinal. Jerrell Fernandez of Central was the top scorer of the Westerville schools, with 28 points in Central's 69-57 win over Dublin Jerome. South beat Olentangy Liberty 62-52 and North defeated Olentangy 52-42. In the OCC Ohio, last year's Division I champ Newark was idle but impressive Grove City (9-1, 6-1) defeated Pickerington North 89-76 with Ryan Cosgray scoring 26 and adding 10 boards while star center Jon Smith had 17 for the Greyhounds. Other OCC -- Dublin Scioto 69, Marysville 31, Reynoldsburg 82, Pickerington Central 59. There was a full slate as well in the Central Catholic League as DeSales (10-1, 4-0), led by Ike Ariguzo and Nick Kellogg with 22 points apiece, handled St. Charles on the road 81 -66. Hartley (6-4, 2-2) rode 20 points from Ben Seifert in beating Watterson (5-5, 1-3) by a 64-47 score. Worthington Christian (9-2, 3-1) remained the local Division IV favorite by winning a league game 56-44 over tough Ready (5-4, 2-2). Ready limited stud Brian Hecker to just 6 points but Christian Hawkins contributed 14 for the Warriors. Division III -- MOAC -- North Union dropped its first game of the year, 69-48 to a strong Highland squad, while other MOAC games were cancelled. The entire Columbus City League slate was cancelled due to weather and school closures, but the district office announced games (including Northland v. San Diego at Flying to the Hoops in Kettering) will be played today, Sat. 1/17. 

Tags: basketball, high school basketball, high school sports