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Newark is hot again with Ryan Dierks

Tourney Top Tiers -- 3/8 -- Division I -- Despite much talk and speculation about the possibilties, there were no Cinderellas and no wonder-underdogs Saturday in Division I local tournament play. Everything was just like it was planned, which pleased the area's top programs to no end. So sorry, folks, those Upper Arlington Golden Bears, who started the year 10-0 and were No. 2 in the first AP state poll, came up with no magic from the Sullivan brothers. Impressive Beechcroft, which we followed through their success in the tough City League North, also couldn't find success. Same for Ben Severns and Mt. Vernon and Tanner Furno and Whetstone -- no luck against the favorites as their teams battled for vanishing spots in the district finals for the three open Division I regional spots. Save a good win by surging Westerville North (13-10) and Ralph Hill (23 points) over Gahanna, the favorites had a feast and the rich got richer. The district finals are next Saturday 3/13, and  I'm picking four seed Newark (20-3) and Golden Bear slaying transfer Ryan Dierks to narrowly beat 2 seed Scioto, Jon Smith and Grove City (21-2) to take Coffman and of course top seed Northland (22-1) to lead the pack in its game against Westerville North. Here are the weekend Division I finals -- Northland 64, Whetstone 50; Scioto 50, Reynoldsburg 38; Coffman 60, Beechcroft 56; Newark 75, Upper Arlington 66; Westerville North 55, Gahanna 53; Grove City 55, Mt. Vernon 31.  Thursday and Friday night established our district finals in Division II, but this time some underdogs undid the uberseeds, with Granville (15-7) outlasting favorite Canal Winchester 50-41 with strong defense and a dozen points by Miles Clark. Season pleaser Olentangy Orange also fell from regional contention by falling 44-41 to upstart Watterson (13-10) on some end game controversy as Orange star Zack Joseph was arguably hacked and double hacked on a steal by a pair of Eagle defenders with no whistle. However, Watterson had fouls to give with 5 seconds left and made two free throws to solidify the victory. Friday night saw more expected finals as DeSales (19-3) beat Buckeye Valley 52-40 on 14 points and 14 boards from Ike Ariguzo and City League South champ Eastmoor (16-6) topped a tough foe in Big Walnut on 7 free throws near game's end. I'll pick the the Division II regional qualifiers next Friday as DeSales over Eastmoor and Granville over Watterson.

Casey Rouch has helped Grandview all year

Marching On -- Updates 3/4 -- Division III -- The semifinalists for Division III are now set after games on Tuesday and Wednesday night, with the victors being Bloom-Carroll, Hartley, Grandview and Highland. Bloom-Carroll (14-9) made eight three-pointers in a low scoring 48-37 win over Ready. Hartley (17-5), the one seed, struggled to beat a tenacious Fredricktown team 48-40. Ben Seifert led the Hawks with 11 boards and 23 points. Highland bested bitter rival Pleasant 49-43, holding on by free throws in the end to advance. The biggest and best game, though was Grandview (19-3) ousting 2 seed Madison Plains, a traditional power in the Division III central district. The Bobcats won going away at 64-38 on 15 and 12 respectively from Jonathan Ray and Casey Rouch. Grandview stymied Madison Plains star Matthew McCollister with double teams and traps, holding him to 5 points on the night. Grandview draws Highland for its final next Thursday as Hartley takes on Bloom-Carroll right before. Each winner advances to regionals.   

Harvest Prep downed Fisher Catholic in a big D IV game

Small Schools, Big Roars -- Division IV -- 2/28 -- It was finally time Saturday night to get down to some crucial local action in Division IV, the small school bracket that provides disproportionate talent and entertainment in the Columbus area. Of course, we are blessed to have the traditional power of Worthington Christian (15-7), last year's state runner up with 2008 Division IV Ohio player of the year Brian Hecker, which rolled 87-39 over Berne Union after toughening its skills all year against DeSales, Hartley and Ready in the Central Catholic League. The small school division also gave us a see-saw great game in Harvest Prep (16-5), the 5 seed, defeating Fisher Catholic (15-7), the fourth seed, 60-53 on the strength of 20 from Derrelle Mathis.  Barring major upsets, Harvest Prep and Worthington Christian may meet a week from Saturday to battle for one of the two regional tourney spots. The favorites for the other Division IV spot kept rolling as well, as No.1 seed Newark Catholic (17-4) coasted by Mt. Vernon Academy 81-37, Africentric (10-11) of the City League South (7-7 in league, don't be fooled by the overall record) beat Grove City Christian 52-48 and Tree of Life (21-1) took Millersport 60-36.     

Mt. Vernon escaped to advance

Wild and Wacky Winners -- The bigger divisions gave us some crazy games Saturday, though mainly ending with the likely victors when the mayhem dissipated. Foremost on the Division I list was an inter-City League matchup with Whetstone (15-7) defeating tough Independence (14-8) by a close score of 60-58. The final does not do the game justice, though. Whetstone star 6'9" center Tanner Furno (23 total points) had to sink a pair of freebies at the end to gain the win after Whetstone led 23-7 at the half and withstood 51 second half points by Independence. Mount Vernon (16-6) also had to rely on its star, Ben Severns, at the end to escape against solid Westerville Central (16-6) by a score of 39-36 after scoring nearly half its points in the final frame. Severns had 15 total and hit a jumper near the end for the win. The Yellow Jackets limited Central leader Jerrell Fernandez to only 7 points. The Divison I favorites Northland (21-1) and Grove City (20-2) both cruised to expected victories, 65-46 over Jerome and 95-66 over Lancaster respectively. Division II gave us a few crazy finals as well, such as the battle between Olentangy Orange (16-5) and Licking Valley, which ended in a 65-49 Orange victory with 25 points for Worthington Christian transfer Zach Joseph. It didn't start well, though, as the Panthers raced to a 17-11 first quarter lead over Orange to start the scare. MSL Ohio champ Lakewood (17-4), the three seed, then fell from the start to resurgent CCL also-ran Watterson (12-10) by a nasty final of 70-41 as Chris Grabosky scored 19 for the Eagles. In Division III, the big eye-opener was CCL Ready (12-10) handing the feel-good story boys of North Union (16-5) a decisive defeat 45-33, led by Joe Graessle's 21. Other Finals -- (D I) Renoldsburg 62, Walnut Ridge 51; Dublin Scioto 88, West 40; (D II) DeSales 80, Amanda Clearcreek 30; (D III) Highland 55, West Jefferson 32; Bloom-Carroll 59, Columbus Academy 57; (D IV) Wellington 50, Danville 44.

Doug Thorpe led Eastmoor again in a narrow win

Narrow Escapes and Traps -- Round 2 -- Friday night was one for the nerves around the city as favorites fought hard and close in second round tournament games, mainly with success but with a few disappointments as well. First let's hit the lucky ones, starting in  Division I where No. 6 seed Beechcroft  (17-4) scored the game's final eight points to expand a slim lead into a 53-42 win over Hilliard Darby (10-12). Darby fought tough with 22 in the third but couldn't overcome Dominque Freeman's 18 and Josh Gouch's 11 for the Cougars. Dublin Coffman (19-3), the 5 seed, endured a major scare from Groveport and needed 18 apiece from Connor Viers and Kyle Molock plus a 32-13 fourth quarter to sneak out of the gym with a 71-67 win. Coffman barely trailed at the half but fell behind by 15 after three. Things weren't much easier for 7 seed Upper Arlington (16-5), which also trailed at the half against Olentangy Liberty. Colin Casey of the Bears was held with out a field goal but nailed 9 free throws, including 8 in the final two minutes. Just before Casey's streak, the Bears had led by as little as a bucket but Jeff Vaughn and Akram Hidmi increased the margin for UA, forcing the Patriots to foul, leading to 11 points from the stripe for the Bears and ultimately a 53-41 win. Liberty made it entertaining all night, opening the game with a pair of treys from Tommy Waterwash (13 overall) and Cody Persinger, but Kevin Sullivan of UA (17 points) answered from beyond the arc quickly followed by a Wes Richter hoop, his only one of the night. UA advances now to face defending state champ Newark (19-3), which steadily handled a tough, athletic Marion-Franklin team nicely on Friday night 60-49. Cody Dennison led Newark with 16 including 11 free throws. The trap game in Division I was the battle between Westerville South (16-5), the 8 seed, and rival Westerville North (12-10), the eventual victor by a 62-49 margin. North was propelled by 17 from each Brad Nettles and Kenny DeBoer and never seriously jeapardized its 10 point halftime lead. Division II saw some tight matchups as well, with Eastmoor Academy (15-6), Big Walnut (12-9) and Granville (14-7) all barely getting out of Dodge. Eastmoor needed a last minute comeback courtesy of Doug Thorpe and Alex Coleman for a 47-44 win over Hamilton Township. Big Walnut needed OT to beat Jordan Laster (27 points) and East 58-55, as did Granville in defeating New Albany 58-54. Johnny Cannell of Big Walnut (5 points) and Cody Hall of Granville (six) each had all of their points in the overtime periods. The Division III leaders had it a bit easier Friday night with Grandview (18-3) and Madison Plains (17-4), the fifth and second seeds respectively, advancing. The Bobcats snagged a career 300th win for coach Ray Corbett on the strength of 4 treys from each Dan Tyler and Garrett Griffin. Grandview never trailed and defeated Elgin (11-11) by a score of 55-46.  Madison Plains weathered 28 points and 8 triples from Liberty Union's Andy McCord in their 78-69 victory. Matthew McCollister (21), Derek Warner (20) and Seth Faulkner (19) bolstered the Eagles once again. Lest we forget -- Gahanna 54, Teays Valley 43; Canal Winchester 50, Jonathan Alder 31; Hartley 65, Johnstown 44; Fredericktown 67, Heath 62 (OT). 

Tanner Furno had 33 in the tourney opener.

Tournament Top Ten -- First Rounds 2/24 and 2/25-- The OHSAA Central District basketball tournament got under way Tuesday night and as expected we saw mostly the fine favorites moving on. The Division I local scene will eventually see 3 teams move forward while the other three divisions advance only two. There were some very interesting moments, which we'll visit now in list form. 1. Best Games -- I think this undoubtedly was Whetstone (14-7) beating Franklin Heights (15-6) by a score of 69-63. It's unusual to have a marquee matchup right off the gun, but this one didn't disappoint. Franklin Heights finished just one game behind first year title winner Olentangy Orange in the OCC Capital, but Whetstone was weathered by stiff competition from Northland, Beechcroft and others in the City League North all year. Peter Kpan had 26 for the Falcons, who brought the deficit to just 4 as the fourth quarter neared its end. Wednesday's top game was in Division III as West Jefferson (10-11) knocked down Centerburg (14-7) by a narrow score  of 42-38 after completely dominating the first half, in which Centerburg scored no field goals 2. Top Scorer --  This was 6'9" Tanner Furno, Whetstone's star center whose stock keeps rising every game. Furno pounded down 33 points while being bashed and bruised inside Tuesday night. He added a number of easy buckets and also brought down 15 rebounds. 3. Upset Specials -- For many years Brookhaven (11-10) has been known as a city power, though this year the Bearcats had struggled around .500 for the whole campaign. It all ended against upstart and underperforming Groveport (8-13), however, as four Groveport players had double digits. Leveon Bell (18) and Davon Joiner (14) led the way for a Groveport team that had to play Newark, Grove City and Gahanna twice apiece in OCC Ohio play. The Wednesday night upset was by Dublin Jerome (5-16) in a 55-47 win over Central Crossing (11-10). Steve Harrell had 19 for the Celts, who move on to face -- ouch -- Northland on Saturday night. 4. Biggest Loss -- Newark (18-3) has suffered the loss of 6'9" center Dane Kopp, and it might hurt the Wildcats down the road against foes such as Marion-Franklin and perhaps Upper Arlington. Kopp, a nice ingredient in Newark's Division I state title team last year, was dismissed for unspecified reasons last week. Newark won its opener as expected against Marysville 78-50. 5. Bombs Away -- Hilliard Darby (10-11) had a pretty even matchup set with Logan (10-10) Tuesday night but tipped the scales upside down with fantastic outside shooting from Dylan Rudy, who drained 7 treys in the 57-44 victory. 6. Wake Up, Boys!! --  Tough luck Pickerington North (6-15) of the rough and ready OCC Ohio had some upset ideas going early against OCC Central champ Dublin Coffman (18-3) at New Albany. North took the first quarter 18-16 before Coffman came out of its slumber and dominated the middle frames 26-9. Coffman was led by 16 from Kyle Molock and 18 from Michael Green in the eventual 56-44 victory.  7. South Side Style -- The athleticism of Marion-Franklin (15-6) shone bright in the second half against perennial stalwart Zanesville (11-10) as the Red Devils advanced 59-50 to face Newark in their Division I sub-bracket. One more win could potentially pit Marion-Franklin against former state No.2 Upper Arlington (15-5), which must play intriguing Olentangy Liberty (12-9) at 6:15 Friday evening. Rachuan Thompson netted 4 treys for the Red Devils and DeJuan McGaughey added three with 16 total points to Thompson's 18. 8. Extended City League Play -- East and Centennial, both 6-15 and both from the City League North, found themselves in a Division II battle at Grove City on Tuesday. The disappointments of the season seemed to boil over in emotion for both squads as they played to a double overtime thriller in favor of East 84-80. Jordan Laster had 33 points in the win for East, including a trey to force OT. East will play No. 6 seed Big Walnut on Friday night. 9. Masters of the Obvious --    And about everthing else. That's Northland (20-1) for you, as the Vikings continue to dominate and remain the top force in the Division I tournament. This time the victim was Watkins Memorial (1-20) by a score of 70-25 Wednesday night. JD Weatherspoon had 21, Jared Sullinger 17 and Trey Burke 14 for Northland.  10. Best of the Rest --  Gahanna 56, Westland 42 (D I); Westerville North 65, Olentangy 41 (D I); Walnut Ridge 45, Hilliard Davidson 42 (D I); Mt. Vernon 57, Thomas Worthington 48 (D I); Grove City 83, Worth. Kilbourne 55 (D I); Westerville Central 61, Pickerington Central 53 (D I); Reynoldsburg 63, St. Charles 53 (D I); Dublin Scioto 71, Briggs 43 (D I); London 67, Bexley 62 (D II); Bloom Carroll 68, Northmor 17 (D III); Columbus Academy 84, East Knox 45 (D III); Newark Catholic 79, Delaware Christian 31 (D IV).

Tags: basketball, high school basketball, high school sports