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B.J. Mullens of Canal Winchester scored 62 in the MLK holiday tourney in Dayton, had 46 last Saturday night, and is 7-1 and Buckeye bound.

Objection, Speculative -- In the wake of the recent outrageous outbursts, OSU fans and radio pundits alike are already discussing how twin 7 footers Kosta Koufos and B.J. Mullens will be used in tandem next year at the Schott. Most assume Mullens will slide into the starting Center position allowing Koufos to act as a #4 or Power Forward. Sounds good, but Mullens has yet to graduate from Division II, and Koufos still has an education to receive against Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Purdue again. To follow Mullens and others, follow this blog as it moves on to other column space here with the playoffs coming on.   Buckeye Recruit B.J. Mullens Scores 62 -- (1/21) --  The initial reports from Dayton on Monday evening proved true --  7'1" OSU signee B.J. Mullens of Canal Winchester scored an incredible 62 points with 21 rebounds against Our Savior New American (N.Y.) in a 79-69 MLK holiday matchup victory at Vandalia Butler. Mullens did not play the whole game and was only 6-12 from the line, but had 36 of Canal's 38 points at the half. This follows up his 46 point performance discussed below. Afterwards he spoke to OSU guard Jon Deibler (who had 77 in a game for Upper Sandusky last year) and told his future teammate that he'd challenge that mark. Mullens has been on a tear since missing his first game ever last week, due to concerns about dizzyness. It looks like he's not dizzy, and any initial questions about his tenacity posed at the beginning of the year (by a few opposing coaches, not by Roundball Roundup) are being put to rest. Canal Winchester remains the top local Division II team, with Eastmoor Academy close behind. Despite Mullens, some view Eastmoor as more genuine with its City League schedule, but it's hard to dispute the success of Mullens and Canal. The Usual Suspects (1/20 update) -- Central Ohio's top teams pushed forward once more towards the playoffs on Saturday afternoon and evening in a mix of league games and strange non-area matchups, some avoiding upsets and some squashing opponents. In Division I, undefeated Northland (14-0) got 4 Jared Sullinger free throws to escape a mad Grove City comeback, leaving with a 55-53 win. Dublin Scioto (14-0) obliterated South from Parkersburg WV 75-46 and had 4 players in double figures. Down one Division, Eastmoor Academy (13-1), again behind Antonio Bumpus, held on to a low scoring win over Cheshire River Valley 47-36. More impressive in Division II, B.J. Mullens scored 46 in three quarters as Canal Winchester (12-2) beat Fairfield Union 80-52. Madison Plains (12-1) continued to roll through Division III and Madison County opponents, winning over London 66-56, with Seth Faulkner again leading the scoring at 23. In the small school realm, Harvest Prep took care of Grandview 74-53 to remain Worthington Christian's main Division IV local challenger.

Zach Joseph and Worthington Christian dropped their first of the year, to DeSales.

Tale of Two Divisions (1/19)  -- Worthington Christian dominates Division IV locally and on the state level, but it found out Friday night the hard way about bigger school strength when it dropped its first game of the year at Division II DeSales, 84-75. Worthington Christian (14-1, 3-1) and DeSales (11-3, 5-1) are in the same conference, the Central Catholic League, despite the size differential of the schools and the divisional disparity. Nick Kellogg once again paced the Stallions with 26 and Adam Griffin added 22. Brian Hecker and Zach Joseph led the Warriors in the loss, with 29 and 21 respectively, as Worthington Christian fought back and kept the game tight in the fourth quarter. The teams split their home and home league series as Worthington Christian had pulled out the first matchup over the Stallions 59-58 back on 12/7.  WC gets ready now for Watterson and St. Charles, both of which it has already defeated.

Despite dropping two to rival and top ranked Northland, Brookhaven is looking good for the playoffs.

Friday Night Bites  (1/19) -- Madison Plains continued to rule the roost in Division III, putting away county rival West Jefferson 82-65 in a non-league game. Matthew McCollister had 12 assists for the Golden Eagles and Seth Faulkner had 22 points. Madison Plains (11-1) remains the Columbus Dispatch poll #1 local team in Division III.  In Division I Dublin Scioto (13-0, 5-0) rolled along with another victory, 68-48 over Franklin Heights, and Hilliard Darby (12-2, 6-1) bested a good Newark team, 54-49 behind 20 from Robbie Anzuini. Hilliard Davidson (12-2, 5-1) and Grant Backstrom (24 points) needed two OT's to defeat an improving Upper Arlington squad 79-69. For our Hilliard fans, remember that Davidson defeated Darby 45-35 back on 12/28. In the City League, Brookhaven (11-3, 7-3) got back on track 75-59 over Linden while highly touted Eastmoor Academy (12-1, 10-0)  kept up its South title march on the road 64-49 over Independence thanks to 30 points from Antonio Bumpus. Incidentally, Brookhaven will look to increase its profile in a future non-league game at undefeated Dublin Scioto in a few weeks.Northland looks forward to a matchup tonight (1/19) at steady and solid Grove City.

Jared Sullinger and Northland keep dominating.

Viking Victories - Northland (13-0, 9-0) continued its control of the City League North on Tuesday night (1/15) by besting Brookhaven (10-3, 7-2) for the second time this season. The Vikings seem poised for a North championship after riding a 21-3 run over the Bearcats, leading to a 70-61 victory. Senior point guard Devon Moore is turning heads at Northland and had 27 points with 8 assists. He has yet to commit for college hoops. Jared Sullinger of course knows he'll be a Buckeye, and contributed 15 boards and 25 points. Chris Johnson led Brookhaven with 24 points and 14 rebounds. Brookhaven won the North every year from 1994-2006, incidentally. Other 1/15 Notes - In Division II, Nick Kellogg led DeSales (10-3) again with 29 and helped the Stallions shake off their weekend loss with a 64-50 win over Dublin Coffman. Eastmoor Academy rolled 71-49 over South while Canal Winchester improved to 11-3 by beating Teays Valley 78-56. Future Buckeye center B.J. Mullens did not play because of dizzyness, but CW posted an impressive victory nonetheless. Division III Madison Plains (10-1) rebounded and defeated North Union 75-70. Harvest Prep continued to flex its Division IV muscle, 100-53 over Liberty Union.

Darby defense is dominating.

Darby Dandies -- So far I have not commented on the impressive Hilliard Darby squad. Let's put an end to that, just as the Panthers are doing to opposing offenses. Darby comes in at 11-2 with a couple of nice wins in the last half week. First, Darby outlasted a good Gahanna team on Friday (1/11) in a 56-54 victory. Gahanna (9-2) was thought of as a fast and accurate team, so this was no mean feat. Thomas Howard swished 20 and swatted away a late shot to preserve the win. Jeremy Ebert, who we know well in these columns from Panther football, kept composure on the line as well. On Monday night (1/14) Darby's defense remained defiant over Celina 64-31. Celina scored only in single digits in 3 of the 4 quarters. Offensively, Robbie Anzuni led Darby with 15 and Ebert followed with 11. Celina scored only 22 inside the arc all night. It looks like we'll be seeing a serious Panther defense come playoff time. For other interested Hilliard fans, Davidson fought back with a second half comeback to score a 49-42 win over Ashland  on Monday night as well. 

Conference Confidence 1/12 - I've highlighted some of the most notable Central Ohio squads in this column, and they just keep pouring it on as the conference season heats up. Dublin Scioto defeated New Albany to reach 12-0, while Northland kept rolling 85-57 over Whetstone. Northland plays again at The Schott against DeSales in the National City Classic. DeSales is 9-2 and coming on strong behind Nick Kellogg who has scored 27, 28 and 15 in the Stallions' last three wins. The NCC at OSU also includes B.J. Mullens and Canal Winchester (10-1) against Cincinnati Withrow in the late game. Mullens was 10 of 13 for 21 points in routing Amanda-Clearcreek 95-59 Friday night. Everyone who goes to the Schott tonight will be treated to play by three Buckeye recruits. Brookhaven also continued making its case with a 73-41 victory over Centennial in which Chris Johnson pulled down 14 boards and had 25 points. Eastmoor Academy maintained City League dominance with a 70-38 win over Briggs thanks to Antonio Bumpus and his 27 points. For the small schools we're tracking it continued to be the story of Worthington Christian and Harvest Prep on Friday night. Both scored big wins, Harvest Prep 89-41 over Licking Heights and WC 69-52 over Hartley with 22 from Tyler Joseph and 16 from Zack Joseph. National City Classic 1/12 - Northland, DeSales and Canal Winchester each played for the second night in a row with Northland trouncing DeSales 62-40 at Value City Arena, while the Buckeyes were away losing in West Lafayette. Jared Sullinger had 24 points and 17 rebounds the Vikings in his future home arena, which held DeSales' Nick Kellogg to only 13. Canal Winchester suffered a heartbreaking loss by one point 58-57 to Withrow on a tip in at the buzzer. In other local action but not at OSU, Worthington Christian won again, this time 86-65 over Columbus Academy with Brian Hecker putting down 36 and grabbing 15 boards.

Big School Beat - The class of the Central Ohio hoop community in Division I appears on the surface to be Dublin Scioto (11-0). Don't tell that to the Northland Vikings (10-0), though. Northland is ranked #2 in the AP top division state poll, even stealing a first place vote from Cincinnati Moeller, and received all Columbus Dispatch first place votes over second place Scioto.  Northland lost just once last year and recently celebrated victories over rival Beechcroft and over Pickerington Central. Northland's overall City North Division championship last year broke a 12 string by perennial leader Brookhaven. We can never discount Brookhaven, which sits at #3 in the city Div. I poll. Scioto is strong, though, and is bringing the stats, to the joy of local numbers geeks. Coach Tony Bisutti is poised for his 300th win (201 at Scioto). Blair Gorniak leads all local hoopsters in field goal percentage (.711) while Brad McDougald has averaged 15.9 per game with 13 treys. Ben Ashwill is one better behind the arc at 14, is hitting 78% on free throws and has 66 assists in the first 10 games. Canal Winchester (#1 local, #6 state) looks hot in Division II at 9-1, and boasts the area's top rebounder in B.J. Mullens (140 in 10 games). Mullens also put in 29 points in Canal's recent league win over Bloom Carroll, and is averaging 24 per contest. Mullens is 7'1" and has committed to Ohio State. He was praised recently as a top national big man by Sports Illustrated. Not far behind is Eastmoor Academy (#2 local, #10 state). Coach Sean Taylor's squad has lost only on the road at Trotwood Madison's own holiday tourney and has trounced many local city opponents. Update from 1/8 games - The big boys continued to roll in the latest games with Eastmoor Academy besting Africentric 66-38 and Northland fighting off Mifflin 83-73, as Sophomore and OSU signee Jared Sullinger put in 30. Scioto took a 37-8 halftime lead and defeated St. Charles 65-34. Brookhaven topped Beechcroft 79-66 as well.

Madison Plains looks to dominate local Division III.

Small but Strong - Divisions III and IV offer some impressive teams locally as well, namely Madison Plains and Worthington Christian. Matthew McCollister of Madison Plains (8-0) is averaging 18 points per game and can hit the three, and not far behind is teammate Nick Joslin. McCollister also gets 6 assists per game. The Golden Eagles are 8-0, #1 locally and # 9 in the AP Division II state poll. Worthington Christian (12-0) is coming off a victory over Bishop Ready and is the local and AP state Division IV #1. WC's Zach Joseph helped ensure the OT victory over Ready with 20 points and is hitting .488 on treys for the year. Brother Tyler Joseph is shooting .857 on the season in free throws and .419 behind the arc, having put in an astounding 44 threes so far.. Worthington Christian's chief challenger may once again be Harvest Prep (9-1, #2 locally). The two met in the district championship last year. Update from 1/8 games - Madison Plains suffered a setback Tuesday night at Washington Court House 74-72 in the South Central Ohio league. Nick Joslin still managed 22 but WCH overcame an 8 point halftime deficit.

Tags: high school basketball, high school sports