Greater Columbus high school basketball: 5 takeaways from first weekend of 2024
The first high school basketball weekend of 2024 included some impressive team and individual performances and an unfortunate finish to one of the area’s top boys events.
Multiple fights broke out during the fourth quarter of the Pickerington Central-Walnut Ridge game at The Challenge on Saturday at Africentric, forcing the game to be called and the fifth game of the showcase, between the host Nubians and Westerville North, to be canceled.
The annual five-game event pits teams from the City League and OCC. It was created in 2017 by Africentric coach Michael Bates and his brother, Pickerington North coach Jason Bates.
OCC teams swept the first three games Saturday, and Central led Walnut Ridge 67-51 in the final minutes before the game was declared a no-contest.
On the positive side, here are five things we learned this weekend:
1. Sophomores step up for Worthington Kilbourne boys
Senior forward Aidan Gallogly’s 15 points, 11 rebounds and five assists led the Wolves (6-5) to a 50-37 win over Linden-McKinley in the first game of The Challenge, but three sophomore starters — two of whom were not expected to be on varsity — have played a part in getting Kilbourne above .500.
Sophomore forwards Ben Davis and Luke Page made crucial plays throughout the game against Linden. Page made a strong move to the basket after a Linden turnover to make it 41-35 with 4:32 left, and he hit consecutive layups for a 50-35 lead.
“(Davis and Page) play football so it took them some time to develop and get into it … and once I put them in those positions, nobody took their spots,” coach Ron Lewis said. “Those sophomores are hungry. They’re ready to play.”
Kilbourne surged to a 16-4 lead, only to see Linden (7-3) respond and briefly take the lead late in the first half at 23-21. The Wolves finished the half with a 9-2 run and never trailed again.
The Wolves’ third sophomore starter is guard Brylan Brown. Classmate Tate Rich sees considerable time off the bench.
Gillogly and senior guard Te’Mar Lewis fill the other two spots.
2. Healthy Hilliard Bradley boys hitting stride
Having overcome an onslaught of injuries, including a back issue that sidelined freshman starting guard Ben Mirgon for more than a month, the Jaguars blasted South 65-35 in The Challenge for their sixth consecutive victory.
Senior guard and Illinois State signee Cade Norris led the way with 13 points, six rebounds and six assists, and Mirgon added 13 points. Bradley (7-2) bolted to a 25-2 first-quarter lead.
Mirgon did not practice in November and missed the Jaguars’ first five games.
“We’ve been healthy now for about two weeks,” coach Brett Norris said. “Our preseason was injuries, football, pink eye, COVID, a little bit of everything. We are starting to find our groove. Everybody has stuff like that, but we didn’t have much time until the last 14 days or so to practice and play together. …
“We’re playing better, but we’re far from what we can be.”
Bradley remained undefeated in the OCC-Central (3-0) with a 55-38 win over Olentangy Liberty on Friday, setting up a Tuesday showdown for first place at co-leader Olentangy Orange.
3. Pickerington North boys avoid letdown
That Jason Bates called Saturday “a glorified scrimmage” for his team was a reference to the schedule rather than a 67-34 rout of Eastmoor Academy in The Challenge.
About 18 hours removed from a 52-49 double-overtime win over Grove City that moved North into a four-way tie atop the OCC-Ohio, the Panthers (8-2, 2-1) saw junior guard Arness Lawson post his second consecutive 26-point outing as they controlled the game throughout.
“We had to dig deep (Friday) night, so to come back for an earlier game (Saturday) against a team we don’t know that well and couldn’t scout a whole lot, I try to just make sure we’re better at what we do than they are at what they do,” Bates said. “My dad (longtime Toledo Libbey coach Leroy Bates) always called them glorified scrimmages, a game in the middle of the year that gives you a gauge of where you are. It was a good day for us.”
Kendrick Duru and Favor McFadden each added eight points for North.
4. Defense driving Pickerington Central girls
Tigers coach Chris Wallace has a ready answer as to why his team (10-1, 4-0 OCC-Buckeye) is ranked second statewide and 21st nationally by MaxPreps.
“Defensively, we’re trying to figure it out; we’re built on our defense,” Wallace said. “You want to try different styles against different teams so you can be versatile. The key for me is it’s still a developmental thing. We want to be able to guard different types of kids … (from) dynamic guards to Division I centers.”
Central continued its roll with a 78-41 rout of host Groveport on Friday. Illinois signee Berry Wallace scored a game-high 23 points and junior point guard Rylee Bess added 10.
The Tigers allow 40.5 points per game. Their only loss came to nationally ranked Denville (New Jersey) Morris Catholic, 55-45 on Dec. 29 in the John Wall Holiday Invitational in Charlotte, North Carolina.
5. Marysville girls enjoying another strong season
Seeking a third consecutive OCC-Cardinal title and second consecutive Division I district championship, the Monarchs (9-1, 3-1) are moving in the right direction, according to coach Klarke Ransome.
Senior standout JoJo Eberhart averages 12.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 3.6 steals, and she’s receiving plenty of help from two newcomers, the Price sisters, who transferred in from North Union. Senior forward Abbey Price averages 12.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.6 steals, and junior guard Allison Price averages 9.5 points.
The Monarchs routed Thomas Worthington 45-11 on Friday in league play.
“I’m really proud with how connected we are,” Ransome said. “We’ve continued to grow. We’re going to continue to grow. We want to play our best basketball late January into February, and I think we’re heading in that direction.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Central Ohio high school basketball: 5 takeaways from Jan. 5-6
