Winter sports gear up for an exciting season
It was an eventful football season that saw six teams from the Columbus area advance to the state semifinals and one, Newark Catholic, make a run all the way to the state championship game. Historic powers continued to flex their muscle, but new teams also emerged to keep the landscape interesting.
And as basketball season kicks off, a similar storyline is starting to develop.
Last Saturday, Pickerington North took down reigning Division II state champion Akron St. Vincent-st. Mary in an eye-opening win that sets the tone for an exciting season around Columbus. After falling in the district finals a year ago, the Panthers have already beaten both STVM and Westerville Central, last year’s Division I state runnerup.
In addition to the Warhawks, three other teams make up a quartet of state runner-ups — Desales and Worthington Christian for the boys and Newark for the girls. Combine that with a bevy of Division I talent around the area and on any given night, there will be elite players on display.
On the ice, Upper Arlington is off to a strong start as the Golden Bears look for a return trip to the state tournament after ending last season in the semifinals.
Bowling, wrestling and swimming are getting underway as well, and gymnastics kicks things off on Monday to complete the lineup of winter sports.
Just like in the fall, throughout the winter season, this weekly column will
be a place to highlight the top performers and latest news at the more than 100 schools in the Dispatch’s coverage area. Our goal is to make sure we don’t miss anyone who deserves to be mentioned, particularly in the less frequently covered sports like bowling and gymnastics, so we welcome submissions via email and on Twitter.
Here are some of the standout performances from the past week in the Columbus area.
Girls Basketball
After sitting out her junior season to focus on softball, Watkins Memorial
senior Madison Jellison returned to the basketball court Tuesday and scored 14 points and pulled down 19 rebounds in a 51-28 win over Newark Catholic.
Reynoldsburg senior and West Virginia commit Imarianah Russell went for 28 points in a 67-51 win over Pickerington Central on Tuesday. Ohio State commit Mya Perry added 21 for the Raiders.
After scoring 37 points in the first game of the season, Delaware Hayes senior and Butler commit followed it up with Chloe Jeffers 30 points in a 58-27 win over Franklin Heights Tuesday.
Boys Basketball
Westerville North coach Shan Trusley earned his 100th career win with a 51-30 win over Watterson Tuesday.
Bloom-carroll senior guard Evan Dozer dropped in 27 points, 10 rebounds and three assists in a 60-49 win over Licking Heights in the seasonopener Wednesday.
Dennis Asoro recorded 20 points with 15 rebounds and two blocks to lead Eastmoor Academy to a 67-64 win over Linden-mckinley on Wednesday. LA Walker and Philip Towns combined for 50 points for Linden in the loss.
Newark’s Grant Burkholder and Steele Meister combined for 40 of the Wildcats’ 47 points in a 47-42 upset of Pickerington Central on Friday.
Hockey
Sam Burns scored two goals and notched two assists to help lead Upper Arlington to the Chiller Thanksgiving Classic championship with a 7-5 win over Olentangy Berlin on Tuesday. Burns has scored 14 goals so far this season and has a pair of four-goal games.
St. Charles sophomore forward Sean Moore scored a hat trick in a 5-1 win over Westerville Tuesday.
Grant Hendrickson scored all three goals for Olentangy Orange in a 3-1 win over Thomas Worthington on Thursday.
Swimming
Upper Arlington junior Grant Kennedy announced his commitment to Pitt on Thursday. bjohnson@dispatch.com @baileyajohnson_