Behind The Box Score

Hill leads Warriors over Jackets

After winning a share of the OCC Capital and knocking off perennial power Brookhaven, the sky seemed to be the limit for Mount Vernon (19-4). That sky came crashing down today at the hands of Westerville North. The Warriors (18-3) man in the middle Ralph Hill shut down the Jackets, leading them to a 46-39 victory. Hill and Rhodes combined for 30 of the 46 points for the Warriors.

The slowdown paced favored Westerville North, and they used their size to prove that point against a more perimeter oriented Mount Vernon. In the second half, the Jackets got the game as close as 4 on occasion, but never got within that mark. Hill set the tone with a major three point basket, his only of the game halted a push that had Mount Vernon down 35-31. In the closing seconds, the North student section burst out into a chant of “Start your tractors!” directed towards the small student section of the Yellow Jackets.

Taylor’s 25 helps Lions cruise over Reynoldsburg

In another battle of teams that were meeting for the third time, the Lions didn’t fall prey to Reynoldsburg, dropping the Raiders by a count of 76-59. Gahanna (23-0) was in control of the Raiders for almost all of the game, the lead grew to as many as 16 at one point in the second quarter, but never got above that mark, as Reynoldsburg cut the lead to 12 at halftime.

Gahanna shot extremely well from behind the arc in the first quarter, knocking down four threes, two of them by Stevie Taylor, who had 21 at halftime, and finished with 25 for the game. After a three by the Raiders’ Brandon Rushton to end the quarter down 23-19, the Lions came out in the second quarter with a fire lit underneath them, going on a 16-4 run that spanned the first seven minutes of the quarter. The half ended with two baskets by Reynoldsburg, leaving them trailing 39-27. The three point line was extremely favorable to Gahanna, as they hit seven threes in the first half alone.

The Raiders (13-9) would never get closer than eight in the third quarter, trailing 51-43 at the closest mark, and also ending the quarter down by 8, at 57-49. The fourth quarter favored Gahanna and their free throw shooting abilities and defense, as they would pull away, and not allow Reynoldsburg a point of any form in the final three minutes of the game.

Next Saturday’s district final between Westerville North (18-3) and Gahanna Lincoln (23-0) will start at 12:30 PM at the Fairgrounds Coliseum.

And for highlights of some of these games, check out http://capcitypreps.com/sports/basketball/2009/poweek2.html