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Madison Plains downed rival London in Div. III.

Keeping Pace -- Finals 12/29 and 12/30 -- Delaware 61, Pickerington Central 53; Delaware 64, Westerville North 60 -- This makes three wins in four nights for the resurgent Pacers (6-4), as Sean Rothermel again had a dominant game against Westerville North, scoring 25 as Delaware held on for a close victory Monday night after sprinting to a 14-8 opening quarter lead. The Pacers kept it up again Tuesday over Pick Central with 19 from Rothermel and a dominating 26-17 final frame. Pat Kennedy led the Pacers with 23 in the second win. DeSales Basks in Florida -- The Stallions (7-1) mounted a big turnaround to continue their holiday in the sun in Kissimmee, Florida, putting Saturday's loss behind them and thumping Corona del Mar, CA 69-42 Monday then beating locals Plant City, FL 57-41 last night. Ike Ariguzzo of DeSales football fame led the team Monday with 17 while Nick Kellogg had 16. Last night Kellogg led with 18 while teammate Nick Goff had three treys and 11 total. Marion-Franklin 73, Cle. Collinwood 61 -- This win was a big boost for the Red Devils (4-2) in the Strongsville Tournament, allowing Marion-Franklin to shake off the sting of last week's loss to City League South foe Eastmoor. Freshman  6'9" center Elijah Macon contributed 9 with team leader Jeremy McCoy knocking down 12 and Mike Guyton and Nate Spears co-leading Marion-Franklin with 14. Marion-Franklin also grabbed 40 rebounds as a team. Dublin Scioto 50, Independence 45 (OT) -- Scioto (6-1) continued its recent struggles with another messy game, but still managed a squeaky victory yet again, this time over Independence (2-4) from the City League, a strong squad that has suffered a number of early season disappointments. Scioto had an initial 13-0 lead but scored just 2 in the fourth quarter to allow Independence to take the game to overtime. The Irish turned the ball over time and again before rebounding in the extra frame. Brad McDougald of Scioto led his team with 14 points, including two clutch free throws at the end of the fourth, representing the Irish's only points of the quarter. Upper Arlington 61, Bloom Carroll 47 -- The Golden Bears (7-0) continued the roll, grabbing another solid home win, this time over non-conference opponent Bloom Carroll (5-3), which is probably wondering when the schedule gets any better, as they match up with Canal Winchester, Logan Elm and Teays Valley (which defeated Westfall 68-58) in the Mid-State League Buckeye. Upper Arlington powered to an 18-9 opening lead and again was led by Kevin Sullivan's 19, including nine from the stripe. Madison Plains 78, London 68 -- The battle for Madison County went to local Div. III favorite Madison Plains (6-0, 4-0) in this South Central Ohio League rivalry. Seth Faulkner, Nick Joslin and Matthew McCollister had 25, 19 and 18 respectively for the Golden Eagles as Madison Plains weathered a wild fourth quarter that London (3-4) won 34-29. Double Dipping -- Grandview and Bexley each picked up two wins in two night on Monday and Tuesday and are gaining some notoriety as the season heats up. It still remains to be seen if Grandview is a true competitor for Madison Plains in the Central region of Division III hoops this season.

The Delaware Pacers are improving through Sean Rothermel.

Mistletoe Miscellany  (12/28) -- Beechcroft 68, Olentangy 66 -- The premiere game of the Delaware County Classic saw Beechcroft of the City League North run its luck to 6-0 on the year through some last second heroics after a fierce Braves' comeback. The Cougars had held a 10 point lead in the third and fought off 13 points from each Mitchell Girbard and Alex Tracy of Olentangy (5-2). Rasean Moore put in the winning bucket after a turnover with just seconds left to give Beechcroft the win. Moore had 16 points while Cougar teammate Josh Gouch led with 19. Delaware 55, Olentangy Liberty 45 -- The host Patriots of Liberty dropped this one in the Delaware Cty. Classic, allowing the Pacers to dominate 21-10 in the fourth quarter and stage an impressive comeback over Liberty, which led 15-7 after one. Sean Rothermel of Delaware led all scorers with 18. Florida Flop -- DeSales travelled to the sunshine state for some holiday hoops but suffered its first lost (5-1) to Albany Academy (NY) at Kissimmee 52-46. Nick Kellogg still managed 18 for the Stallions while Adam Griffin and Nick Goff were each limited to 6. Westerville North 49, Newark 46 -- Last year's champ is having some early season troubles. Div I defender Newark suffered its second loss of the season, this time to resurgent Westreville North (4-2) in a non-league OCC matchup on Saturday night. North took a 17-7 lead after one and led 38-29 after three. Ralph Hill had 19 for North while Cody Dennison and Ryan Dierks, the usual leaders for Newark, were held to 11 and 10 respectively, with teammate Rahlin Watson leading with 16. Northern Nemesis -- Hilliard Davidson, Eastmoor Academy, Walnut Ridge and Brookhaven all dropped holiday games Saturday to out-of conference teams from northern Ohio. Davidson continued its early disappointing slide by losing to Tallmadge 52-44 at home. Grant Goodwin lead all scorers with 19. Brookhaven (2-4) also maintained its downward slide though it led Canton McKinley 32-24 at the half before losing 64-56. Walnut Ridge lost to Toledo Waite 71-60 despite hanging close ofr much of the game. Eastmoor (2-2) fell to host Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, which hit on 20/23 free throws. Doug Thorpe managed 17 for Eastmoor in the loss. Div. II - Logan Elm 55, Chillicothe 52 -- The Chiefs held off a big Chillicothe charge in the second half after leading 34-23 at the break. Transfer Brandon Amman (via Teays Valley) paced Logan Elm with 25, including 3 treys. Also in Div. II, Canal Winchester behind Darian Catharn improved to 5-0 by beating Licking Valley 64-50.  Div. III - Madison Plains 64, Greeneview 61 (OT) --  Local Div. III favorite Madison Plains (5-0) got a big scare but survived in OT in the McDonald's Tournament at Miami Trace on the strength of Matthew McCollister (23 points) and Seth Faulkner (15 points). Div. IV -- Worthington Christian 55, Zanesville 50 -- Last year's small school runner-up Worthington Christian (6-1), playing without the Joseph brothers this year (lost to graduation and transfer), defeated Div. I opponent Zanesville  behind 2007-08 player of the year Brian Hecker, who had 30 points including 8 from the line. 

Ryan Dierks' transfer has helped Newark.

OCC Holiday Highlights (12/23) -- Newark 56, Grove City 51 -- A battle of big men set the scene for this big early season matchup of two OCC Ohio frontrunners. Newark (5-1, 3-1), last year's Division I state champion, already stung by an early loss to strong division foe Gahanna, handed Grove City (5-1, 3-1) its first loss of the year, riding the play of 6'9" Dane Kopp, who battled all night with the Greyhounds' inside man Jon Smith, 6'7". Newark's defense stifled Grove City's inside game and forced many low percentage outside shots. Smith ended with just 9 for the Greyhounds, as did three other teammates including Ryan Cosgray, who gave brief hope with a three-pointer that tied the game at 49. However, no Greyhound made double digits, and Newark was lifted by 18-21 foul line shooting in gaining the victory. Kopp had 18 while Rahlin Watson and transfer Ryan Dierks had 12 apiece for Newark. Pickerington North 66, Gahanna 63 -- Gahanna (5-1, 3-1) suffered its first loss of the year and of the OCC Ohio season at home to Pickerington North, despite a barrage of treys from Lions stars Stevie Taylor (6, 25 total points) and Rob Brandenberg (4, 21 total points). Pickerington North led by 7 after three and hung on for the important league victory on the play of Eric Brindle and Kenny Yurasek. Yurasek drained three from beyond the arc and finished with 13 while Brindle led all scorers with 27. Dublin Scioto 52, Westerville Central 43 -- Scioto, generally recognized as one of the better squads in the sprawling OCC, needed a blizzard of a comeback on an icy night in Westerville to gain this victory, and it wasn't easy. Central impressed early on defense and held Scioto to just 3 first quarter points on the way to a 23-13 halftime lead. However, Scioto star Bradley McDougald powered his team to a 25 point fourth quarter and ended with a game high 19 points. Central spread its scoring around and suffered a fourth quarter drought as the Warhawks' leading scorer and top player, Jerrell Fernandez, had only 11. Upper Arlington 81, Central Crossing 55 -- Chalk up another OCC Central victory for Upper Arlington (6-0, 4-0). The Golden Bears were dead on Tuesday night in handling the struggling Comets, whose biggest threat came through 5 three pointers by Max McDonald (20 points on the night). Upper Arlington was led by solid inside defense and 19 points fron Kevin Sullivan. Brian Sullivan contributed 4 treys and 18 total, with 16 as well from 6'5" junior forward Jeff Vaughn. Arlington's dominance shone in a 21-10 third quarter as the Golden Bears continued to serve notice that they will be a league and playoff frontrunner this year. Other OCC Scores -- Pickerington Central 72, Groveport 71; Dublin Coffman 37, Hilliard Darby 36; Westland 75, Thomas Worthington 50; Olentangy 57, Dublin Jerome 55; Olentangy Liberty 68, Westerville North 59; Big Walnut 70, Delaware 58; Franklin Heights 93, New Albany 92 (3 OT); Olentangy Orange 71, Watkins Memorial 42.

Whetstone is finally making its mark.

Columbus City League (12/19 & 20) -- Streakin' in the South -- Eastmoor Academy 70, Marion-Franklin 61 -- This was a great early season matchup on the southside Friday night as Marion-Franklin (3-1, 1-1), enjoying a breakout season, hosted Eastmoor (2-1, 2-0), which was riding a 31 game City League South winning streak. Eastmoor broke open on an 18-0 mid-game run to the chagrin of the overflow home crowd, which had cheered the Red Devils' opening 10-2 lead. Warriors guard Doug Thorpe had four treys during the run and ended with 29. Senior Alex Coleman had 11 points for Eastmoor, which kept its league streak alive. Jeremy McCoy had 16 for Marion-Franklin, which had cut the lead to 6 in the last frame but could not complete the comeback. McCoy and star freshman center Elijah Macon suffered early foul trouble for the Red Devils. Northland 80, Centennial 37 -- Northland also boasts an impressive conference winning streak, 30 games now in the City League North. Northland (4-0, 2-0) broke open a 41-7 halftime lead and rode Jared Sullinger's 26 points for the victory. Whetstone 49, Brookhaven 42 -- For the first time since 1994, the Bearcats fell to Whetstone (3-1, 2-0) on Friday night. Brookhaven's loss was its third of the early year, and second one in City League North play. Tanner Furno, one of the area's top centers, had 16 points and Ryan Milner 13 for Whetstone, which took the game with a 21-6 fourth quarter.   Beechcroft 69, Watterson 66 -- Impressive at 5-0 to start the season, Beechcroft struggled Saturday night to beat underdog Watterson's comeback attempt. Josh Gouch had 15 to lead Beechcroft. Beechcroft also defeated Mifflin 86-57 the night before.

Madison-Plains is still the local Div. III favorite.

Other Area Action -- Worthington Christian was the state runner-up in Division IV last year, and despite a close setback to rival DeSales (a 5-0 top D II team that defeated Ready 71-49 and Jonathan Alder 73-54 this weekend) is continuing its winning ways. The Warriors took a pair this weekend, the first from reeling Watterson on Friday as Div IV 2007-08 player of the year Brian Hecker drained 6 three-pointers and amassed 45 points in the 56-43 victory at Watterson with Brady Beals getting 7 of the points Hecker didn't hog.  The next night Worthington Christian dominated Fisher Catholic 57-36 and 29-8 at the half. This time Beals netted 16 while Hecker could only muster 15. Upper Arlington improved to 5-0, 3-0 by winning in the OCC Central at Hilliard Darby as Akram Hidmi and both Kevin and Brian Sullivan all sunk 12 points. The margin of 51-44 was helped by Hidmi's four late free throws. Gahanna continued to roll to 6-0, 3-0 as well, winning twice and beating OCC Ohio foe Pickerington Central 88-64. Lions' leader Stevie Taylor had 20 points while Rob Brandenberg and Ian Taylor had 24 and 25 apiece. Gahanna's second win was closer, 64-59 at Teays Valley, where Stevie Taylor had 17. Defending Div. I champ Newark (4-1) barely got by Zanesville 47-44 with 14 points from transfer Ryan Dierks on Saturday. Newark beat struggling Groveport 68-55 the night before with 21 from Cody Dennison. Groveport (1-5) also fell to Central Crossing in OT 69-68 in its second game of the weekend. Dublin Scioto (4-1, 3-0) rebounded by pounding OCC Cardinal opponent Westerville North 52-29 behind Bradley McDougald and his 15. In Division III, which is somewhat sparse in these parts, Madison Plains continued to show its strength as Matthew McCollister and Seth Faulkner led the way with 16 and 23 respectively, defeating Greenfield McClain 54-43 on a 15-1 second quarter run. Logan Elm is still proving its worth in Div. II, beating Fairfield Union 65-62, and should be seen as a top area playoff prospect .

Tags: basketball, high school basketball, high school sports