COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Welcome to the State of the City League! Here I will look at the past week of action, along with who stood out and any major performances from players across the most passionate league in Central Ohio, while also looking ahead to the biggest games of the upcoming week. Without any further ado, here is your look at the Columbus City League throughout the past week of the season: 

The week started with an upset as Mifflin shocked Linden-McKinley with a one-point, 49-48 victory (12/7), but they could not follow-up on that momentum as they hosted and fell to Northland 49-37 (12/10). The Punchers dropped to 1-3 on the season. 

Speaking of the Vikings, they bounced back this week with an impressive 70-39 win over International (12/7), a game in which DeAngelo Mitchell shined with 19 points while his teammates Rob Dorsey III and Tabree Beachem combined for 28 points themselves. After the Vikings defeated the Punchers, they took care of business in a 50-40 win over Whitehall (12/11) to move to 3-2 on the season. 

East defeated Whetstone 52-48 (12/7) before falling to North Division favorites Beechcroft 90-38 (12/10). The Tigers fall to 1-1 on the season as the Cougars move to 2-1 after taking care of East. JJ Simmons put a 30-piece at home in the match-up against the Tigers, Antwoin Reed added 18 while Anthony Watkins added 12 and Amani Lyles pitched in 10 for the Cougars as well. 

Linden-McKinley had a busy week, highlighted by getting back their senior leader and point guard LB Towns Jr. On the court they moved to 3-3, after their crushing defeat to Mifflin, they dropped a home game to Hilliard Davidson (12/8), 65-53, in a game where LA Walker continued his scoring spree and put up 34 points.

After those two tough losses, the Panthers showed why they are one of the toughest-minded teams in the area with two back-to-back wins. They took down International (12/10) 80-26 and last season's state runner-ups in DeSales (12/11) by a score of 61-56. LB Towns came back and scored 22 points against International while LA Walker added 19 more against the Lions. 

Centennial sadly battled COVID-19, cancelling their Tuesday game and forcing some younger players to step up in the rivalry game against Whetstone, and step up they did. The Stars beat Whetstone (12/10) by a score of 51-47 and upping their record to 2-3 for the season. After their loss to East on Tuesday, Whetstone remains as the only winless team in the North Division. 

After starting the season 3-0, the International Lions lost consecutive games this week and fell to 3-2 on the season. Sam Whitaker II put up 15 points in their Tuesday loss to Northland and 12 against Linden.

The South Division started off on a bad note with two teams dropping out of league games, West was defeated by Westland 72-53 while Bloom Carroll took down Marion-Franklin 59-37 (12/6). The Cowboys' Kahdon Johnson scored 14 points and Jonathon Rodriquez added 11 for West as well. Marion-Franklin’s Montana Smallwood led the Red Devils with 11 points. Both teams also dropped their games on Tuesday (12/7), as West lost 56-50 to Briggs and Independence took down Marion-Franklin 79-38. Tito Glass scored 18 on the Sixers in defeat as both teams remained winless until they played each other on Friday, when Marion-Franklin notched their first win of the season over the Cowboys.

The Scots of Walnut Ridge are also winless still after two gut wrenching losses this past week. It started at home against Africentric (12/7) as they raced out to a lead and saw it slowly evaporate into a 69-62 loss. 4841 followed that with a trip to rival Eastmoor Academy (12/10) where their comeback attempt was stalled and they fell to the Warriors 59-52. Dominique Aekins scored 14 against the Nubians and another 11 against the Warriors while Na’Varion Adams put in 14 against Africentric. Zion Blevins chipped in 10 points against Africentric and led the team with 12 against Eastmoor. 

After the win over West High School, the Bruins from Briggs hosted the Independence 76ers (12/10) and fell to them by a score of 66-38. Devonte Curry led the 3-3 Bruins with 15 points. 

South High School may have ended the week on a down note by dropping to 3-2, but they began it with a big-time win at home over Eastmoor Academy by a score of 52-49 (12/7), then taking a heartbreaking 54-52 loss to South Division favorite Africentric (12/10). Lajames Washington and Desean Pollard combined for 24 points in the home loss. 

Eastmoor Academy dropped the road game to South then bounced back to take down Walnut Ridge on Friday. After being held to nine rebounds against the Bulldogs, the Warrior big man Dennis Asoro snagged 18 of them against the Scots while scoring 19 points. Tramon Hairston’s bench play continues to be the spark this team needs, he added a much needed 17 points to take down Walnut Ridge. The Warriors stand at 3-1 and are still in contention to represent the South Division in the City League Championship game. 

The Africentric road tour has come to an end after two victories over real South Division title contenders, beating Walnut Ridge 69-62 (12/7) and South 54-52 (12/10). The Nubians were led by the dynamic duo of senior leader Dan Wagner and junior star Dailyn Swain. Wagner led all scorers with 24 points in the win over Walnut Ridge while Swain poured in 20 in the hostile environment. Laron Fuller came up huge at South, scoring 19 points in the win. Africentric is now 3-1 headed into this week's gameplay. 

Independence used a 3-0 week to propel themselves into a massive game this upcoming week. The Sixers started with a 79-38 win over Marion-Franklin (12/7), then another 66-38 win at Briggs (12/10) and finished off with an impressive 64-57 win over Olentangy (12/11) to cap off their week. The Sixers had a plethora of contributors over the week, starting with Geremiah Thompson, as the sophomore scored 13 while Reighn Lowery added in 12 in the win over Marion-Franklin, dominating Marion-Franklin on the interior.

 Denarius Crowder led the way with 13 points, Antony Lowery had 12 and Christian Byrd pitched in 11 against Briggs. Antony Lowery steered the ship with 21 plus Christian Byrd scored 15 to pace coach Quentin Aden’s bunch past Olentangy. 

Tuesday will feature a game with City League Championship implications as Independence travels up James Road and off Allegheny Avenue to face-off with the Nubians in a game that will settle who has sole possession of first place in the South Division. Eastmoor Academy also travels to Independence on Friday in what will be a must-see match-up on the east side.

Elsewhere, Beechcroft looks to stay atop the North Division as they visit Mifflin and International this week, while hosting Centennial on Thursday in a make up game from last week's cancelled matchup.

Saturday will include an interesting Walnut Ridge and Reynoldsburg game, an out of league test for the Scots to get some momentum going.