COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A wild two weeks of basketball are now in the books, and there are plenty of stories and games to dissect. Let's take a look at all the great action we've seen so far.

Five Important Results

1. Upper Arlington 48, Hilliard Bradley 43 (Friday): Even though it felt like all the picks were for Hilliard Bradley to win the OCC's Central division, Upper Arlington made their presence felt on Friday night win with a statement win in their new gym. Head coach Tim Casey once again has the Golden Bears primed and ready for a big season.
2. Newark 47, Pickerington Central 42 (Friday): Just when you think you can write Newark off to start a season, coach Jeff Quackenbush and his bunch of Wildcats do the unthinkable once again, stunning Pickerington Central on the road with a big league win. Grant Burkholder and Steele Meister were huge all night long, pouring in 40 of Newark's 47 in the victory.
3. Dublin Jerome 62, Thomas Worthington 58 (Friday): If Dublin Jerome has their sights set on winning the OCC-Cardinal, they'll need to withstand more nights just like this. Leading by 10 at halftime, a strong Thomas push, led by Joey Zalewski helped force the game to overtime. But in the end, the Celtics free-throw shooting won them the game, going 9-for-11 in the extra frame.
4. Reynoldsburg 67, Pickerington Central 51 (Girls, Tuesday): The Reynoldsburg Lady Raiders have their sights set on a revenge tour, and they cleared tthe first of many hurdles on Tuesday, winning on the road at Pickerington Central by 16. Imarianah Russell and Mya Perry combined for 49 points, as the respective West Virginia and Ohio State commits locked in a big OCC-Buckeye win. Don't be surprised if this is just the first of three meetings between the two schools this season.
5. Pickerington North 85, Akron SVSM 83 (Sat. Nov 27): Despite trailing for much of the game last Saturday, Pickerington North rallied back to knock off defending state champion Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary at the All-Ohio Showcase. Corey Hudson's bucket in double overtime was the difference, but play from guys like seniors Dior Conners (23 points) and Jerry Saunder (20 points) was a huge x-factor. The debut of freshman Arness Lawson and his 18 points was very notable as well.

Four Facts From the Weekend

• There have been some excellent offensive performances so far, but it's safe to say in a few games already, the defense is far beyond the offense. Jonathan Alder held Fairbanks to 12 points, Pickerington North held Centennial to 18 points, and Bloom-Carroll kept Circleville to just 28. Fifteen teams total have scored under 30 points already to start the season.
• With her first triple of Saturday's 71-31 win over Marion Harding, Shelby's Olivia Baker broke the career three-pointer record for the Lady Whippets. Baker's total now surpasses 270's own Emma Ervin(!), who held the mark with 143 career makes during her time at Shelby.
• The climb back to the top of the mountain for defending regional champions Westerville Central, DeSales and Worthington Christian has been a bit rough. Those three schools have combined for a 3-5 record to start the season, including Westerville Central's 47-44 win over DeSales on Tuesday.
• Don't look now, but the top of the City League North standings heading into league play on Tuesday features an unusual name. The International Lions are 3-0 on the young season, with wins over Horizon Science, West, and Liberty Christian. No matter what happens on Tuesday at Northland for the Lions, the 3-0 start is impressive for a program that had a nearly six-plus year losing streak in City North play that was snapped last season.

Three Players Who Showed Out

• Kaleb Schaffer, Bishop Ready: As one of the early scoring leaders with multiple games in the area, Schaffer proved again why he's one of the more valuable juniors so far this year. The Silver Knights forward averaged 22.5 points per game in their two wins this week, which included a big 46-42 win over CCL rival St. Charles.
• Bede Lori, Caldwell: Bede Lori is an extra step outside the 270 beltway, but holy smokes is the Caldwell senior worth the watch or what! In a pair of 17 point wins over the weekend at the Wellington Tip-Off Classic, Lori went for...
  • 38 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals; shooting a perfect 13-for-13 at the line
  • 39 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals; shooting 23-of-24 at the line

Have yourself a weekend, kid.

• Chase Ouellete, Wellington: Outside of Lori's 39 and 38 point games, the Wellington senior has had the best performance to date, dueling with Lori on Saturday night and finishing with 37 points in the process. Ouellette's big numbers in that game combined with the 23 point performance in a loss to Buckeye Valley on Nov. 30 has him as one of the top players in scoring average already.

Two Storylines to Watch

1. Opening night in the City League will certainly not disappoint, as the South division will have plenty of firepower with its arugably four best teams going head-to-head. Africentric travels to Walnut Ridge, and Eastmoor Academy heads to South for their respective openers. The major games in the north division will have to wait until January, when the Linden-Northland-Beechcroft trio will face off in crucial head-to-heads.
2. After tough losses in their respective league openers, presumed favorites Hilliard Bradley and Pickerington Central will need to pick up the pieces quickly. The Tigers have their crosstown shootout with Pickerington North on Tuesday, and Hilliard Bradley hosts rival Hilliard Davidson on Friday in OCC-Central play. With the championship pedigree in each program, there's no doubt that both schools can figure some things out in a hurry.

One Last Thought

Enjoy this beautiful game and having a full season of it once again. At this time last year, there were no league games for either the Ohio Capital Conference or City League, with a cloud of uncertainty to when things would return to normal. With all the wheels spinning in motion again in early December, there are plenty of great games to go see in the coming weeks heading into winter break!