10 storylines for central Ohio boys high school basketball entering the postseason
Boys basketball tournament play already is underway in some areas of the state, and the postseason will hit central Ohio next week.
Divisions I, II and III in the Central District start Tuesday, and Division IV begins Wednesday.
All roads lead to University of Dayton Arena, which will host state for the fourth consecutive season. Champions will be crowned March 24.
Here are 10 storylines to watch in the boys basketball district tournaments:
1. Olentangy Orange earns top billing in Division I
Although the Pioneers (21-1) earned the top seed in Division I, coach Anthony Calo knows winning a second consecutive district championship is far from a certainty.
“That’s the hope,” Calo said. “We’ll have to play well, obviously, but we’re hoping to make a run deep into the state (tournament).”
Matchups could get tough for Orange beginning with a district semifinal against No. 9 South, No. 24 DeSales or No. 29 Hilliard Davidson. The Pioneers beat DeSales 56-43 on Tuesday and defeated Davidson twice en route to a 10-0 OCC-Central title.
If Orange reaches a district final March 9 at Ohio Dominican, No. 8 Reynoldsburg could be waiting.
Through 21 games, Devin Brown led the Pioneers in scoring (12.8 points) and rebounding (6.0). Dylan Joy (12.2) and Levi Davis (10.9) also were scoring in double figures.
Last season, Orange beat Delaware Hayes 54-39 for its first district title. The Pioneers lost to eventual state runner-up Pickerington Central 57-53 in a regional final.
2. Delaware looking for first district title in 38 years
Fresh off their first OCC-Capital championship in 10 years, the Pacers (21-1, 13-1) are seeking their first district title since 1986.
“We’re excited, and we got to celebrate a little of that Friday night, cutting some nets down,” coach Adam Vincenzo said of the league title. “Now we’re getting ready for season No. 2.”
The Pacers, seeded second in Division I, could see No. 16 Westerville South or No. 26 Marysville in a district semifinal. South beat Delaware 73-65 on Dec. 22.
Potential final matchups include No. 10 Gahanna Lincoln, No. 11 Big Walnut, No. 18 Northland and No. 20 Grove City.
Delaware is the lone single-digit seed in its bracket, but “you can’t hide anywhere in central Ohio, so it will be fun to see how things shake out,” Vincenzo said.
Jesse Burris and Landon Vanderwarker share the team lead in scoring, averaging 15.8 points, followed by Jeremiah Russell (10.2). The 6-foot-7 Vanderwarker leads in rebounding at 7.0 per game.
3. New Albany’s Casey has high hopes
Having won 15 consecutive games and their first league championship in eight years, the third-seeded Eagles now face a tough postseason road.
New Albany (18-4, 8-2 OCC-Ohio) could face No. 4 Newark in a district semifinal. Potential final opponents include No. 6 Westerville North and No. 15 Pickerington Central.
“Division I basketball in central Ohio is so good and I really believe on any given night everybody in the Central District is capable of getting you,” first-year coach Tim Casey said. “We’ve been fortunate enough to run off (15) wins in a row, but a lot of them have been close games. Our kids have just come through in the clutch multiple times.”
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Casey was named coach last May after 22 seasons at Upper Arlington.
Braylen Nash averages a team-high 16.7 points and Miles Jackson averages 10.8. Chase Boals leads in rebounding at 6.6 per game.
“The guys have been awesome,” Casey said. “It’s been a great situation. The kids have worked their tails off and I’m just happy to be where I’m at.”
4. Hilliard Bradley has favorable path to district final
As the highest-seeded team in its Division I district bracket, the No. 5 Jaguars (16-5, 8-2 OCC-Central) have put themselves in position to make a run.
Bradley could face No. 7 Licking Heights or No. 17 Olentangy Liberty in a semifinal. No. 13 Westerville Central and No. 14 Pickerington North are the top teams on the other side of the bracket.
“It’s so competitive in central Ohio,” said Jaguars coach Brett Norris, whose team won district titles in 2018, 2020 and 2021. “You typically get about what you deserve (in the draw) based on your regular season, but you also know that you’re going to have to play extremely well to continue to advance.”
Cade Norris, the coach’s son, leads in scoring (16.8 points), rebounding (5.5) and assists (5.3). Jeb Bischoff averages 9.6 points.
5. Hartley faces hurdles in Division II
Seeded first and in the catbird seat for their first district championship since 2019, the Hawks (18-3) might face a showdown to reach the Ohio University regional.
No. 2 seed River Valley (17-5) is in the same bracket, but before that a senior-laden Granville (14-8) team that is seeded eighth or 11th-seeded London (12-8), led by football standout Zach Jones, could loom in a semifinal.
Jones, a first-team all-state defensive back averaging 20.7 points and 9.3 rebounds, is the Red Raiders’ all-time leading scorer and the Central Buckeye Conference-Kenton Trail Player of the Year.
River Valley, which could meet Hartley in a district final, is led by seniors Carson Smith (22.5 points, 6.1 rebounds) and Ayden Kenney (10.6 points, 9.3 rebounds) and junior Chase Ebert (11.7 points, 5.4 assists, 3.6 rebounds).
Junior forward Pharez Nicholas (10.2 points, 7.1 rebounds), junior guard Jaden Calloway (13.8 points, 4.8 rebounds) and sophomore guard Jakhi Calloway (12.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists) pace Hartley.
6. Familiar foes highlight top Division II bracket
Ready (14-7) was the talk of Division II in central Ohio last season, given its 28-0 start and run to a state semifinal. This year, the Silver Knights are the No. 3 seed, and if they are to reach the district final that feeds into the Vandalia Butler regional, former CCL rival Watterson and Bloom-Carroll are potential opponents.
Sophomore forward Carson Davis, who even at 6-8 is a strong 3-point shooter, leads No. 4 Bloom-Carroll (14-7).
No. 5 Watterson (12-9) has been streaky, starting 4-0 before losing five in a row and following that up with two more four-game winning streaks. One of those later wins, however, came against Hartley (42-33 on Feb. 9).
Do not count out sixth-seeded Jonathan Alder (12-9), which gets 21.0 points and 7.7 rebounds per game from senior guard and Mount Vernon Nazarene commit Peyton Heiss.
7. Worthington Christian surging in Division III
Coming off the inaugural Central Buckeye League championship and seeded fifth in Division III, the Warriors (18-4) seek their fourth district final appearance in five seasons under first-year coach Quintin Aden.
Seniors Sam Johnson (20.6 points, 11.4 rebounds, 3.7 blocks) and Jonah Lewis (15.4 points, 3.2 assists, 3.1 rebounds) lead the way as Worthington Christian rides a nine-game winning streak into the tournament.
The Warriors’ third senior, Sammy Owusu-Sarfo, adds 6.4 rebounds and shoots 50% from the floor. He was the Division III state Player of the Year in boys soccer.
“It took some time to adjust to a new system, but they’ve done a great job adapting,” Aden said. “We’ve really focused on getting stops (defensively) regardless of what happens on the offensive end. We’ve steadily improved on that this season.”
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No. 4 Northridge would loom in a district semifinal if seeds hold, before a potential rematch with league rival and top-seeded Columbus Academy. The teams split their regular-season series.
8. North Union headlines other Division III bracket
Led by 6-3 senior forward Max Parish, the Wildcats (16-5) earned the second seed in Division III and hope to benefit from consecutive losses last week, albeit to high seeds in the tournament.
North Union fell to River Valley 64-52 on Feb. 13 and Lewistown Indian Lake 73-62 on Friday. Indian Lake, the undefeated CBC-Mad River champion (10-0), is No. 2 in the Southwest District in Division III.
Parish, a 59% shooter from the floor, averages 19.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.1 steals, 1.9 assists and 1.6 blocks. He has scored in double digits in all but one game.
Guards Miles Hall (10.5 points, 4.9 rebounds) and Nolan Draper (9.3 points) are solid secondary scorers.
9. Northside Christian, Shekinah Christian headline Division IV
Northside Christian and Shekinah Christian are the top two seeds, respectively, in Division IV.
Northside Christian (16-5, 11-1 Mid-Ohio Christian Athletic League) is seeking a second consecutive district title after losing 52-50 to Berlin Hiland in a regional semifinal last season.
Tim Kusan was named coach in late October. He replaced Kevin Weakley, who took over for Ryan Vanderwarker in April but later resigned.
The Lions also lost their top player from a season ago in first-team all-state honoree Landon Vanderwarker, who transferred to Delaware.
Josh Cook averages a team-high 15.2 points, followed by Davontrel Jackson (13.3) and Carter Jury (9.1). Jackson leads in rebounding (6.5), assists (5.4) and steals (3.5).
“It’s been a journey, a lot of change,” Kusan said. “It was a test for all of our kids to have that unexpected change and then how do we react to it, individually and as a team. ... It was a lot of work to get here.”
Shekinah Christian (19-3, 10-2) finished second to Northside Christian in the MOCAL. The 19 wins and second seed are the best in program history.
Alex Bauermeister averages team highs of 16.3 points and 9.2 rebounds. Austin Helmuth (10.5 points) and Jayce Yoder (8.1 points) are other key players.
“We came into this season hoping to simply get better every day,” coach Keith Lambert said. “With only 22 boys in the high school and one senior in the rotation (in Riley Helmuth), we wanted to build a foundation ... for the future. However, our players really came together, and we got into a groove a year ahead of schedule.”
10. Which teams have the best chance to bring home a trophy?
The easy guesses, of course, are the top seeds. But how often do those top seeds get to state, and all at the same time?
Rarely.
Not only is Orange loaded again, but the lessons learned from last year’s deep run might be the Pioneers’ most valuable tool in getting at least one game further.
The same goes for Hartley, which finished 12-12 a season ago with largely this same cast.
Don’t rule out Pickerington Central, which isn’t as loaded as previous seasons but has a knack for playing its best in the tournament. The Tigers are seeded 15th in Division I, but in this first year of seeds being determined by a ratings percentage index, we will see how much weight those numbers ultimately carry.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Postseason storylines for Greater Columbus boys basketball
