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Worthington Christian is in the Div. IV state final.

State Standouts -- Newark  defeated Whitmer 63-44 to advance to the Division I State Final, which Newark won to make it Division I State Champ! Worthington Christian defeated Oak Hill to advance to the Division IV State Final, but lost the final. BRIAN HECKER of Worthington Christian has been named Division IV Player of the Year for the State of Ohio.  Newark and Worthington Christian were the only two local squads moving on to the state tourney at the Schottenstein Center this week. Newark (Div. I) defeated Franklin County favorite Westerville South in a tight game Sunday 62-57. It was a very evenly played game, with rebounds, turnovers and field goals almost identical. Greg Avery had 20 for Newark in the win, and Corey Dennison had 14. Newark was perfect on free throws to end the game, which was the difference. Hats off to Westerville South, which was unseeded entering the district tourney. In Div. IV, Worthington Christian defeated Oak Hill 61-42 to advance. The Warriors practiced through the Blizzard of '08, and it showed when WC hit 6 straight treys at one point. Tyler Joseph had 5 threes for the game and Brian Hecker had 19 points and 9 boards. Unfortunately, in Div III both Columbus Academy and Ready fell in their matches and failed to make state despite great years. Ready made a valiant comeback but still fell to Garaway 51-47. Ryan Clark had 18 for the Silver Knights. Academy lost a heartbreaker in overtime to Anna (25-1) by a final of 75-74. The Vikings also staged a 13 point comeback and led by a point when Anna made two free throws near the end of overtime. Chris Crockett was the game's top scorer at 21 but missed a shot at the buzzer. Still, his remarkable recovery from a knee injury in football is one of the better headlines in Central Ohio sports this year, and we salute him. 

Westerville South played Newark to go to State.

Battle of the 'Burbs -- The big local Div. I matchup in the Regional semi-finals went to Westerville South again, who defeated Dublin Scioto 55-49. South hit 6 of 7 free throws at  the end to ice the win. Michael Fletcher had 20 to lead South to a Regional final against Newark. Newark beat Trotwood Madison 70-64. Trotwood had defeated local legends Eastmoor Academy earlier in the year and had bounced top-rated Cincinnati Moeller form the tourney. Cody Dennison had 21 for Newark. the Newark/Westerville South final is 7:30 pm Sunday at the Ohio Expo Center Coliseum. Div IV -- Worthington Christian advanced to the regional finals as well and will play Oak Hill Sunday at the same location at 3:30 pm. WC beat Waterford 72-60 on Tuesday night with Josh Sinclair scoring 18 off the bench. Oak Hill defeated local hopeful Harvest Prep 55-48, hitting 15 of 17 free throws. Harvest Prep finished a stellar season at 23-2, but lost a chance for a rematch of last year's District title game with Worthington Christian.

Rumblin' Ready -- After an up and down regular season, Bishop Ready hit a big three point shot right before the buzzer for a 48-46 win over Wheelersburg Wednesday night in a regional semi-final at Athens. Sophomore Joe Graessle was the shooter, and it was just one of his four treys for the game. Ryan Clark had 17 for the Silver Knights and Mark Louks grabbed the game ending rebound. Louks was coming off a 26 point 10 rebound performance over No. 1 seed Madison Plains in the District final. Ready now advances to a Div. III Regional final with a chance at State on the line against Sugarcreek Garaway at 8:30 pm Sunday at OU. Valiant Vikings -- Also in Division III, Columbus Academy continued its great season with a 68-66 win over Shroder (Cin.). Shroder had come in as a Cinderella team, going 0-12 in the Cinti Metro Conference, but the Jaguars gave Columbus Academy all it could handle. Chris Crockett scored all of his 23 in the second half for CA, which trailed by 13 at half. Max Hoster had 18 and Jake Beatley 17 for the Vikings. Columbus Academy draws 24-1 Anna in a Regional final Sunday at 5 pm at Wright State. Division II -- Both local Div. II hopefuls bowed out of the Regional tourney, as Canal Winchester fell to St. Paris Graham 64-50 Thursday evening despite 31 points from 7'1" center and OSU-bound B.J. Mullens. Mullens had early foul trouble that put the Warriors in a bind. Remon Nelson hit a trey to tie it at 35, but Graham then pulled away. Graham was paced by 29 from junior Josh Schuler. Another OSU signee, William Buford, sunk Div. II City Leaague South champ Eastmoor Academy, ending its fantastic season 59-50. Buford had 26 and Libbey held Eastmoor star Antonio Bumpus to 6. 

Tags: high school basketball, high school sports