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Stars of the Night: Tuesday's Top Boys Scorers

By Jake Spegal, 01/19/22, 3:00PM EST

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Delaware Hayes sophomore Jesse Burris drops 34 to highlight this edition of Stars of the Night

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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Jesse Burris is back at it again, folks.

Continuing his dominant sophomore campaign, Burris stood out once again on Tuesday night, dropping a career-high 34 points to lead Delaware Hayes to a close win over River Valley.

One of the best 2024 prospects that you will find anywhere in the state, Burris offers an elite offensive skillset at 6-foot-5 that you will be hard pressed to find anywhere else in Central Ohio amongst the sophomore class.

Showing off his elite shooting stroke in last night's contest, Burris knocked down six triples to go along with converting seven two-point field goals on his way to 34 points.

Even with opposing teams focusing their entire game plan on him, Burris continues to shine every night out this season.

While he offers a great skillset on both ends of the floor, the sophomore also has an excellent understanding of the game that allows him to dissect opposing defenses and create offense for both himself and his teammates.

Tuesday night marks Burris' fifth game of the season scoring 27+ points and was his third game of 30+ points on the year.

It is only a matter of time before the offers start rolling in for Burris as he has a great build to go along with high level skill and a natural knack for scoring the basketball.

While Burris scored more than anyone else in the area last night, there were multiple other big showings, specifically in the Columbus City League, so lets take a look at some of them below.

Amani Lyles (6'8 hybrid big / Beechcroft / 2022): Lyles was back to his normal self on Tuesday night as he went for 27 points to power Beechcroft to another City League North win, this one coming over East. Lyles size and strength was simply too much for the Tigers inside as he scored 24 points from inside the three-point line and converted on all three of his free throws in the contest to finish with a game-high 27. No team in the City North has a matchup for the size of Lyles as he complements Beechcroft's guard play excellently and is a major reason why the Cougars are rolling right now. Beechcroft will play their biggest game of the season next Monday when they travel to Linden-McKinley and they will need a big night out of Lyles in order to stay atop the City North.

Spencer Payne (5'9 G / Danville / 2023): Payne turned in his biggest performance of the season for Danville on Tuesday night, pouring in 27 points as the Blue Devils suffered a tough loss at the hands of Centerburg. Payne did most of his damage from beyond the arc in the contest, hitting four triples in the second half and one in the first half to go along with knocking down six shots from two-point range. Payne is a player who we are not very familiar with in the 2023 class as we have not had a chance to check out Danville this season, however it is clear that he can play given last night's performance. Danville has had some really solid players in past years and we are interested to see if Payne can build off of last nights strong offensive showing and continue to produce at a high level this season.

MJ Book (6'5 SG / West Jefferson / 2022): While West Jefferson suffered a tough loss at the hands of Greeneview last night, Book once again showed why small colleges in the area should be all over him. The senior wing poured in 25 points in the contest and once again was very, very efficient in doing so. Playing all 32 minutes of the game, Book shot 10-for-14 from the field and knocked down one three-pointer in the contest. He also grabbed seven rebounds, dished out two assists and picked up one steal, doing everything that he could for the Roughriders in a tough loss. Book has been putting up some really impressive numbers this season and always seems to do so in an efficient manner. Division III schools in the region should strongly consider recruiting Book if they are not already. West Jefferson has sent two players to the college level in the last several years in Joe Thompson and Ben Casey and we believe that Book should certainly be the next in line.

Reighn Lowery (6'4 G / Independence / 2022): Lowery tallied a season-high in points last night as he dropped 25 to lead Independence to a solid league win over Briggs. Lowery was productive in all four quarters for Independence, scoring 11 first half points and 14 second half points to help the Sixers string together a big final two quarters and lead them to the win. Lowery did all of his work inside the three-point line in the contest, converting on 10 two-point field goals and also hitting five shots from the free throw line in the win. Independence is putting together a solid season this winter and the performance of Lowery was critical in picking up a win last night as his highest point tally on the season before Tuesday's contest was just 12 points in a blowout win over Marion-Franklin.

Other Notable Scorers

  • Dan Wagner (6'1 SG / Africentric / 2022): 25 points in a 66-54 win over South
  • Dailyn Swain (6'8 HG / Africentric / 2023): 25 points in a 66-54 win over South
  • LB Towns (5'9 PG / Linden-McKinley / 2022): 25 points in a 74-42 win over International
  • Cortez Freeman (6'2 HG / Canal Winchester / 2024): 24 points in a 72-50 win over Teays Valley
  • Rob Dorsey III (5'10 HG / Northland / 2022): 24 points in a 55-48 win over Mifflin

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