Liberty rings up big win over Coff man
Before a game Saturday against Dublin Coffman in the Jared Sullinger Play-By-Play Classic at Ohio Dominican, Olentangy Liberty coach Greg Nossaman challenged his team to achieve bigger and better things.
"I told them, 'Let's do the work needed to get back in this locker room for the district championship game,' "Nossaman said. The Division I districts and regionals are played at ODU.
Liberty took a first step toward that goal by knocking off Dublin Coffman 62-54 to run its record to a modest 9-7. Seventh-ranked in the state, Coffman (14-3) dropped its second game of the week.
"I think we can beat anyone in central Ohio," Nossaman said. "In anticipation of having a pretty good team, we put together a strong schedule. We've played an awful lot of good teams and sometimes come out on the losing end, but a big reason why was our 6-8 center (Dan McFarland) was out the first 10 games."
A big part of Nossaman's enthusiasm centers on standout junior guard Ben Roderick, who had 30 points. Several Division I college coaches were on hand to see him and Coffman sophomore Dominiq Penn.
WESTERVILLE NORTH 57, REYNOLDSBURG 46: Julius Brown hit seven of his team's 12 three-pointers and scored 29 points to pace North (14-3) over Reynoldsburg (11-6). The Warriors made five threepointers in racing to a 22-9 first-quarter lead. "We track passes because the more we pass the better we are," North coach Shan Trusley said. "We had 64 (passes) in the first quarter. It translates it a big way. When we're sharing the ball and getting everybody involved, going inside-out, we can be pretty good."
Nick Voorhies added 11 points for the Warriors. Tre Williams had 12 points for Reynoldsburg, but that was seven under his average.
AFRICENTRIC 61, GAHANNA 46: Dorian Holloway scored a season-high 21 points for Africentric (12-4), which raced to a 10-0 lead and never trailed in a rout of Gahanna (12-4). Jah Bennett added 16 points and Tre' Baumgardner 12 for the Nubians, who led by as many as 20. "Dorian suffered a torn meniscus in football and wasn't cleared to do anything until late in December," Africentric coach Michael Bates said. "His emergence really helps us because he's a bully out there on the court. He guards all five positions, runs the floor well, rebounds and finishes. Plus, he gives us a third legitimate scorer." Chase Rankin paced Gahanna with 16 points. NEWARK 63, NORTHLAND 50: JT Shumate scored 20 points and Antonio Watson II 17, and Newark (15-2) finished strong for a win over Northland (10-6). The Vikings opened the second half with a 14-0 run for a 36-31 lead and increased it to 41-35, but Newark recovered with a closing 21-5 surge. "We started running up and down the floor with them and that's not how we play," Newark coach Jeff Quackenbush said. "They got us playing too fast. We need to reverse the ball and get our shots, and the guys finally realized that in the fourth quarter."
William Mfum had 14 points to lead Northland. HILLIARD BRADLEY 54, PICKERINGTON CENTRAL 33: Isaiah Speelman scored 18 points, powering Hilliard Bradley (12-1) to a surprisingly easy win over 2017 state semifinalist Pickerington Central (7-8). Matt Allocco added 13 points and Chris Mayfield 12 for Bradley, which lowered its stingy defensive average of 38 points allowed.
"We weren't ourselves in a lot of ways tonight, but we had a nice stretch at the end to pull away," Bradley coach Brett Norris said. "Pickerington Central's track record speaks for itself. This is a really good win for us, but we've got a lot of room for growth." Adrian Nelson had 14 points for Central.
UPPER ARLINGTON 45, EASTMOOR ACADEMY 30: Max Martz scored 16 points and Dane Goodwin 15 to lead UA (14-1) over Eastmoor (13-2).
"That was a very talented, athletic team we just shut down," UA coach Tim Casey said. "Defensively, we're getting back to where we were earlier in the season. We felt like we were well prepared for the type of game Eastmoor likes to play and we were dialed in to shut them down." Taevion Kinsey had 12 points for Eastmoor, which never got closer than 10 after halftime.