Hunter keys decisive run by North
Although he already owns a box full of a scholarship offers from some of the finest college programs, Pickerington North 6-foot-7 junior forward Jerome Hunter often seems determined to prove his versatility to recruiters, fans and, perhaps, himself.
Maybe the only knock on Hunter is his 40 percent field-goal accuracy, a result of his propensity to settle for perimeter shots.
“We’ve wrestled all year about him working the inside-outside game,” Panthers coach Jason Bates said. “He thinks he has to get his outside shot going first for
some reason. I try to tell him that he’s such a force on the block and he puts so much pressure on defenses … that he should try to assert himself inside first.”
Hunter heeded his coach’s advice Thursday night, taking over in the fourth quarter and leading Pickerington North to a 64-44 rout of Upper Arlington in a Division I regional semifinal at Ohio Dominican.
Hunter made 6 of 7 shots and scored 13 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter as the Panthers turned a one-point deficit into a lopsided win. North outscored UA 27-6 in the final period.
“I came out shooting a lot of jump shots, but I moved inside, hit a couple shots and got really comfortable and confident,” said Hunter, who also had 10 rebounds. North (21-6) will face Ohio Capital Conference Ohio Division rival Pickerington Central (25-2) for the regional title at 7 p.m. Saturday at ODU.
After the Panthers built a 10-point lead, Upper Arlington (24-3) found its groove and seemed to have the momentum heading to the fourth quarter. But Hunter hit four straight shots in the lane or along the baseline, and
Matt Lanier nailed a three-pointer to key a 24-4 run.
“We knew they’d make a run eventually, but the key would be how we answered,” Bates said. “We just had to defend, keep the tempo and try to work inside on them.”
Dondre Palmer added 14 points for North and played tough defense on Ohio State-bound junior Dane Goodwin, who led the Golden Bears with 18 points and seven rebounds.
“My role was to lock up my man and try to get him in foul trouble,” Palmer said. “It was a team effort. I think we were effective in messing up the flow of their offense. When we watched film, we noticed that sometimes they didn’t get back on defense and we wanted to beat them back down court.” Upper Arlington coach Tim Casey conceded that his team often struggled against outstanding big men.
“When we got the lead at the end of the third quarter, I thought we had things under control, but at the start of the fourth, we made a couple of turnovers and they went down on scored off both and the floodgates opened,” he said. “When Hunter gets it going, he’s really, really good. He was definitely the difference-maker tonight.”