Big-ticket events to highlight Martin Luther King weekend
The Pickerington Central girls basketball team’s Martin Luther King Day Classic has undergone an overhaul, becoming the inaugural Classic in the City and one of several top-tier events taking place this weekend locally and across the state.
Nine state-ranked teams, including top-ranked Division II power Granville, and two nationally ranked teams highlight the 27-team field.
The event’s highest-ranked team is Montverde (Florida) Academy, which is 11th nationally according to Maxpreps. Central, which is ranked ninth statewide this week in Division I, will play Montverde at 4 p.m. Monday and Bradenton (Florida) IMG Academy at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Cincinnati Princeton is ranked second this week in Division I and 19th nationally by Maxpreps.
Other participating state-ranked teams are Africentric (eighth in Division III), Cincinnati Purcell Marian (sixth in Division III), Dresden Tri-valley (fourth in Division II), Dublin Coffman (fifth in Division I), Hartley (second in Division II) and Newark (eighth in Division I).
Top players in the event include Montverde forward Janiah Barker, Cincinnati Winton Woods point guard Chance Gray and IMG Academy forward Grace Vanslooten, who are the fifth-, seventh- and 13th-ranked seniors nationally according to espnw. Purcell Marian guard Darianna Alexander is espnw’s top-ranked sophomore.
Vanslooten, an Oregon commit, attended Toledo Notre Dame Academy, which Central defeated in a Division I state semifinal in 2019, before transferring to IMG last summer.
Battle in the 614
Twenty-four boys teams and 10
girls teams will participate in the 18game Battle in the 614 at Ohio Dominican.
Highlighting the boys field are three state-ranked teams in Beechcroft, which is 11th statewide in Division II this week, and Ready and Springfield Shawnee in Division III.
Dublin Jerome’s boys, who are sixth in this week’s Super 7 poll, will face Northland at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Flyin’ to the Hoop
Four of central Ohio’s top boys teams will participate in Flyin’ to the Hoop at Kettering Fairmont.
Africentric has one of the state’s top junior recruits in forward Dailyn Swain and is 8-2 while being ranked seventh in the Division III state poll.
Pickerington North is 9-1 and led by senior guards Dior Conners and Jerry Saunders.
Pickerington Central is ranked third in Division I and has one of the state’s top juniors in forward Devin Royal, who averages 19 points.
Gahanna is 9-2, ranked eighth in Division I and is led by senior guard Sean Jones, a Marquette signee who averages 18 points, and senior forward and Toledo signee Javan Simmons.
Classic in the Country Challenge
Two central Ohio girls basketball programs, Westerville North and Reynoldsburg, will travel to Berlin Hiland for the Classic in the Country Challenge.
Led by junior guard Emoni French, who averages 13.5 points, North is 5-7 but has won two of its past three.
Reynoldsburg is 11-2 and features a trio of Division I recruits in senior guards Makiya Miller (Wright State), Mya Perry (Ohio State) and Imarianah Russell (West Virginia).