Full-court pressure helps Africentric roll over Delaware Christian

By: Zach Fleer / @YS614

City-League South champions Africentric (21-3) advanced to the Division IV district final with a resounding 55-38 victory over Delaware Christian (11-12). The Nubians used constant full-court pressure to get the Eagles out of rhythm, creating turnovers which led to fast break points.

JD Davis powers East to road win over River Valley

By: Zach Fleer / @YS614

Playing their first game in 16 days, JD Davis and the East Tigers advanced to the district semifinals after a hard-fought road win over 14th-seeded River Valley (12-12), 45-41. Davis stuffed the stat sheet for the Tigers, going for 14 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks to power East to their 11th win of the season.

New Albany’s defense locks down Mount Vernon

After scoring only 30 points per game in their two regular season matchup, Mount Vernon was hoping to crack the code that is New Albany’s defense. Unfortunately for the Yellow Jackets and their fans, they didn’t get to double digits until late in the third quarter, and New Albany (22-2) with their stellar defense in top gear tonight, took down Mount Vernon 52-23 in a sectional final.

Pickerington Central survives Dublin Scioto despite Ashwill’s 33

During tournament time, some players will crumble under the pressure while others will shine. The latter was the case for Pickerington Central’s Jae’Sean Tate, who had a team-high 26 points in a 59-57 overtime win over Dublin Scioto in a Division I sectional final. An arguably better performance was put up by the Scioto’s Joshua Ashwill, who had five three-pointers en route to a 33-point performance.

Westland runs past Westerville Central, 77-62

JJ Smith gets an offensive rebound and put-back towards the end of the first quarter.

By: Zach Fleer / @YS614

Whatever struggles the Westland Cougars (18-6) had at home just a few weeks ago are long gone after tonight’s enormous victory over Westerville Central in the second round of tournament play, 77-62. Led by Kersey Long’s 26 points, the Cougars ran the Warhawks off the court with suffocating defense which in turn led to transition offense to guide Westland to the win.

Esa Ahmad is on his way to becoming Cleveland’s top prospect

By: Zach Fleer / @YS614

Shaker Heights‘ sophomore big man Esa Ahmad has been making noise thus far in a successful 2012-’13 campaign for the Raiders. Drawing comparisons to Carlos Boozer, the six-foot-seven, 215 pound forward is one of the most talented players in a deep 2015 class in the state of Ohio.

All you need to know in Columbus: Wednesday, February 27th

The second round is upon us. We probably won’t have any unbelievable upsets like in the NCAA tournament’s second round, but what you will see is very good basketball, and some great games are in the forecast without a doubt. Of the 12 games on the docket for Division I, nine of them will be played on the 27th, two more on the 28th, and the Olentangy Orange at Zanesville being the lone game on the 1st of March. Today here at Scarberry Productions, I will give key facts about the 9 games for tomorrow night:

Columbus City-League sends nine teams to second round

In the first round of Central district tournament play this weekend, the Columbus City-League had nine teams advance to the second round. In Division I action, No. 1 seed Northland rolled over Hilliard Bradley, 71-39. In addition to Northland’s victory, 20th-seeded Walnut Ridge dispatched 25th-seeded Pickerington North 50-41, behind a balanced scoring effort, including 14 points from Rob Wheelwright. 

Northland rolls over Hilliard Bradley behind strong second half

Ohio’s top team had many inside Northland’s gymnasium shaking their heads after the host Vikings went into halftime leading by only seven over lowly Hilliard Bradley (1-22, 0-13). Northland would rebound in the second half, fueled by a flurry of high power slams from Derek McKeithen in a 71-39 victory in the first round of tournament play.

Grove City rolls easily over Hilliard Davidson despite slow start

With slow starts being the norm tonight, the 16th-seeded Grove City Greyhounds (14-8, 10-4) overcame an early first half deficit with a 17-2 run, going on to win 77-51 over Hilliard Davidson.