Worthington, Ohio - Coming into Friday night's matchup between Dublin Jerome and Thomas Worthington, I expected a good one between two of the better teams in the OCC- Cardinal. Neither team disappointed as Jerome needed overtime to edge Thomas 62-58 behind a balanced scoring attack.

Dublin Jerome blitzed Thomas Worthington early, jumping out to a 13-4 lead halfway through the first quarter. Thomas Worthington called a timeout to regroup and they did just that, finishing the quarter with a 8-5 advantage and trailing 18-12 after one.

The theme of the night was team effort and that was on full display in the second quarter as Jerome had five different guys score in the frame. The balanced scoring helped Jerome extend their lead to 37-27 at the half.

After a relatively slow first half, the third quarter saw Cards junior Joey Zalewski erupt for 12 points in the quarter. His efforts gave Thomas Worthington new life and from there on both teams were in an absolute dog fight.

The difference down the stretch was time management. Jerome had a possession leading by one where they effectively stalled for 1:30 seconds, cutting the game clock to under 30 seconds. Great free throw shooting from the Celts helped them close out the game.

For Dublin Jerome, Sasha Stavroff had a team high 17 points, Lachlan McDonald and Luke Kuhlman both chipped in nine points and Jack Pinney added eight.

For Thomas Worthington, Zalewski had a game high 18, Mike Sekyere had 16 , and Caleb Miller added eight.

Joey Zalewski (6’3 WG / Thomas Worthington / 2023 ): Zalewski had one of the better performances we've seen thus far this season. He was Mr.do it all. He cleaned the defensive glass, blocked some shots and took multiple charges. On offense, he got his teammates involved and when it was his turn to score he put on a show. He scored an extremely efficient 18 points, virtually scoring at will and only missing two shots. He knocked down a catch and shoot three, but did most of his work in the post, where he showed off great footwork scoring on one great post move after the other. Zalewski has been a varsity contributor since he was a freshman, but after Thomas graduated a fantastic senior class, look for Zalewski to take the next step forward as “ the guy." 

Sasha Stavroff ( 6’0 G / Dublin Jerome / 2023 ): Sasha played a good game. When he was the primary ball handler he got the team into the offense well and took care of the ball. He made timely shots, none bigger than his game sealing free throws. He was a perfect 5-5 from the line. Defensively, he provided good ball pressure all night.

Ryan Nutter (6’ 3 G / Dublin Jerome / 2023 ): Nutter didn’t have his best scoring game, but still managed to contribute in other ways. He was often the most vocal player on the court and was leading by example as he had his nose in more than half of the 50/50 balls. He was the first to floor, making heady plays like saving the ball off opponents, was great energy guy all night for the Celts.

Mike Sekyere (6’0 G / Thomas Worthingon / 2022 ): Mike was in attack mode all night. He showed a nice handle, as he consistently beat defenders off the dribble getting paint touches. When he got in the paint he made good decisions he had a handful of assist, drew some fouls and finished well around the rim.

Xavier Rogers (5’8 G / Thomas Worthington / 2025 ): Rogers saw the floor a fair amount for a freshman. He played with a certain swagger you don’t typically see from a freshman and will be a good one to keep an eye on.