Greater Columbus high school girls basketball: 5 storylines after the holidays
Halfway through the girls high school basketball regular season, title races are taking shape in most central Ohio leagues. Fairly soon, the postseason picture will begin to come into focus.
With one month to play before the district tournament draw Feb. 4, here are five storylines from the girls basketball season to date:
1. Lack of senior starters not hurting Olentangy
Despite having no seniors in the starting lineup, the Braves are unbeaten (10-0, 3-0 OCC-Cardinal) entering a Friday league game at Hilliard Darby (3-6, 0-3).
One highlight this season was a 59-49 win over two-time defending league champion Marysville, last year’s Division I regional runner-up, on Dec. 1. The rematch is Jan. 19 at Marysville.
Sophomore point guard Whitney Stafford leads in scoring at 17.1 points per game, followed by freshman forward/guard Sydney Mobley (15.9) and junior guard/forward Chayla Rankin (9.1). Mobley leads in rebounding at 12.7 per game.
Junior guards Kate Mosher and Ally Thomas round out the starting lineup.
“We live in the film room,” second-year coach Jamie Edwards said. “All we focus on is what can we do to get better. We’re young and we’re deep. We just focus on knowing that we’re going to make mistakes, focusing on the culture and staying positive. This is a good run. We knew that we were going to be good, but did we know that we were going to be good this quick, I don’t know.”
Before taking over at Olentangy, Edwards coached Cardington for seven seasons and was an assistant in the boys and girls programs at Olentangy. The Braves went 14-10 a season ago.
2. Canal Winchester thriving under Hedgepeth
After returning Pickerington Central to district and state power status throughout the 2010s, Johnathan Hedgepeth has enjoyed immediate success with a young Indians team.
With only one senior in point guard Michaela Dunn, Canal Winchester (10-1, 5-0 OCC-Capital) is in the driver’s seat for its first league championship since the 1980s.
Junior forwards Mya Brown and Annelise Dearth and sophomores London Johnson (forward) and Lily Kissinger (guard) round out the starting lineup. Junior guard Pierce Cephas and freshman forward Kylie Long, among others, play key roles off the bench.
“They are buying in to what’s being sold,” Hedgepeth said. “They have a chance to do something Canal hasn’t done in a long time. Practices are getting better. They’re believing and learning on the fly.”
Hedgepeth was 170-42 at Central from 2013-21, including the Division I state championship in 2018 and a state runner-up finish the next year. He spent the past two years assisting his former assistant, Chris Wallace.
Cephas had 18 points, Johnson scored 17 and Dunn added 16 in a 60-59 win at Bloom-Carroll on Tuesday. Long helped guard Miami University-bound Emily Bratton, who had 23 points but was held scoreless in the fourth quarter until a last-second 3-pointer.
3. Bloom-Carroll enjoying more balance
Even with Bratton held in check in the fourth quarter Tuesday, the Bulldogs (8-3, 4-1 MSL-Buckeye) got the complementary contributions they have come to expect.
Key 3-pointers from senior guard Marissa Wilkinson and big defensive plays from junior guard Tessa Brooks helped Bloom-Carroll momentarily take a late lead after trailing by eight.
Bratton and Wilkinson are the only returning starters from last season’s Division II district semifinalist team.
“We’ve talked all year about how this is a pretty complete basketball team,” coach A.J. Ireland said. “We’re a little more balanced team. We have players who can make plays from different positions, different spots on the floor. Our toughness is the biggest difference. Not saying our teams in the past haven’t been tough, but there’s something a little different about this one. They compete every possession.”
Junior forwards Charlie Conrad and Emma Sorrell start inside.
Bratton’s 23.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.6 assists lead the way. Wilkinson and Brooks add 9.6 and 7.8 points, respectively, and Sorrell leads in rebounding (5.5).
4. DeSales launches CCL title defense
The Stallions (7-3) expect injured guards Sarah Herzberg and Jordyn Miller to return soon, helping the team build on a solid start as it pursues a second consecutive CCL championship.
Seniors and three-year starters Kenyetietta Quinn, Jessica Salyer and Bridget Womber anchor the paint, and junior Bella Brader has emerged as a solid 3-point shooter. For various reasons, the program lost 14 players from last winter’s 19-5 Division I district semifinalist team, but only two were because of graduation.
DeSales begins league play Thursday against Hartley.
“I think very highly of this team; I think the sky is the limit,” coach Erick Herzberg said. “If I had to characterize us, we lean on our zone; it’s the cornerstone we build from, but offensively, we can do a lot of things because we have the bigs who can be a mismatch. We have some slashers and excellent shooters.”
The non-league schedule has included undefeated Olentangy, usual Central District power Westerville South and two-time defending City League-North champion Northland.
5. Cradle approaching return for Westerville South
The Wildcats (6-3, 4-1 OCC-Capital) should be boosted by the return of sophomore guard Ariyana Cradle, who has missed the first nine games while continuing her rehab from ACL surgery. She underwent the surgery after last season.
Coach Jermaine Guice hopes Cradle makes her season debut Friday at Canal Winchester.
“That’s going to be a big addition, (but) we can’t just say, 'Let’s rely on (Cradle),' ” Guice said. “Everyone has to use the tools that they’re learning and continue to help. She becomes a piece to the puzzle. She’s made a phenomenal recovery.”
Cradle, who already has several Division I offers, averaged 15.4 points last season and was first-team all-league, second-team all-district and special mention all-state in Division I.
Having her back on the court should help South contend for another league title and position itself for a postseason run. Last season, the Wildcats earned their 11th league title and third district championship before losing to Marysville 46-38 in a regional semifinal.
“We’re surviving by the skin of our teeth at times, but we still have a lot of room to grow,” Guice said. It’s realizing our potential. We’re a team that come (district) tournament time, you’re probably not going to want to play us, because hopefully by then we’re hitting our stride and we’re ready to go.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Central Ohio girls basketball: 5 storylines after the holidays
