COLUMBUS, Ohio -- With a district championship repeat on the line, senior Cole Canter led the #2 Newark Catholic Green Wave to a dominant victory over #1 Grandview Heights by a score of 54-33 on Saturday.

Newark Catholic started hot in the paint with Canter starting off the scoring with a rebound and putback.

 Coming out of a timeout in the first, Grandview Height went on an 8-0 run while putting their excellent shooting ability on display. However, this 11-9 lead was the only lead Grandview Heights had for the rest of the game. After junior Tre Holliman’s three-pointer  put Grandview Heights up by two, Canter immediately hit a step-back three and led Newark Catholic back to a 17-11 lead to end the quarter.

The offense was slow to begin the second quarter with both teams getting good looks but nothing falling. After a Newark Catholic timeout early in the second quarter, Canter and senior Brandon Buchanan played an excellent two-man game to get the Green Wave up 25-17 to end the half.

The third quarter was owned by the Green Wave, holding the Bobcats to two points and scoreless for an entire six minutes. Canter and Buchanan both looked spectacular in the third with Buchanan taking on more of the scoring load and Canter forcing turnovers left and right.

A rolling offense combined with a lockdown defense allowed for Newark Catholic to outscore Grandview Heights 19-2 in the third quarter. To add insult to injury, in the final minute of the quarter junior Braylon Bates and Buchanan hit two back-breaking threes, making the score 44-19 at the end of the third.

Canter and Buchanan continued to show their scoring and elite shooting capabilities as the game went on. Even after Newark Catholic’s second unit was subbed on, they continued the high intensity play, keeping the lead above 20. As the game came to a close Newark Catholic captured their second district championship in a row with a final score of 54-33.

Newark Catholic played an excellent game and really started firing on all cylinders in the third quarter going on a 19-2 run. This district final game really highlighted senior Cole Canter and senior Brandon Buchanan and their capabilities on both ends of the court. The senior duo combined for 32 of their team's 54.

Newark Catholic goes on to the Division IV regional semifinals to take on Hiland (21-4) on Tuesday at 6pm at Ohio University.