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OCC Weekly: A dive inside of the OCC

By Chintoo Deora, 01/28/22, 2:30PM EST

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A weekly look into OCC basketball

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The last week in the OCC provided some great games and performances. In this article, I will recap the last week around the OCC and preview the games ahead.

There are seven players who average above 19 points per game in conference play. Ajay Sheldon from Dublin Coffman tops the list with 25.4 ppg. Canal Winchester’s Derrick James is behind him at 21.6 ppg and Quinn Corna leads Upper Arlington with 21.2 ppg. Jesse Burris from Deleware Hayes sits at fourth with 20.8 ppg. Hilliard Bradley’s Cade Norris is fifth with 20 ppg and Olentangy Liberty’s Cooper Davis is sixth with 19.8. Another Canal Winchester player, Cortez Freeman rounds out the list with 19.1 ppg.  

Westerville South is the only remaining undefeated team in central Ohio with a record of 15-0. The most recent AP poll ranked them third in the state. 

 

Buckeye Division

Pickerington Central reclaimed first place in the division after their 54-42 win over Newark. They also had a great comeback win on Saturday over Cincinnati Taft. Devin Royal and Sonny Styles both had 31 points over those two games. Newark dropped back to back games for the first time this season after losing to Pick Central and Olentangy Liberty. Pick Central remained the top team in the latest 270 Hoops power rankings and Newark came in at #7. The Tigers now hold a slim one game lead over Newark and control their own destiny to win the division. Reynoldsburg and Groveport Madison are tied for third as both teams have divisional records of 3-3. Reynoldsburg earned wins over Central Crossing and Whitehall to move their overall record to 9-5. Groveport barely beat Reyonoldburg 45-44 on Friday night as Duane Davis dropped 12 points. Lancaster and Central Crossing are fifth and sixth respectively to round out the Buckeye. 

Capital Division

Westerville South maintained their two game lead atop the Capital division and their #3 spot in the Power Rankings. They had two blowout wins over Dublin Scioto and Big Walnut where Drey Carter had 31 points over those two games. South plays great team basketball and can get contributions from anyone on any given night. Behind them is Westerville North who beat Franklin Heights, 68-36 on Friday behind 18 points from Micah Young. Worthington Kilbourne is third in the Capital after beating Dublin Scioto 56-33. Delaware Hayes has an overall record of 11-5 but a divisional record of 4-4 which has them at fourth in the division. They got a big win Tuesday night over Westerville North and were led by Jesse Burris’ 21 points. Big Walnut and Canal Winchester are both tied for fifth in the division. Franklin Heights and Dublin Scioto sit at the bottom of the Capital division. Franklin Heights picked up a great win at home over Canal Winchester on Tuesday.

Cardinal Division

Dublin Jerome’s perfect record in divisional play has them atop the OCC-Cardinal. They got a blowout win, 73-47 over Thomas Worthington last Friday which propelled them to #10 in the power rankings. Hilliard Darby is second in the division after they beat Marysville and Hilliard Davidson over the weekend. Gio Roberts led the way with 31 points over those two games for Darby. The remaining four teams: Olentangy Berlin, Thomas Worthington, Marysville and Olentangy are all tied for third with divisional records of 2-4. Berlin beat Olentangy and Watkins Memorial over the weekend while Worthington beat Columbus South on Saturday. Marysville beat Grove City and Olentangy Liberty while Olentangy lost to Berlin. These teams all have to play each once more this year which could shake up these standings. 

Central Division

The OCC-Central features four teams in the power rankings with Hilliard Bradley (#5), Olentangy Liberty (#6), Upper Arlington (#7) and Olentangy Orange (#9). UA and Orange both won on Tuesday while Liberty lost which could cause them to lose their spot in the top 10. Upper Arlington and Liberty hold a slim one game edge on Bradley and Davidson as the Bears and Patriots lead the division. UA beat Chillicothe 69-47 on Tuesday behind 29 points from Quinn Corna while Liberty beat Newark 53-50 last Friday. Bradley is on a 10 game win streak and most recently beat Africentric 51-42 last Saturday. Davidson lost both their games last weekend to Orange and Darby. Dublin Coffman is also tied for second in the division with Bradley and Davidson. The Rocks have an overall record of 7-6 so far this season. All of Olentangy Orange’s losses this season have been in divisional play which has them at the bottom of the OCC-Central. This might be the strongest division in the OCC because every team has a winning record and every win is a grind. 

Ohio Division

Gahanna remained perfect in divisional play after beating Westland, 78-19 last Friday. After losses to St. Vincent-St. Mary and Pick Central earlier in the season, the Lions have been hot with five straight wins. They only have a one game advantage over Pick North in the divisional standings. Pick North beat Westerville Central and Groveport Madison in games where Dior Connors had 17 and 15 points respectively. Both Gahanna (#2) and Pick North (#4) maintained their spots in the power rankings from last week. New Albany is third in the division after losses to Grove City and Olentangy Orange. Grove City and Westerville Central are tied for fourth with divisional records of 2-4. Grove City got a big win over Central Crossing on Tuesday night and were led by Daniel Fetty’s 21 points. Westland finishes out the division at the bottom. 

Looking Ahead...

Once again, all 32 OCC teams will play this Friday and we have some important games on hand. Upper Arlington and Olentangy Liberty will square off in a game that will decide first place in the Central and features two really good guards in Quinn Corna and Cooper Davis. Newark will play Reynoldsburg in a big OCC-Buckeye matchup. Olentangy Orange will travel to Dublin Coffman in a battle of Central division foes. Hilliard Davidson will host Hilliard Bradley in a matchup of teams tied for second place in their division. Finally, Westerville North will host cross town rivals Westerville South and look to be the first team to beat South. 

There are also four games on Saturday that feature an OCC team. Pick Central will travel to Africentric to take on a top team in Division 3. It will be a great matchup between two four star juniors in Devin Royal and Dailyn Swain. Olentangy will play host to Liberty and Worthington Kilbourne will host Thomas Worthington. Marysville will match up with Marion Harding. 

Some big games this weekend that could decide divisional standings and shake up the power rankings. 

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