Teams hit road, skies for tournaments
A fleet of Santa Claus’ high-speed sleighs might come in handy for area basketball teams barnstorming the country playing in holiday tournaments.
Some 34 boys teams and 30 girls teams will hit the road and, in some cases, the skies in the name of hoops. The locales include Florida, Missouri, Delaware, Tennessee, West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
Olentangy boys coach John Feasel will take his team to Kissimmee, Florida, from Thursday through Saturday for the KSA Events Holiday Tournament. The Braves will play in one of eight six-team brackets at the spacious ESPN Wide World of Sports complex.
“When I coached the girls, we went there four times and had a great experience,” Feasel said. “While we definitely want to develop and improve as a team, the main purpose of these trips is to have some fun, go to all the (amusement) parks and, most important, bond as a team. There’s also a cultural part of it. Some of these guys have never flown or traveled outside Ohio before.”
The team held fundraisers to afford the trip.
“Since we’ll be playing three games in three days, we’ll have to play a lot more people,” Feasel said. “This gives the coaching staff a great opportunity to see if some of these kids not in the starting five can help us later in game situations.”
Upper Arlington’s boys team will take an eight-hour charter bus ride to Jefferson City, Missouri, for the Joe Machens Great 8 Classic running Thursday through Saturday. The Golden Bears have played in the eight-team event four times since 2011.
“People always ask me, ‘Why don’t you go to Florida or South Carolina or one of these warm places for the holidays?’ and my response is I want to go someplace where it’s all about basketball,” UA coach Tim Casey said.
“In past years there, we’ve been very impressed with the administrative people and the way they treat us. They put our guys up in a hotel and feed us for four days. The competition there is really good, too.”
Area powers lose key players
The injury bug already has taken its toll on at least three elite area teams.
Pickerington Central, Division I state semifinalist last March, lost junior point guard Jeremiah Francis, who has committed to North Carolina, to a knee injury in the team’s preview. He underwent arthroscopic surgery Dec. 12 to remove loose cartilage and is projected to miss four to six weeks.
Across town, Pickerington North's 6-foot-9 center Ross Ryan suffered a broken bone in a knee and will be out for tough a month. When the teams played, Ryan and Francis exchanged pleasantries during warmups while clutching crutches.
Fourth-year Hilliard Bradley starting senior point guard Braden Norris is expected to miss six to eight weeks following surgery for a foot fracture sustained in the team’s second game. Nevertheless, the Jaguars are 6-0.
Bradley coach Brett Norris, Braden’s father, said the injury occurred on a non-contact play.
“When it happened, you wouldn’t have thought it was anything serious at all,” Norris said. “He drove right and appeared to sprain his ankle, but didn’t hobble or fall down. He kept playing for several trips up and down the floor. Obviously, it’s difficult trying to replace the heart and soul of your team, but we’ve got other good players who we’re confident will step up in his absence.”
Stats begin Jan. 9
The Dispatch will begin publishing area boys and girls stat leaders on Jan. 9. Coaches or statisticians are asked to email leaders to
or sports@dispatch.com by 4 p.m. each Monday. Categories include scoring, rebounding, assists, field goal-, free throw- and three-point shooting.