Newark, Orange, Ready wins highlight central Ohio boys basketball district final Saturday
Considering that Newark’s postseason run almost ended before it started, Wildcats coach Jeff Quackenbush quipped after Saturday’s 57-48 upset of Olentangy Liberty in a Division I district final at Ohio Dominican that his team is on its “ninth life.”
But 11th-seeded Newark’s recipe for knocking off the second-seeded Patriots, who were tied for fifth in the final state poll, was anything but fancy.
An array of defenses kept Liberty out of rhythm, and Grant Burkholder scored 16 of his 25 points after halftime to pace Newark to its 27th district championship.
“We finally made some shots,” Quackenbush said. “Like any high school team in the district final, they were pretty anxious for the first quarter, quarter and a half. We have to make shots. We don’t have a big guy to throw it inside to, so we have to make shots.
“We tried to switch up defenses as much as we could, with some zone and box-and-one. They have skill at every position, so they’re really hard to guard.”
Trailing 29-22 in the final 90 seconds of the third quarter, Burkholder kick-started the game-turning 19-2 run with a floater and Braylon Morris banked in a basket. Morris hit a tying 3-pointer to start the fourth, and the Wildcats (20-7) never trailed again.
Newark made 23 of 28 free throws, with Burkholder going 13 for 15.
“They were going to make some runs and (the outcome) depended on how we responded,” Burkholder said. “We made them think instead of just playing. Doing that on top of getting shots and getting Morris to make some 3s, that was key to spreading the floor and making us hard to guard.”
The Wildcats will play Olentangy Orange in a regional semifinal Wednesday at Ohio Dominican.
Tyler Kropp and Jackson Mikola each scored 13 points to lead Liberty (21-4), which was a district runner-up for the second consecutive season. James Hummell added 12.
Newark trailed Olentangy by 13 in the final three minutes of its first-round game but won in overtime and hasn’t looked back.
“The kids know it can be over like that,” Quackenbush said. “They’re on their ninth life, I guess, but we’ve been competitive all year.”
Westerville South 62, Dublin Jerome 60
On the strength of 10 3-pointers and four scorers in double figures, the ninth-seeded Wildcats edged the fifth-seeded Celtics to win their second consecutive district title.
Kruz McClure’s 18 points led the way for South, ahead of 17 from Jalen Wheeler and 11 each from Jadi Cunningham and Jujuan Ray.
The Wildcats (21-5), who will play Pickerington Central in a regional semifinal Thursday at ODU, led 57-44 with 5:34 to play before fending off a furious comeback. Jerome (21-5), which led only once at 9-8 in the first quarter, went for the win trailing 62-60 in the final seconds, but Luke Kuhlman’s 3-point attempt hit the back iron and caromed away.
“They got too good of a look on that play,” South coach Ed Calo said. “We were only up two because you don’t want to overplay the 3 or give them an easy basket to go to overtime, but you don’t want to give up a 3 either. We didn’t want certain guys having the ball in their hands and we did a good job with that.”
Sasha Stavroff’s 20 points and 18 from Ryan Nutter led Jerome, which fell short of its first district championship since 2015.
Lachlan MacDonald scored all nine of his points in the fourth quarter, including a 3 to make it a one-point game with 20 seconds left.
“We worked on the (final) play 1,000 times,” Celtics coach Richie Beard said. “We’d been here before. We practiced it. We couldn’t ask for a better look than what we got. We just kept playing. We talk all the time about being relentless and keep punching.”
Olentangy Orange 54, Delaware Hayes 39
Jordan Edwards scored eight of his 14 points in the first quarter, setting the tone as the third-seeded Pioneers pulled away to win the program’s first district title.
Elias Lewis added 13 points and five rebounds and Mikey McCollum had 12 points and four assists for Orange (23-3), which sprinted to a 9-2 lead and trailed only once at 16-15 midway through the second.
“I felt like I was getting downhill easily and making plays,” said Edwards, who also had nine rebounds. “They were staying tight on Mikey and Elias defensively and choking me out one-on-one, and I feel like I can win my one-on-ones a lot of the time.
“We’ve just put in a lot of hard work. … We stuck to the plan. Everybody had to step up, which has definitely helped.”
The Pioneers are coached by Anthony Calo, whose father is South's coach.
Jesse Burris’ 21 points and 14 rebounds paced 10th-seeded Delaware (20-5), which was seeking its first district championship since 1986 and won at least 20 games for the third time in program history. The Pacers were held under 40 points for only the second time this season.
“They forced us to take a lot of tough shots,” coach Adam Vincenzo said. “They’re long, they’re big, they’re strong, they’re physical, they switch everything (defensively). We tried to adapt but we struggled.”
Pickerington Central 55, Hilliard Bradley 43
Devin Royal scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half, and the top-seeded Tigers’ pressure defense kept them in control most of the way en route to their ninth district championship in 12 years.
Guards Amare Spiva and Juwan Turner proved instrumental in stifling the eighth-seeded Jaguars, who led 20-19 at halftime and pulled into a 31-all tie at the end of the third quarter before Central (21-5) opened the fourth with an 11-0 run.
“The plan was running them off the line and making their guys make plays,” Turner said. “We adjusted to what they showed us.”
Spiva had 12 points, Turner scored 11 and Gavin Headings added 10 off the bench for defending state champion Central.
Bradley (19-6), which committed 12 turnovers to Central’s seven, was led by Cade Norris’ 16 points and 11 each from Ian Abrass and Jeb Bischoff. Norris was hampered by foul trouble in the fourth quarter, committing two in a 14-second span coinciding with the start of Central’s run.
“We were just tentative and on our heels all night,” Jaguars coach Brett Norris said. “We had so little pace, then when they picked up the pressure we played further on our heels.”
Ready 61, Eastmoor Academy 47
Despite playing without district and CCL Player of the Year Luke Ruth for most of the game, top-seeded Ready took control early and ended 15th-seeded Eastmoor's postseason run in a Division II district final at Central Crossing.
Ruth, who starts at point guard, aggravated a right ankle injury early in the game and did not return. He originally injured the ankle in a 64-49 win over Hartley on Jan. 13.
He hopes to be ready for the Silver Knights’ regional semifinal against Zanesville Maysville or East Liverpool on Thursday at Ohio University.
Kaleb Schaffer led Ready with 19 points, reaching 1,000 for his career with a 3-pointer in the first quarter. Josh Paul scored 15 and Charlie Russell added 14.
“Our player of the year goes out the first couple of minutes, what’s the big deal?” Ready coach Tony Bisutti said. “Some of the younger guys really stepped up in a big way. Charlie and Kaleb continue to bring the mail. It’s a great team win — a great team coming together in an adverse situation.”
It is Ready’s first district title under Bisutti, who is in his fifth season, and its first since 2014. The Knights (26-0) were ranked first in the final regular-season AP state poll.
James Newell led Eastmoor (10-15) with 16 points. Richard Jones scored 13 and Elijah Watkins added 10.
“We had some key injuries early in the season,” said Eastmoor coach Jim Miranda, whose team rebounded from a 0-7 start. “We had to work through some of those guys getting back. We didn’t have a lot of depth, so it was a work in progress all season. I’m proud of them. I’m proud of how hard they worked. I saw them grow as individuals and I saw them grow as a team.”
Watterson 62, Caledonia River Valley 54
Trailing 25-18 at halftime, third-seeded Watterson rallied to beat second-seeded River Valley at Central Crossing for its first Division II district title since 2021, ninth under coach Vince Lombardo and 10th overall.
“We just had to settle down on offense,” Lombardo said. “I thought our defense was good in the first half. We just had to settle down and quit committing some of the turnovers that we made and relax and make some shots. We had some really good looks the first half that we were missing.”
The Eagles (17-9) will play Cincinnati Wyoming or Dayton Chaminade Julienne in a regional semifinal Thursday at Vandalia Butler.
Lombardo reached a milestone Wednesday, earning his 500th career win with a 56-29 victory over 11th-seeded London in a semifinal at Hamilton Township.
Owen Samenuk and Cole Rhett led Watterson in the district final with 15 points apiece.
“We’ve had a few ups and downs on the season, but we’ve been playing real good basketball in the latter half of the year,” Lombardo said.
Carson Smith led River Valley (16-7) with 14 points. Chase Ebert and Ayden Kenney each added 12.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus-area boys high school basketball district finals recap
