COLUMBUS, Ohio -- All 16 tickets to the district semifinals have been punched in Central Ohio. Let's take a look at the Division I sectional final action in the area on Friday.
Hilliard Bradley advances to the district semifinals to take on No. 12 Westerville South on Weds. March 3 at 7 p.m.
Westerville South advances to the district semifinals to take on No. 3 Hilliard Bradley on Weds., March 3 at 7 p.m.
Olentangy advances to the district semifinals to take on No. 6 Pickerington Central on Weds., March 6 at 7 p.m.
Pickerington Central advances to the district semifinals to take on No. 14 Olentangy on Weds., March 3 at 7 p.m.
Westerville Central advances to the district semifinals to take on No. 25 Hilliard Davidson on Weds., March 3 at 7 p.m.
After an early deficit in the third quarter, Hilliard Davidson then outscored Whitehall by 12 points to finish the game en route to a 58-47 victory in a sectional final on Friday.
The Wildcats were led by their trio of talented juniors who combined for 44 points. Ryan Paris had a fantastic game with a team-high 18 points, while Jared Frey and Jared Nervis each had 13.
Whitehall did a good job defensively and forced double-digit turnovers, yet outside of senior Teddy Brown and his 19 points, the Rams created too many turnover problems of their own and didn't have anyone score in double figures beyond Brown.
Hilliard Davidson has now won two straight tournament games, both as the lower seed, by a combined 32 points.
Hilliard Davidson advances to the district semifinals to take on No. 2 Westerville Central on Weds., March 3 at 7 p.m.
Pickerington North advances to the district semifinals to take on No. 11 Olentangy Orange on Weds., March 3 at 7 p.m.
Olentangy Orange advances to the district semifinals to take on No. 7 Pickerington North on Weds., March 3 at 7 p.m.
Gahanna advances to the district semifinals to take on No. 18 Northland on Weds., March 3 at 7 p.m.
What could’ve been a blowout turned into a competitive game on Friday as Northland squandered two 12-point leads but still outlasted the Indians from Canal Winchester 78-72. Makhale Massey led the Vikings with 21 points in the game.
Northland’s length and athleticism roared its head early as the Vikings ran out to an 18-6 lead that turned into a 24-11 lead after the first quarter. Freshman Cortez Freeman and his nine second quarter points brought the Indians to a two-point deficit at halftime, the first 12-point lead Canal Winchester overcame.
Coach Taylor’s bunch went up 54-42 midway through the third and once again, the Indians did not go away as cut the deficit to five entering the final frame.
Robert Dorsey III scored seven of his 17 in the fourth as Northland held off a tough Canal Winchester team.
Freshman Cortez Freeman led all scorers with 24 points and Anthony Milner scored 18 for Canal Winchester as well.
Northland advances to the district semifinals to take on No. 1 Gahanna on Weds., March 3 at 7 p.m.
A big 15-7 fourth-quarter push proved to be the difference as Dublin Coffman was able to stave off a ferocious upset attempt by Olentangy Berlin, knocking the Bears off 61-52 on Friday night.
Ajay Sheldon dazzled once again by pouring in a game-high 30 points, including multiple free-throws down the stretch to help the Shamrocks hang on and advance to a district semifinal on Wednesday night.
Austin Corley was key from the jump for the Bears, scoring 12 of his team-high 24 points in the opening half that saw Olentangy Berlin race out to a 21-10 lead in the opening 12 minutes. Corley and his teammates poured in seven of their eight threes in the opening two frames, giving the Bears a 28-24 lead at half.
But Sheldon, along with Dylan Van Vlerah, turned the tide in the second half, taking the lead early in the third quarter and trying to push the pace. Van Vlerah was huge for the Rocks down the stretch, scoring 13 of his 18 points in the final two quarters.
Down four points late, the Bears had their chances to pull the upset, but ultimately offensive rebounding off of free-throws on three-straight possessions by Dublin Coffman was the final dagger for Olentangy Berlin, who finished 8-15 on the season.
Dublin Coffman advances to the district semifinals to take on No. 10 Reynoldsburg on Weds., March 3 at 7 p.m.
Timely shot making from senior guard Josiah Mobley helped Reynoldsburg outlast upset-minded Dublin Jerome 51-46 on Friday.
The first half was a defensive slugfest that saw Dublin Jerome take a 21-19 halftime lead.
A 12 point quarter from Mobley helped Reynoldsburg out score Jerome 25-11 in the third quarter. Some missed free throws kept things interesting late but the closest Jerome got was five points as Reynoldsburg consistently offered an answer.
For Reynoldsburg, Mobley tied a game-high 20 points and Zaveon Croff was in double figures as well adding 13 of his own.
For Dublin Jerome, sophomore Ryan Nutter had 20 and fellow sophomore Luke Kulhman added 15.
Reynoldsburg advances to the district semifinals to take on No. 9 Dublin Coffman on Weds., March 3 at 7 p.m.
Olentangy Liberty advances to the district semifinals to take on No. 8 Worthington Kilbourne on Weds., March 3 at 7 p.m.
In a competitive contest throughout, Worthington Kilbourne hit some big shots late and made the most of their opportunities at the free throw line to take down Upper Arlington 50-43 and advance to the district semifinals.
The Wolves led for the majority of the game until a triple from Quinn Corna at the end of the third quarter gave Upper Arlington a 37-36 lead heading into the final frame.
Despite the Golden Bears holding onto this lead for a few minutes in the fourth and going back and forth with Worthington Kilbourne, the Wolves made a run late to put the game on ice and continue their excellent season.
They were led by 14 points from Ian Schupp, while Ayden Parson scored 12 and Travis Mecklenburg added 10.
Worthington Kilbourne advances to the district semifinals to take on No. 5 Olentangy Liberty on Weds., March 3 at 7 p.m.
Thomas Worthington advances to the district semifinals to take on No. 13 Newark on Weds., March 3 at 7 p.m.
After getting out to a fast start, Newark got a big sectional final win over Marysville 64-41 on Friday. Both teams really got after things on defense early in the game with the Wildcats leading just 5-4 midway through the first half. Newark then broke things wide open, finishing the first half on a 25-9 run led by 14 points by senior Drew Ballinger.
Marysville attempted a comeback by switching to a full court press, which caused a handful of turnovers and made Newark seem very uncomfortable. During their full court press in the third quarter, the Monarchs went on a 11-0 run led by senior guards Jack Christian and Ryan Barlow cutting the deficit to just 12 points.
Ultimately the deficit was too much to overcome as Newark’s senior big man Elijah Hinton caught fire for 18 points in the second half to lead the Wildcats.
Newark advances to the district semifinals to take on No. 4 Thomas Worthington on Weds., March 3 at 7 p.m.