Central Ohio high school basketball: Big-ticket events highlight MLK weekend
The Pickerington Central girls basketball team’s Martin Luther King Day Classic has undergone an overhaul, becoming the inaugural Classic in the City from Jan. 15-17 and one of several top-tier events taking place this weekend locally and across the state.
Nine state-ranked teams, including top-ranked Division II power Granville, and two nationally ranked teams highlight the 27-team field.
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Central is in partnership with Ohio Girls Basketball Report to run the 21-game event, which was announced in August.
“We’ve rebranded and remarketed,” said Tigers assistant coach Johnathan Hedgepeth, who remained on staff after ending his eight-year run as head coach last summer.
The event’s highest-ranked team is Montverde (Florida) Academy, which is 11th nationally according to MaxPreps. Central, which is ranked ninth statewide this week in Division I, will play Montverde at 4 p.m. Jan. 17 and face Bradenton (Florida) IMG Academy at 4 p.m. Jan. 15.
Cincinnati Princeton is ranked second this week in Division I and 19th nationally by MaxPreps.
Other participating state-ranked teams are Africentric (eighth in Division III), Cincinnati Purcell Marian (sixth in Division III), Dresden Tri-Valley (fourth in Division II), Dublin Coffman (fifth in Division I), Hartley (second in Division II) and Newark (eighth in Division I).
Remaining area teams are Gahanna Lincoln, Liberty Union, Olentangy Liberty, Teays Valley and Westerville South.
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Central played host to an event long known as the Fairfield Federal All-Ohio Girls Prep Shootout until 2014, then participated in the Classic in the Country at Berlin Hiland each year from 2015-20.
Top players in the event include Montverde forward Janiah Barker, Cincinnati Winton Woods point guard Chance Gray and IMG Academy forward Grace VanSlooten, who are the fifth-, seventh- and 13th-ranked seniors nationally according to espnW. Purcell Marian guard Darianna Alexander is espnW’s top-ranked sophomore.
VanSlooten, an Oregon commit, attended Toledo Notre Dame Academy, which Central defeated in a Division I state semifinal in 2019, before transferring to IMG last summer.
Battle in the 614
Twenty-four boys teams and 10 girls teams will participate in the inaugural 18-game Battle in the 614 from Jan. 15-17 at Ohio Dominican.
Six games will take place each day, beginning at noon.
Highlighting the boys field are three state-ranked teams in Beechcroft, which is 11th statewide in Division II this week, and Ready and Springfield Shawnee in Division III. The Silver Knights, who are 15th in this week’s state poll, will take on 13th-ranked Shawnee at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 16.
Dublin Jerome’s boys, who are sixth in this week’s Super 7 poll, will face Northland at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 15.
Other area boys teams in the field are Coffman, Columbus South, Hilliard Davidson, Jonathan Alder, Olentangy Orange, St. Charles, Walnut Ridge, Watterson, Westerville Central, Whitehall and Worthington Christian.
Granville leads the girls lineup, which also includes Davidson, DeSales, Hilliard Bradley, Jonathan Alder, Marysville, Newark Catholic, Watkins Memorial and Watterson. Springfield Catholic Central rounds out the field.
Flyin’ to the Hoop
Four of central Ohio’s top boys teams will participate in Flyin’ to the Hoop at Kettering Fairmont.
On Jan. 15, Africentric faces Dayton Oakwood at 1:15 p.m. and Pickerington North meets Huber Heights Wayne at 6:30 p.m.
The next day, Pickerington Central plays Garfield Heights at 3 p.m. and Gahanna faces Lyndhurst Brush at 6:30 p.m.
Africentric has one of the state’s top junior recruits in forward Dailyn Swain and is 8-2 while being ranked seventh in the Division III state poll. Oakwood is 10-2 and ranked eighth in Division II.
Pickerington North is 9-1 and led by senior guards Dior Conners and Jerry Saunders. Wayne is 6-5 and features junior point guard Lawrent Rice, who has a list of scholarship offers that includes Ohio State.
Pickerington Central is ranked third in Division I and has one of the state’s top juniors in forward Devin Royal, who averages 19 points. Garfield Heights features senior Detroit Mercy signee Sonny Johnson Jr. and senior forward Tavian Tatum.
Gahanna is 9-2, ranked eighth in Division I and is led by senior guard Sean Jones, a Marquette signee who averages 18 points, and senior forward and Toledo signee Javan Simmons. Brush is 9-1 and features senior guard Elmore James, an Ohio University signee.
Classic in the Country Challenge
Two central Ohio girls basketball programs, Westerville North and Reynoldsburg, will travel to Berlin Hiland for the Classic in the Country Challenge.
North will play Akron Hoban, the sixth-ranked team in the Division I state poll, at 3:40 p.m. Jan. 15 and Reynoldsburg, which is ranked third in Division I, will face South Bend (Indiana) Washington at 2:20 p.m. Jan. 17.
Led by junior guard Emoni French, who averages 13.5 points, North is 5-7 but has won two of its last three.
Hoban improved to 10-0 with a 63-40 victory Jan. 8 over Liberty and features Lanae Riley, a senior forward who has signed with Middle Tennessee State.
Reynoldsburg was 10-2 heading into its game Jan. 13 against Pickerington Central and features a trio of Division I recruits in senior guards Makiya Miller (Wright State), Mya Perry (Ohio State) and Imarianah Russell (West Virginia).
Washington was 16-2 heading into its game Jan. 13 against South Bend (Indiana) Adams and is led by senior forward Mila Reynolds, a Maryland signee who averages 25 points and nine rebounds.
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SCHEDULES
BATTLE IN THE 614
Saturday, Jan. 15
Girls: Watkins Memorial vs. Jonathan Alder, noon
Girls: DeSales vs. Marysville, 1:30 p.m.
Boys: Olentangy Orange vs. New Philadelphia, 3 p.m.
Boys: Columbus South vs. Dayton Ponitz, 4:30 p.m.
Boys: Walnut Ridge vs. Dayton Thurgood Marshall, 6 p.m.
Boys: Dublin Jerome vs. Northland, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 16
Girls: Hilliard Bradley vs. Watkins Memorial, noon
Boys: St. Charles vs. Mansfield Senior, 1:30 p.m.
Boys: Watterson vs. Jonathan Alder, 3 p.m.
Girls: Hilliard Davidson vs. Jonathan Alder, 4:30 p.m.
Boys: Hilliard Davidson vs. Whitehall, 6 p.m.
Boys: Ready vs. Springfield Shawnee, 7:30 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 17
Girls: Granville vs. Watterson, noon
Girls: Newark Catholic vs. Springfield Catholic Central, 1:30 p.m.
Boys: Dublin Coffman vs. Wilmington, 3 p.m.
Boys: Beechcroft vs. Chillicothe Zane Trace, 4:30 p.m.
Boys: Westerville Central vs. Parkersburg (West Virginia) South, 6 p.m.
Boys: Worthington Christian vs. Chillicothe Unioto, 7:30 p.m.
CLASSIC IN THE CITY
Saturday, Jan. 15
Granville vs. Sidney, 9 a.m.
Stow-Munroe Falls vs. Toledo Rogers, 10:45 a.m.
Africentric vs. Teays Valley, 12:30 p.m.
West Carrollton vs. Kettering Alter, 2:15 p.m.
Cincinnati Purcell Marian vs. Frankfort (Illinois) Example Academy, 4 p.m.
Bradenton (Florida) IMG Academy vs. Newark, 5:45 p.m.
Oakville (Ontario) King’s Christian Collegiate vs. Louisville (Kentucky) Central, 7:30 p.m.
Montverde (Florida) Academy at Pickerington Central, 7:30
Sunday, Jan. 16
Olentangy Liberty vs. Dresden Tri-Valley, 10 a.m.
Westerville South vs. Cincinnati Winton Woods, 11:45 a.m.
Gahanna vs. Cincinnati Princeton, 1:30 p.m.
Hartley vs. Stow-Munroe Falls, 3:15 p.m.
King’s Christian Collegiate vs. Example Academy, 5 p.m.
Dublin Coffman vs. Louisville Central, 6:45 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 17
Dayton Thurgood Marshall vs. Liberty Union, 9 a.m.
Cincinnati Sycamore vs. Doylestown Chippewa, 10:45 a.m.
King’s Christian Collegiate vs. Montverde Academy, 12:30 p.m.
Hartley vs. Purcell Marian, 2:15 p.m.
IMG Academy at Pickerington Central, 4 p.m.
Gahanna vs. Newark, 5:45 p.m.
Dublin Coffman vs. Case Western Reserve Academy, 7:30 p.m.
CLASSIC IN THE COUNTRY CHALLENGE
Saturday, Jan 15
Westerville North vs. Akron Hoban, 3:40 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 17
Reynoldsburg vs. South Bend (Indiana) Washington, 2:20 p.m.
FLYIN’ TO THE HOOP
Saturday, Jan. 15
Africentric vs. Dayton Oakwood, 1:15 p.m.
Pickerington North vs. Huber Heights Wayne, 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 16
Pickerington Central vs. Garfield Heights, 3 p.m.
Gahanna vs. Lyndhurst Brush, 6:30 p.m.
This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Columbus-area basketball: Tournaments highlight holiday weekend
