5 regional tournament storylines for Columbus area girls high school basketball
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The Division I girls basketball regional tournament features three programs that have been there before and one newcomer.
Dublin Coffman, Pickerington Central and Westerville South are used to getting this far, while Marysville will be making its first regional appearance.
South and Marysville tip off at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Westerville North, with Coffman and Central to follow. The winners meet in the regional final at 7 p.m. Friday at North.
The games were originally scheduled for South, but were moved when the Wildcats advanced.
District finals: Division I recaps from Saturday at Ohio Dominican
Here are five storylines for the regional tournament in central Ohio, for divisions I-IV:
1. Marysville, Westerville South to collide in semifinal
South will play in its third regional tournament after winning district titles in 2018 and 2019.
The Wildcats (24-2) advanced by beating Olentangy Liberty 50-40 in one of four district finals Saturday at Ohio Dominican as senior point guard Tamara Ortiz led the way with 15 points. Sophomore forward Deziah Dupree and junior guard Zoe Guice each scored 12.
“South is a special program,” Marysville coach Klarke Ransome said. “I have a ton of respect for coach (Jermaine) Guice and the group of girls that he has. They play extremely hard. They compete. They give great effort. They pressure the basketball and do a really good job on both ends.”
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After losing in district finals the previous two seasons, Marysville earned its first district title, defeating defending state champion Reynoldsburg 55-35. Junior guard JoJo Eberhart and junior forward Addy Tweed led the Monarchs with 13 points apiece and senior guard Ava Wilkerson added 10.
“This team has learned from past experiences,” Ransome said. “They’ve grown, they’ve matured and it has paid off.”
Keys to the Monarchs’ success have been solid defense, rebounding and ball movement.
“Marysville is a good team,” coach Guice said. “They’re small and super scrappy and very disciplined. When you have that combination, that’s a tough team.”
2. Dublin Coffman, Pickerington Central to meet in regional rematch
The Coffman-Central contest will be a rematch of last season’s regional semifinal, which Coffman won 53-41. The Shamrocks went on to lose to Reynoldsburg 56-47 in the regional final.
Coffman (20-5) and Central (22-4) also met Feb. 7 at Coffman, with the Tigers winning 67-43.
“We’re going to have to play better (because) it’s a bigger game,” Central coach Chris Wallace said. “Coffman knows us; we know them. They’re a great team. It’s going to be really tough and a big challenge to come back out and play them again. It’s a rematch of last year’s regional semis. We have to beat them when it matters.”
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Coffman made 16 3-pointers in a 60-30 win over Grove City in a district final. Senior guard Jenna Kopyar and junior guard Ava Collins led the Shamrocks with 17 points apiece and senior forward Tessa Grady scored 14.
Central pulled away in the second half to beat Dresden Tri-Valley 63-30 for their eighth consecutive district title. Berry Wallace had 23 points and Olivia Cooper added 12 for the Tigers, who won the state title in 2018 and were runners-up in 2019.
“(Central) can play any different style,” Coffman coach Adam Banks said. “They can defend the perimeter and the post. They can shoot it on offense. They can go inside. They’re a tough team.”
3. Bexley earns first district title since 2004
Bexley is making its first Division II regional appearance in 19 years after beating North Union 49-35 in a district final Saturday.
The Lions (23-3) will face Cincinnati Purcell Marian, last year's Division III state champion, in a regional semifinal Tuesday at Springfield.
“This team has the chance to do something special,” said Bexley coach Bryce Baugh, whose program is seeking its first state tournament berth. “They are such a close-knit group. They really are friends on and off the court. Our seniors are such great people that our underclassmen — even the freshmen on the (junior varsity) team — are friends with the seniors. They’re friends with everybody.”
The winner plays defending state champion Kettering Alter or Hamilton Badin in a regional final Friday at Springfield. Alter was ranked first in the final state poll, Purcell Marian was fourth and Badin tied Salem for ninth.
Bexley reached the district final thanks to a 48-42 comeback win over Bloom-Carroll on Wednesday. The Lions closed the game on a 16-0 run.
Bexley is led by senior forward Sydnie Smith, the niece of former Ohio State standout Katie Smith, who is averaging a team-high 14.8 points and 4.7 rebounds. Senior point guard Mikayla Williams is one of the team’s top defenders.
Purcell Marian features Dee Alexander, who is ranked second nationally in the 2025 class by ESPN.com. The sophomore guard surpassed 1,000 career points Jan. 16.
Granville (24-2) advanced to a regional semifinal for the third year in a row by beating Hartley 42-40 on Harper Annarino’s buzzer-beater Saturday at Capital. The Blue Aces play New Concord John Glenn on Tuesday at Zanesville, with the winner facing Proctorville Fairland or Chillicothe Unioto on Friday.
Fairland was second and Unioto was 10th in the final state poll.
4. Africentric, Harvest Prep advance to Division III regionals
Africentric will be making its first regional appearance in two years when it faces Cincinnati Country Day on Wednesday at Springfield. The winner plays Versailles or Sabina East Clinton on Saturday for the regional title.
“It doesn’t matter who we play,” Africentric coach Janicia Anderson said. “I’ll play LeBron James and the Lakers. Country Day is a very feisty team. They play really hard. They do a great job running in transition. They attack the offensive glass very hard. It’s a hard-working team that we’re going to have to come to play.”
Africentric (20-4) beat Fairbanks 48-26 on Wednesday at Big Walnut for its 17th district title. The Nubians were ranked sixth in the final state poll.
Jenija Bowers led Africentric with 11 points. Sam Thompson and Taelynn Clayborn added 10 apiece.
Harvest Prep earned its first regional berth since 2011 and fourth overall by knocking off top-seeded and top-ranked Worthington Christian 43-42 on Wednesday at Big Walnut. Christyn Anthony had 15 points and Janiyah Wilson scored 11.
Harvest Prep faces Castalia Margaretta on Thursday at Elida, with the winner playing Ottawa-Glandorf or Liberty Center for the regional title Saturday. Ottawa-Gandorf was fifth in the final state poll.
“We have to be solid on both ends of the floor defensively and offensively,” Harvest Prep coach Lee Sims said. “Margaretta runs their stuff and they don’t turn the ball over. We have to be ready for quite a few different things.”
5. Fisher Catholic reaches Division IV regional
Fisher Catholic beat Mount Gilead 51-42 on Friday at Ohio Dominican for its first district title since 2008.
Winners of nine games in a row, the Irish (21-5) play Portsmouth Notre Dame on Thursday at Pickerington North, with the winner facing Berlin Hiland or Crown City South Gallia in the regional final Saturday. Notre Dame was sixth and South Gallia was 10th in the final state poll.
Mount Gilead upset Berne Union 43-38 in a district semifinal Tuesday at Westerville Central, handing the top-seeded Rockets their only loss of the season.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Central Ohio girls basketball regional tournament preview
