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Stars of the Night: Friday's Top Boys Scorers

By Jake Spegal, 02/19/22, 1:30PM EST

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Spotlighting some of the top scoring performances around Central Ohio on Friday night

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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Even in a rare loss, Devin Royal was still incredible last night.

In an OCC-Buckeye battle against Reynoldsburg, Royal did everything that he could to power Pickerington Central to victory, going off for a career-high 32 points in a 63-60 loss.

With Sonny Styles still sitting out injured, Royal took matters into his own hands, scoring in a handful of ways as he always does.

After scoring just eight points in the first half, the four-star junior put his head down and went to work in the final 16 minutes, converting on 10 two-point field goals and going four-for-four from the free throw line to finish the contest with a new career-high.

As Kurt Stubbs said on Twitter this morning, there is no doubt that Royal is a top 100 prospect in the class of 2023. The 6-foot-7 junior is one of the most productive players anywhere in the state as he shows up every night and contributes to winning in a ton of different ways.

Currently holding offers from the likes of Illinois, Ohio State, Virginia Tech and Cincinnati amongst others, Royal is arguably Ohio's most coveted prospect in the junior class.

While he did not expect to end the regular season with a loss, the junior will now shift his sights to proving that he is the guy in Central Ohio in the district and regional tournament. Royal will be dominant regardless, but we could see him continue to put up some huge numbers like he did last night if Styles remains out of the lineup.

Despite nobody in the area scoring more than Royal last night, there were some other big time performances in the 614, so lets take a look at them below.

Henry Brandt (6'1 SG / Bexley / 2022): Turning in one of his better scoring performances of the season, Brandt powered Bexley to a solid victory over Watkins Memorial last night by pouring in 26 points to lead all scorers. Brandt is one of the better three-point shooters in the area as he nailed six triples in last night's contest. After being held scoreless in the first quarter and scoring just seven points in the second frame, Brandt turned things on in the second half, nailing four three-pointers in the third quarter and adding another seven points in the final eight minutes. Bexley has some talented scorers in Brandt and Chris Mitchell and we are excited to see if they can make some noise in the Division II district tournament.

Colby Stough (6'5 F / Licking Valley / 2022): Stough continued his excellent senior season on Friday night as he went for a game-high 26 points to lead Licking Valley to a 65-58 win over Kipp Columbus. The senior big has been on a tear as of late as he has scored 20+ points in four of Licking Valley's last five games, most notably pouring in 28 points last Friday night in a loss to Granville. Stough can get it done on the interior and also has the ability to step outside and knock down a three here and there. He converted on 10 two-point field goals in last night's win, hit one triple and went three-for-four from the charity stripe. Stough has been one of the most productive players in the LCL all season and we think that small colleges in the region should give the senior a look.

Cortez Freeman (6'2 HG / Canal Winchester / 2024): Despite Canal Winchester taking a loss to Big Walnut last night, Freeman continued to produce as he led all scorers in the contest with 25 points. Freeman is a natural born scorer with the ability to hurt you from all three levels. We like the way that the sophomore attacks defenses off the dribble as he has good size and quickness on the wing that allows him to create good looks for himself consistently. While he did not convert on a single field goal in the first half of last night's game, Freeman got things going down the stretch, scoring 21 of his points in the final two quarters. He got to the free throw line a handful of times and converted on six field goal attempts, one of which was a three-pointer. While Canal Winchester has not enjoyed the season they expected to this year, the Indians have a bright future with Freeman leading the way as he is one of the more well-rounded sophomores in the area.

Nick Heath (6'4 SG / Upper Arlington / 2022): Heath turned in arguably the most important performance anywhere in the area on Friday night, pouring in 25 points to help lead Upper Arlington to an outright OCC-Central title with a win over Hilliard Davidson. Heath has an incredible story as he played all of last season not knowing that he had anemia. The senior being healthy this year has really proved to be vital for Upper Arlington as they went from finishing last in the OCC-Central last season to winning it this year. Heath, who is committed to Denison, is a really talented two-way player who can score it in multiple ways and hold his own on the defensive end. He and fellow senior Quinn Corna have taken the over the scoring duties for Upper Arlington this season as they have proved to be an excellent one-two punch for the Golden Bears. We cannot wait to see what this team of seniors does in the tournament as they have a special chemistry to go along with a plethora of talent.

Other Notable Scorers


Charlie Russell

  • Quinn Corna (6'3 HG / Upper Arlington / 2022): 22 points in a 73-62 win over Hilliard Davidson
  • Grant Burkholder (5'9 PG / Newark / 2023): 22 points in a 58-56 loss to Lancaster
  • Zach Combs (6'1 G / Grove City / 2022): 21 points in an 89-46 win over Westland
  • Korey Austin (Kipp Columbus): 21 points in a 65-58 loss to Licking Valley
  • Charlie Russell (6'4 SF / Bishop Ready / 2023): 20 points in a 55-30 win over Bishop Hartley
  • Aidan Dring (6'1 SG / Dublin Coffman / 2022): 18 points in a 66-56 loss to Hilliard Bradley. Dring gets a special mention here as he has been playing all season after recovering from brain surgery before the year

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