Games: Saturday at Kettering Alter
Bottom line: Hilliard Bradley has its best roster since 2020. Can they finally break through and win their first regional title this year? Football did it. Is basketball next?
Games: Friday vs. Buckeye Valley, Sunday at Cooper (KY) (Mason, OH)
Bottom line: The Pacers were already one of the teams to beat this year. Then they added 6-foot-7 junior Landon Vanderwarker in the offseason.
Games: Friday vs. Linden-McKinley
Bottom line: You won’t find a meaner backcourt than what Westerville North has. Add in senior big man NaVarion Adams and you have a team ready to contend at the highest level.
Games: Saturday vs. Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary (Reynoldsburg)
Bottom line: This may be a fairly new roster, but the Tigers are still not to be messed with. This season may depend on how nasty senior big man Braylin Wells plays on the interior.
Games: Saturday vs. Richmond Heights
Bottom line: The Raiders have one of the most talented and highly recruited rosters in all of Ohio. If that will translate to cohesion and wins against a gauntlet of a schedule remains to be seen.
Games: Saturday vs. Thomas Worthington
Bottom line: Seniors, seniors, seniors. Everyone wants to be old at every level of high school and college basketball. Westerville Central is experienced and ready for a breakthrough.
Games: Saturday vs. Akron Buchtel (Reynoldsburg)
Bottom line: Arness Lawson is looking like one of the elite players in all of Ohio. The Panthers will go as he goes.
Games: Saturday vs. Lutheran East (Reynoldsburg)
Bottom line: Walnut Ridge assembled an all star squad of City League transfers this offseason. Is this the year of the takeover on Livingston Avenue?
Games: Saturday vs. Uchenna Academy (CAN) (Ohio Dominican)
Bottom line: Northland is young, but very talented. Tihon Johnson is in year three of a rebuild that looks to take the Vikings back to the promised land.
Games: Saturday vs. Cincinnati Taft (Reynoldsburg)
Bottom line: Newark is a major sleeper in Central Ohio. Jeff Quackenbush has an experienced roster ready to compete in the OCC.
Games: Friday vs. #13 Gahanna Lincoln
Bottom line: Ed Calo refuses to retire. The ageless wonder is in year 33 and has a talented point guard in Kruz McClure who will be the alpha and omega of this squad.
Games: None this week
Bottom line: Olentangy Orange has to replace most of last year’s regional runner up squad. Devin Brown and Levi Davis lead a young but talented Pioneers team.
Games: Friday at #11 Westerville South, Saturday vs. #25 South (Reynoldsburg)
Bottom line: Entering year two of the post-Sean Jones era, Gahanna Lincoln is looking to establish itself among the best of the best in Central Ohio again.
Games: Saturday vs. Huber Heights Wayne (Reynoldsburg)
Bottom line: The Patriots always seem to contend no matter who is on the roster. Luckily for Greg Nossaman’s team, he has Argentina national squad member Tyler Kropp on his roster.
Games: Friday vs. #20 Dublin Coffman
Bottom line: The Greyhounds are a tough and experienced bunch looking to make noise in the OCC. They’ll be tested immediately out of the gate.
Games: Friday vs. Tri-Valley
Bottom line: The Stallions have an experienced backcourt and tough leader in junior PJ Noles. Are they ready to compete in Division I after a successful run in Division II?
Games: Friday at River Valley, Saturday vs. Big Walnut
Bottom line: Olentangy Berlin spent years as a bottom dweller in the infancy of the program. Those days are long gone.
Games: None this week
Bottom line: Long time Dublin Coffman coach Jayme Collins joins the staff and so does his sharp shooting son CJ Collins. Will Collins’ success with the Rocks follow him up Route 33?
Games: Friday vs. Columbus West
Bottom line: Hilliard Davidson has an unheralded but tough team. We think they’ll be a major surprise team this year.
Games: Friday at #15 Grove City
Bottom line: Adam Banks switches sides and moves from coaching a dominant girls program to taking over the boys program at Coffman. Can the Rocks sustain the success they’ve enjoyed for decades under new leadership?
Games: Friday vs. Mifflin
Bottom line: Upper Arlington no longer has the stars they once had only several years ago. Tim Casey is gone and in comes Joe Bills. A new era of Golden Bears basketball awaits.
Games: None this week
Bottom line: Tony Anderson has brought excitement and new energy to Scioto basketball. Can the Irish emerge from the bottom of Dublin’s basketball trio?
Games: Saturday vs. Hilliard Darby
Bottom line: Ron Lewis is in year two of a rebuild at Worthington Kilbourne. The Wolves will live or die behind their senior class.
Games: Friday vs. Canfield
Bottom line: Tim Casey moves from Upper Arlington to New Albany. Will his success follow him in a new climate?
Games: Saturday vs. #13 Gahanna Lincoln (Reynoldsburg)
Bottom line: It’s been four full seasons since South last won a district title. This year will be big in determining if the Bulldogs are still a threat in Central Ohio hoops.