Talented teams rule in regionals
Girls basketball coaches weren’t throwing darts across the room at a cork board when they put together the brackets for the Central District tournament, but they still wound up getting mostly bull’s-eyes.
In Division I, the top four seeds — Newark, Pickerington Central, Dublin Coffman and Reynoldsburg, respectively — advanced to the regional at Otterbein without many problems.
Coaches also nailed topseeded Hartley making it through the district tournament in Division II, Africentric in Division III and Fairfield Christian in Division IV.
Independence, though, was a Division II bracket buster by upsetting third-seeded River Valley 69-65 in a district semifinal, and 2016 state semifinalist Eastmoor Academy 37-34 in the championship game.
The groundwork began to be laid for the team’s first district championship, coach Keith Johnson said, when he interviewed for the job six years ago.
“I told them that it isn’t about one season, but building a program,” he said. “It has been a fun process, and it’s coming into fruition. We had a good group of players last year and graduated one senior. We’ve been growing, although I didn’t know about winning the district. We have proved that it’s more than Africentric and Northland in the City League.”
This is a family affair, with Kimberly Johnson being the official scorer for her husband, son Jordan being a volunteer coach and best friend Curtis Posey coaching the junior varsity.
Independence (20-5) will play Dayton Carroll (21-3) in a regional semifinal at 6:15 p.m. tonight in Springfield. Hartley (20-5) plays Tri-Valley (19-7) at 8 p.m. in Zanesville.
Senior Cynthia Capri Caslin attests that the 76ers are more than a team.
“This is a feeling of, ‘We did it,’ that we finally put a name to Independence, and we’re ready for the next step,” Caslin said. “I’m part of a family. Our team is uplifting. I didn’t think this was possible when I started, but this year as a senior I believed. It has been a lot of hard work and dedication and fighting for the same thing.”
Newark (26-0) defeated Coffman 69-54, Pickerington Central 55-41 and Reynoldsburg 56-51 during the regular season. Reynoldsburg lost both meetings against Central in the Ohio Capital Conference Ohio Division.
Coffman (24-2) plays Central (22-4) at 6:15 p.m. and Newark (26-0) plays Reynoldsburg (24-2) at 8 tonight.
“You know there won’t be a lot of surprises — the teams are familiar with one another — and that’s nice going into games with a lot of significance,” Newark coach J.R. Shumate said. “These teams are extremely talented, particularly the sophomore classes.”
Reynoldsburg coach Jack Purtell, who got teams to the state tournament in 2010, ’12 and ’16, said slip-ups won’t be an option.
“If you have a bad shooting night you will lose because these teams are so close,” he said.
Coffman coach Bryan Patton likes his chances if the players play their game.
“We have to share the basketball and continue to push the basketball,” he said. “We have to run the floor. Everybody must get involved. Above all, we have to play to our strengths and be ready for the moment.”
Coach Will McKinney said that Africentric (20-3), which plays Riverdale (14-12) on Wednesday in Lexington in pursuit of a sixth state championship since 2007, has been maddening for its inconsistency.
“We haven’t peaked, and I hope it’s coming soon,” McKinney said. “Some days we bring it on and some days we don’t. When everyone is focused, we can play against anybody. Sometimes we don’t start games well, and you can’t afford that at this time.”
Also in Division III, Liberty Union (22-3) plays Cincinnati Country Day (27-0) Wednesday in Springfield.
“If you have a bad shooting night you will lose because these teams are so close.”
—Reynoldsburg coach Jack Purtell, on the Raiders’ Division I regional