STAYING ALIVE
Ten central Ohio boys basketball teams’ state championship hopes remain alive as the regional tournament begins Tuesday.
Some, such as traditional powers Africentric, Harvest Prep and Pickerington Central — plus undefeated Ready — were expected by many to be here.
Others, such as double-digit seed Newark, might be more of a surprise.
Both Division IV district champions are practicing this late in the season for the first time.
Here are five storylines for the regional tournament in central Ohio, for divisions I-IV:
1. Against odds, Westerville South remains alive
Storylines for Columbus area regional tourneys
Relying on a six-player rotation consisting of seniors Jadi Cunningham (guard), Jujuan Ray (forward) and Jalen Wheeler (guard) and sophomores Amari Hodges (guard), Tyler Kielmeyer (center) and Kruz Mcclure (guard), South (21-5) knocked off fourth-seeded Westerville North (60-55) and fifth-seeded Dublin Jerome (62-60) in the district semifinal and final. The Wildcats, who were seeded ninth, will play defending state champion Pickerington Central (21-5) in a regional semifinal Thursday at Ohio Dominican.
“I don’t think a lot of people really expected much from us except us,” said coach Ed Calo, who stepped down in April after 35 seasons but returned in July. “We will have ‘nobody but us’ T-shirts here because nobody expected anything from us, but our kids believed from the beginning.”
Having graduated eight from last year’s Division I district championship team and temporarily losing their coach to retirement, the Wildcats have caught fire at the right time.
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2. Newark crashes all-olentangy semifinal party
A funny thing happened on the way to the season’s third meeting between Olentangy Liberty and Olentangy Orange, both of which spent the regular season ranked in the top 10 statewide.
Newark, seeded 11th in the district, used several defenses to stymie second-seeded Liberty in a 57-48 win Saturday. Senior guard Grant Burkholder led the way with 25 points as the Wildcats (20-7), who have no starters taller than 6 feet 3 and no one on the roster over 6-5, advanced to their first regional since 2019.
They will face Orange (23-3) in a regional semifinal Wednesday at ODU. The Division I regional semifinal winners play for a state semifinal berth Saturday at Ohio University.
“Defense at times has not been our strength, but when you’re a little smaller and you struggle to rebound at times, it has to be,” Newark coach Jeff Quackenbush said. “(Orange is) another team that’s super-skilled and well-coached … and a lot bigger than we are. Every game, we have to come up with a plan.”
3. Ready, Watterson give Division II regional CCL flavor
Ready (26-0) will play Zanesville Maysville (24-1) in a semifinal Thursday at Ohio University, with the winner playing Fairfield Union or Dresden Trivalley on Saturday in Athens.
Fairfield Union (23-3) won a Southeast District title by beating New Lexington 58-41. The Falcons play Tri-valley in a semifinal Thursday at Ohio University.
Watterson (17-9) earned its second district title in three seasons by rallying past Caledonia River Valley 62-54 on Saturday. Senior guard Owen Samenuk and senior center Cole Rhett led Watterson with 15 points apiece.
The Eagles will play Dayton Chaminade Julienne (23-2) in a regional semifinal Thursday at Vandalia Butler.
Ready and Watterson could meet for the third time this season in the state final March 19 at the University of Dayton.
4. Division III features familiar district champions
While top-seeded Africentric almost certainly was perceived as a district championship favorite, the seed alone indicated fifth-seeded Harvest Prep’s 61-44 win over second-seeded Worthington Christian on Thursday was an upset.
Harvest Prep (19-6), which will face New Madison Tri-village (20-5) in a regional semifinal Wednesday at Kettering Fairmont, did not feel that way. Two of its losses came to 2022 state champions Cincinnati Taft (Division III) and Richmond Heights (Division IV) to start the season, as well as Division I district finalist Westerville South and Columbus City League champion Northland.
“When we saw the seed, we felt like we had to show people who we are,” Harvest Prep guard Zyaun Hutson said. “If we could play those teams well, we knew we could beat anybody. Those games made us what we are now.”
Africentric (20-5) will play Sugarcreek Garaway (22-4) in a regional semifinal Wednesday at Ohio University. The Nubians, a state semifinalist last year, cruised past third-seeded Columbus Academy 78-56 in a district final behind 23 points from senior forward Dailyn Swain, a Xavier commit.
5. Northside Christian, Patriot Prep try to continue magical runs
Northside Christian and Patriot Prep will continue their season of firsts when they compete at regional for the first time. In district finals Friday, Northside Christian defeated Newark Catholic 6046 and Patriot Prep beat Galion Northmor 50-38 in overtime.
Northside Christian (22-3) will play Franklin Furnace Green (20-5) on Tuesday at Ohio University, with the winner playing Stewart Federal Hocking or Berlin Hiland in the regional final Friday in Athens.
Patriot Prep (18-6) will take on Jackson Center (18-1) on Tuesday in Kettering, with the winner playing Russia or Troy Christian on Friday.
Northside Christian is led by 6-7 Landon Vanderwarker, the district Player of the Year. He leads the team in scoring (22.9) and rebounding (11.9).
“I’m a proud dad,” said coach Vanderwarker, Landon’s father, who was named district Coach of the Year. “I tell everybody I’m his greatest critic and I’m his biggest cheerleader. He puts in the hours and he puts in the work to get where he’s at and he loves playing with the guys. His hard work is paying off.”