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Northland continues to maul tough opponents.

City League Stomp -- Northland 56, Brookhaven 38 (12/16) -- This marquee matchup saw a full, raucous gym watch a real changing of the guard in Division I City League play, one that in fact has been ongoing for a number of years with increasing publicity. The new emperor is Northland (3-0, 1-0), and is clothed in Vikings' green and gold. Northland is widely seen as the #1 big school in the state, and for good reason -- the Vikings shutout a normally strong Brookhaven team 15-0 in the first and then played smart-shot, keepaway ball for the rest to win this coronation game. Though the point totals were low, the stars shone in Northland's gym before a throng of scouting agents. JD Weatherspoon netted 16, Dimonde Hale 15 and Jared Sullinger 13 in the win. Marion-Franklin 89, Walnut Ridge 85 --  The Red Devils (3-0)  are keeping at it, impressing us with a great playoff football season and now carrying onto the hardwood with strong play from a number of players. DeJuan McGaughy led the team again, this time with 23, while Jeremy McCoy had 15. OCC Update- Upper Arlington 60, Lancaster 51 -  Not a division game, but the Golden Bears (4-0, 2-0) kept it going strong on the road, continuing to build on last year's playoff success. Upper Arlington was again fueled by Kevin Sullivan with 22, and three players with 10 points. Other Scores (12/16) -- Reynoldsburg 69, Westerville South 62; Franklin Heights 88, Groveport 85 (2OT); Hilliard Davidson 64, Worthington Kilbourne 44; Worthington Christian 74, Whitehall 56; Olentangy 62, Delaware 44; New Albany 64, Pickerington North 49; Eastmoor Academy 73, Independence 66; West 64, South 63; Whetstone 67, Linden 48; Briggs 89, Africentric 75; Beechcroft 87, Centennial 68.

Nick Kellogg powers DeSales again.

Just a Dawg -- Greyhounds Goin' -- It's great to double up on victories when they're there for the taking, and that's what Grove City and a few others did this weekend. The Greyhounds won a big home conference game Friday night 94-76 over Groveport, in what all of us thought would be a closer game. Grove City (3-0, 2-0) had eyes wide open in the third quarter and widened the gap by 14 in that frame alone. Amazingly, the Dawgs did it with only 11 by superstar center Jon Smith. Heath Jones put in 23, however. Devon Joiner had 25 for Groveport. Fortunately, the Cruisers with 15 from Joiner and 21 from Leveon Bell rebounded to trounce Jonathan Alder the next night 73-44 including a 35-10 halftime lead, giving Groveport some hope of resurrecting itself before further league games. Grove City's second win this weekend was not close, 94-69 over an East team from the City League that many of us originally thought might compete. East lost 92-50 to Marion-Franklin (2-0), whose DeJuan McGaughy scored 20 and Jeremy McCoy 13.  In their second game, Grove City's  Smith powered in 25 and Ryan Cosgray netted 27, improving on his 16 against Groveport. Grove City has set itself up for some massive games with Gahanna, Newark and others in the black and blue heavyweight conference of the OCC Ohio. . .     Central Catholic League --  This year started with most observers wondering if Div. IV state runner-up Worthington Christian and its 2007-08 state player of the year Brian Hecker could continue to compete in the bigger, tough Central Catholic League. Reigning co-champ DeSales went into the weekend hoping to put a statement on Hecker and the Warriors in a big standing room only Friday night home conference opener game. Well, DeSales pulled out the win 54-49, but we got our answer about Worthington Christian as well. Hecker scored 17 as Worthington Christian (2-1) beat back a vicious Stallions first quarter,  grabbing a 28-28 halftime tie and being down just one after three. Nick Kellogg, son of Buckeye great Clark Kellogg, had just 7 but teammate Nick Goff posted 21. Adam Griffin, son of Archie, had 11 for DeSales. The Stallions (3-0) travelled on Saturday night to play and win at Lima Central Catholic 50-38. Goff had 18 and Kellogg 10 in the win. Elsewhere in the CCL, Ready defeated Hartley 66-65 on two Cody Corrova free throws with 1.1 seconds left.  Watterson beat St. Charles 62-51 on Friday with 23 from Chris Grabowski only to lose 57-43 to Whetstone and Tanner Furno of the City League. Furno, one of the area's top centers, bashed in 27 from the inside for Whetstone while Grabowski scored 21 in the loss. . . .     South-Eastern Speed -- Well, it's not the SEC, but Logan Elm did give us a "worst to first" football season built on power and speed, and now the Chiefs are back at it again in hoops. Logan Elm won a big home Mid-State League game against Zach Race and Teays Valley 68-58 on Friday night and then moved on to win in the Ohio University Invitational the next night against Fairland, 67-51. Race, a recognized star from last year, scored 24 to no avail. Tim Congrove had 5 treys and 20 points in the first game for Logan Elm and 20 again on Saturday. Canal Winchester (3-0, 2-0) proved its worth in the post-B.J. Mullens era by defeating Fairfield Union 81-55 as Darian Catharn scored 22 in an MSL game.

Northland is bashing though Division I.

Invasion from the North -- Northland 61, Dayton Dunbar 55 --  I don't think it has any relevance to what  actually happened in this game, but City League followers certainly saw this one as a little revenge against Dunbar, which recently thrashed Independence (2-1), a team many of us think has high playoff hopes ahead. Northland (2-0), the #1 ranked team in the state in Div. I and obviously the City League favorite led this one 33-14 at the half and then withstood a furious Dunbar comeback, including 20-9 in the fourth. Buckeye recruit, junior Jared Sullinger, had 25 points and 12 rebounds while JD Weatherspoon mustered only 9 in the win. Dublin Scioto 62, Westerville South 48 --   Scioto used poise and determination to outlast a tough Westerville South team Friday night, including a lengthy mid-game portion where Scioto put on a passing and shooting clinic to take a 44-26 lead after three. Bradley McDougald put in 18 for Scioto. NOTE 12/15 -- Scioto has been defeated by North Canton Hoover 50-48.  Dublin Coffman split games this weekend, opening with an impressive 91-63 win over a Westland team that had just defeated Hilliard Davidson but losing 58-52 on Saturday to Delaware Hayes. Shawn Rothermel notched 17 points and 17 boards for Hayes while Connor Viers had 27 in Coffman's win and 15 in the loss. Gahanna won two more games over Lancaster and Wellington to improve to 4-0. Star Stevie Taylor had 34 against Lancaster. Upper Arlington is now 3-0, 2-0 after a nice 62-42 win at Worthington Kilbourne in an OCC Central match. The Golden Bears had 18 from Kevin Sullivan and 19 from Brian Sullivan, who had 4 treys. Also look out for UA's 6'10" senior Jerod Hood, named by the Columbus Dispatch as a "blue chipper" to watch. Newark Catholic gained two wins on Thursday and Saturday over Lakewood and then Whitehall (65-48). Madison Plains, a local favorite in Div. III, bested rival London 62-60 in the South Central Ohio League as guard Matthew McCollister scored 26, including 3 from beyond the arc. Madison Plains improved to 3-0, 2-0.

Tags: basketball, high school basketball, high school sports