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 Read the rest of this entry »

Third Time Is The Charm: Rocks top Bears

After the first two games between Coffman and Upper Arlington going to the final minute, did you expect anything different for round three? A long two point shot by Carter Smith bounced out, and Coffman escaped a vicous rally by the Bears, and the Rocks Read the rest of this entry »

As the OCC season finds itself a little more than halfway complete, some races begin to tighten up, while others are almost locked up. Here is a look at the first divisons in alphabetic order:

*all numbers in () are divison records.

Capital- Read the rest of this entry »

In a crazy week of sports that involves championship weeekend in the NFL, Cavs-Lakers in the NBA and arbitration in Major League Baseball, here a few interesting facts that are products of this week. Read the rest of this entry »

Days removed from his spectacular 46 point outing in a loss against Mifflin, East’s Jerry Dixon returned for Friday’s game against Linden-McKinley expecting to not only play better but lead the Tigers to a victory. Dixon made the highlight reel yet again, this time in a win. Read the rest of this entry »

When you think of high school basketball in the state of Ohio, you have the key points: conference titles, district titles, and wins over your crosstown rivals. But for two teams, they have never had the chance to experience the last of the three mentioned. Today when Grove City (4-1, 2-1) and Central Crossing (0-5, 0-3) step on to the floor, it will be the Read the rest of this entry »

Only 24 hours removed from their upset victory over then #1 Findlay Prep, the Northland Vikings made sure nobody would ruin their moment. Home against traditionally weak Centennial, the Vikings went out and did business as usual waxing the Stars up and down the floor for 95 points and letting the defense thrive, allowing 49. Read the rest of this entry »

When it all matters most, the Northland Vikings know exactly who to go to. Case in point, last March. Tied in the Ohio State Championship Game, Jared Sullinger was fouled with a second remaining against Cincinnati Princeton. Calm and collected at the line, Ohio’s Mr. Basketball knocked down two of three free throws to give Northland it’s first state championship in school history, 70-68. Nine months later, the Vikings would need another spectacular performance from the best player in the land, this time against the best team in the land, the Findlay Prep Pilots out of Las Vegas. Read the rest of this entry »

Giving up an 11 point lead with four minutes left is never fun but for East’s Jeremiah Dixon, Tuesday night’s game was on to remember. Opening up City League play against crosstown rival Mifflin, Dixon torched the Punchers for 46 points including four threes, in part of a game where the guard knocked down 12 at the line, LeBron-esque? Read the rest of this entry »

As the Northland Vikings walked onto the floor to begin a season where the defending state champs will be challenged more than ever, the opening tip was an indication of what was to come. As usual, Jared Sullinger won the tip and the season was off. Even on a night where top players Sullinger and JD Weatherspoon weren’t as dominant as they have been in the past, the rest of the Northland squad stepped up big time in a 69-43 win over rival Brookhaven.

Penn State bound point guard Trey Burke took care of the scoring department, shooting exceptionally well from the field in part of 21 point performance in front of a packed crowd at Northland High School. Sullinger got the crowd rocking early on a tip slam in the second quarter that virtually changed the momentum of the game. As the Vikings were tied 15-15 at the end of the first, Ohio’s reigning Mr. Basketball decided to take over the game. Drawing fouls all night, Sullinger collected 17 points, with the  majority coming from the free throw line.

Brookhaven’s big man, Peter Kpan did an outstanding job as well. Guarding Sullinger is not the easiest task, and Kpan took care of it exceptionally well. Positioning himself in the post all night, Sullinger had a tough time getting the ball when Kpan was on him. To everyone in the stands, Kpan came as a surprise as nobody in the City League had been a challenge for Jared throughout the first three years of watching him. Kpan also did an above average job on the offensive side of the ball, scoring eight points including an impressive spin in the post on Sullinger, one of the only times Kpan scored on the Ohio State bound star.

Back to Burke, who was arguably the MVP on Tuesday night. Weeks after committing to Penn State, Trey Burke showed the crowd at Northland just what he is going to do this season. Controlling the ball on offense, Burke dominated the game at his own pace. Whether it was slashing to the basket, or hitting deep three’s, which he did three times on Tuesday, the junior  was the best player on the court. But with every win in basketball, it takes more than two players to get it done and the Vikings did just that. Sophomore KeChaun Lewis electrified the crowd in the third quarter when #22 threw down a thunderous jam on a fast break where Lewis caused a turnover, one of many for Brookhaven last night.

The offense for Northland was very good for the most part, as Weatherspoon poured in seven, Burke added in seven as well and Lavonte Justice had six points coming off of two three point field goals. JV superstar Lequan Williams also made a contribution late in the game, driving to the hoop for two of his six points. With the balanced scoring, the Viking defense was virtually suffocating. Giving up a game high 15 points in the first, no such scoring output for Brookhaven would come again. Building an eight point lead at the break, the Vikings would go on to allow six, 11 and 11 points in the last three quarters. A good mix of offense and defense is crucial to winning basketball games and Northland took care of that downing the Brookhaven Bearcats once again.

To see highlights of the game go to:http://www.mefeedia.com/video/26698248. This is compliments of Anthony Murphy over at Cap City Preps.