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

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 survived 50-48. Upper Arlington’s undefeated season comes to a close in the same round that it did in ‘09 when they fell to Newark.

The Bears (21-1) jumped out on the Rocks 23-16 early into the second quarter, in similar fashion to how the first two games were played. But an 8-0 run by Coffman (20-3) gave them a lead that would not be relinquished until late in the 4th.

The Rocks would push the lead out to as many as 8 in the 3rd quarter, but after the end of the third the gap was cut to 5. Two turnovers and missed chances by Coffman would get UA within one. Kyle Molock’s drive to the lane would help extend the Rocks lead to 6. The lead would change hands once more, but Coffman led by one when Michael Green was fouled and with thirteen seconds left, Michael Green for Coffman knocked down one of two free throws. The shot for UA fell short, and time had run out on their undefeated season.

Undefeated No More: Red Devils top South

Two years ago, a top seeded Northland team faced Westerville South in the district semifinal. The Cats somehow upset the #1 Vikings that day in one of the great upsets of the decade. Today, they were on the recieving end of this upset, falling to Marion Franklin just a few minutes ago. The Wildcats (22-1) had trouble matching the post presence of the Red Devils’ Elijah Macon, who controlled the inside for most of the game.

South jumped out to a 6-2 lead, but the running style of Marion Franklin gave the Devils a lead at the end of one. Once again, South found a way to control tempo, and led by 7 twice during the first half, but still could not gain the advantage at the halftime break.

After half, the lead for the Red Devils would grow to as many as 8, with South’s Traevon Jackson struggling since he sat out the last five minutes of the first half with three fouls. South made runs to cut into the deficit, but each time Marion Franklin would answer. Midway through the fourth, the Devils held a 56-48 lead, until a violent rally by South would tie the game up. Jackson missed a breakaway layup that would have given South a two point lead, but was contested and the shot fell off. Marion-Franklin would go on an 8-0 run of their own to give themselves the lead for good.

Next Saturday’s district final between Dublin Coffman (20-3) and Marion-Franklin (17-5) will start at 10:00 AM at the Fairgrounds Coliseum.

OTHER CITY LEAGUE HEADLINES:

• Bitter rivals Brookhaven and Beechcroft battled all night, as the Bearcats came out victorious 63-61 in overtime behind Peter Kpan, who scored 19.
• Northland destroyed the hopeless Linden-McKinley Panthers 106-26, in part to Jared Sullinger and Trey Burke who combined to score 47 points.
• Winless West continued the trend last night, dropping another game, this time at the hands of South leading Marion Franklin, 90-55.
• East wins yet again behind the dynamic backcourt duo of Jerry Dixon and Jordan Laster, combining for 36 points in a 67-50 win over Whetstone.

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-

Leading: Mount Vernon (9-1)

In the Race: Olentangy Orange, New Albany (8-2)

Longshot: Delaware Hayes (6-4)

To begin the year, nearly everybody had picked Olentangy Orange to run away and defend their title from a year ago. All seemed well for the Pioneers, as they opened up the year with an 84-45 crushing win over Mount Vernon. But Mount Vernon and New Albany’s upset of those Pioneers put Orange in trouble with only four games remaining on the schedule. This league will more than likely field 5, if not 6 teams with winning records, the sixth being upstart Hilliard Bradley if they can close out and gain a key win or two. Franklin Heights and Watkins Memorial will more than likely not get another win the rest of the year, with the exception of the meeting between the two on February 12th.

Cardinal-

Leading: Westerville South (10-0)

In the Race: Westerville North (8-2)

Longshot: Westerville Central (7-3)

Success by the Westerville schools this year has certainly been shown this year in the Cardinal, with each team having 12+ wins. Westerville South’s Traevon Jackson has lit up defenses all across the conference, powering the Wildcats to a 16-0 mark overall, the best in the Central District. Other than the Westerville’s however, the league doesn’t have much proof of success this year, including one of last year’s district champion in Dublin Scioto starting off the 09-10 campaign 3-11, a long ways from the 19-1 Irish team last year. Scioto and 3 other teams in the league are already guaranteed losing records, which include Olentangy, Marysville, and  Dublin Jerome. The February 5th matchup between South and Westerville North should clear up the picture in the Cardinal division for good. To stay alive in the league, North would need a win and another loss by South somewhere along the line to just split the title.

Central-

Leading: Upper Arlington (10-0)

In the Race: Dublin Coffman (9-1)

Longshot: Hilliard Davidson (6-3)

The last week of the 1st round of the OCC proved the division leader to be Upper Arlington, as they avenged last year’s losses to Dublin Coffman 64-58. The Bears however, nearly slipped up as they had to survive a major rally from the Panthers of Hilliard Darby, only winning by the slimmest of margins at 53-52. On paper, a league that is annually very solid is down this year drastically. Three teams, Central Crossing, Westland, and Thomas Worthington have already clinched a losing season, and a fourth could potentially be Worthington Kilbourne. Hilliard Davidson started the basketball season late due to their participation in the OHSAA state football playoffs, a game they won in thrilling fashion over Glenville. They have gelled though to make a solid push for third place in the division. The winner of the league will be determined the last weekend of the season when Dublin Coffman and Arlington meet in Dublin on February 19th. The game will more than likely come down to a scoring fest between Rocks center Michael Green and Bears guard Kevin Sullivan, who had 35 in the first meeting between the two schools.

Ohio-

Leading: Gahanna-Lincoln (10-0)

In the Race: None

Longshot: Pickerington North (7-3)

A league that didn’t have its champion determined until the final week of the year last year will more than likely be the first wrap up their title early this year. Tomorrow night if undefeated Gahanna-Lincoln defeats Pickerington North, the league will be sealed up, and Gahanna can begin to focus on a tournament run early, trying to advance farther than they did last year when they were upset by unseeded Westerville North in the district semifinals. This league has a bevy of middle of the road teams, and seem to do their best business outside of the conference, boasting the best non-conference record of any of the 4 divisions. 2009 district champion Grove City is 9-4 while losing their two best players to graduation. Many solid teams make this the best all-around league in the OCC.

• In his first season, Mark Sanchez already has the most playoff wins in Jets history.
• Michael Beasley guaranteed an “easy victory” over the Charlotte Bobcats yesterday only to lose 104-65.
• Both hockey teams in the Canadian province of Alberta lost by a combined 15 goals on Monday night.
• Tim Lincecum asked for a pay raise up from $600,000 a year to $13,000,000, 15x his current salary.
• Rasheed Wallace returned to Detroit last night, claiming the Palace was still his, only to be blocked three times in a 92-86 loss.
• The Dallas Mavericks extended their streak of one-point victories, in a 94-93 win over the Washington Bullets uhm i mean Wizards.
• The Nets only lost by 11 points on Monday night, a moral victory for a team that has a record of 3-38.
• Kelvin Sampson finally hung up the phone Tuesday night.
• Johnny Damon remains unsigned along with Miguel Tejada, that’s what happens when you’re 35 and think you deserve Albert Pujols money.
• Jose Canseco didn’t call anyone else out this week, a first for the washed up steroids user.
• Tiger Woods checked into sexual rehab this week, it’s a good thing that they have all male nurses there.
• Central Crossing boys basketball has a three game winning streak.
• Northland won by 68 on Tuesday over Mifflin, 30 more than the total points scored the Punchers.
• Alex Rodriguez will play for Haiti in the next World Baseball Classic, his third team in three renditions of the tournament.
• John Wall’s name was once again mentioned on Sportscenter last night, breaking Tim Tebow’s former record of 20 consecutive shows.
• The color man for the Michigan-Wisconsin game on Wednesday said this when referring to a shot attempt by the Wolverines’ Manny Harris, “They better hope State Farm covers the damages from that brick.” And we thought Bob Griese was bad.
• Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady have sufficient votes for the All-Star Game, funny when McGrady has not played this season and Iverson quit on the Grizzlies then moved back to Philadelphia to ask for more shots.
• Evan Turner continued to dominate on Monday, abusing the Northwestern Wildcats for 20 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists.
• RIP Gaines Adams

If you have anything you’d like to share from this week, comment below!

First was Pete Carroll, who left a good USC team and a program that had it’s first non conference championship season in seven years to coach the Seattle Seahawks. What was more puzzling was why Carroll would leave such a prestigious program for the Seahawks, come on the Seahawks. After a few days of speculation it was highly rumored that USC will soon be under investigation for improper benefits given to former players, cough cough Reggie Bush. What we have here was a coach who wasn’t going to pay for his mistakes and leave a group of very young men to pay the price. Integrity? I think not.

When we thought that whole debacle with USC was over, the Trojans  made another splash. This time with the hiring of Lane Kiffin, who less than a year ago was hired at Tennessee to turn around one of the more successful programs in the nation. When Kiffin, who by the way has a career record of 12-22, real impressive, told Vols fans that when they “beat Florida, they would be singing ‘Rocky Top’ all night” bolted out of the Smokey Mountains as fast as Chris Johnson’s 40 time. Kiffin, who is entering his third job in four years, is the epitome of what we have at hand in college football.

Many coaches no longer have integrity and commitment to their respective schools, essentially using their current job as a way to move up in the ranks. Case in point, Brian Kelly, who abandoned an undefeated Cincinnati Bearcat team to take the job at Notre Dame, which is arguably the top job in the country. Three decades ago, this move would have never happened. First, Kelly would have been expected to not only build the Bearcats up but stay there until he decided to retire. Although there have been many coaches that have used lower schools as pit stops, the problem has increased as many high profile jobs have been available the last several seasons. How can you expect a player to remain committed to a university when the coach he has decided to play for, isn’t so sure about his own future? The other argument that has been raised is whether a player who decides to transfer should have to sit out an entire year if the coaches are allowed to leave on demand. When you sit down and think about it, the debate makes sense. Why are these coaches allowed to leave 100 men depending on them, but the players can’t leave without a price? When you break down the numbers, the salaries of college coaches are much higher per year then say tuition for a student athlete. If this is the case, I think players should be allowed to leave and play the following season, if the burden put on the school is much less than the departure of a coach. Whether this gets done or not, the problem still exists. College coaches nowadays are less dedicated as in years past and with the Bobby Bowden era ending at Florida State, and Joe Paterno close to retirement in Happy Valley, the new revolution is about to take over, and as of now, nothing is stopping the trend.

Days after being upset by Northland High School, the Findlay Prep Pilots’ basketball stars were finally sent to class. When asked about the situation, coach Michael Peck responded, “These kids suck, they lost to some public school from Columbus. I told those bums if they lost a game this year they would ACTUALLY have to learn something at this ["academy"].”

This is a first for the program, as most of the players that have come through Henderson, Nevada haven’t had to really do much but play basketball. Forward Godwin Okonji was outraged with the news, saying in a very rough English, “Uhh, I have to learn something. I just thought I had to uhmm play football, uhm basketball. Coach Peck said if I had to go to uhm class that I might as well go back to war in Africa.” The defending champs looked to be on a collision course to a second consecutive national championship after posting 45 straight wins and an average of 100 points a game going into the matchup against Northland. After a nail biting 53-52 loss to the Vikings, the players on Findlay’s rosters all pointed the finger at Tristan Thompson who was called for a foul in the final seconds that led to the loss.

Thompson replied to the allegations on Friday at a press conference at his mansion he was given for joining the team. “Man I didn’t do shit. All these n****s hatin’ on me cuz’ I’m da best. If it wasn’t for my ass puttin up points we would be goin’ to class a long time ago. And I tried to call that ref to tell him I was standin straight up but damn he still called the foul. I never commit fouls. Shit, I was gonna go to school anyways, the dude that took the ACT for me got a low ass score like 17 or somethin, I heard his name was Daryl.” Thompson would add, “I don’t care either way. I’m goin to Texas, they don’t make you take classes there either. Just ask Jordan Shipley, he’s been there for like nine years and hasn’t even written his name on a paper.”

Guard Nick Johnson was also upset over the news, “Bro, I jump really high. I can’t shoot but I be good. I haven’t taken a class in years, what am I supposed to do now? Coach Peck lied to me, he said it was gonna be any easy ride, free AAU shit, free Nike gear, no class, mass girls. But now I gotta go to class? We’re talkin about class man, class. Not a game, not a game, but class? I’m supposed to be the franchise player and we’re talkin about me going to class? Dayum, wtf.”

The most intriguing part of the whole story was how the team was even put together. All night during the broadcast on ESPN Thursday, the announcers proclaimed that each player had gone to class, passed their tests and were eligible for any D1 schools. After doing research on the subject, I have found some grieving evidence. According to a report from the San Francisco Chronicle, no player on the roster had even passed the eighth grade. After being pressed with the issue, the Canadian native Thompson finally budged. “Okay, we was sittin in juvie, over in Phoenix and some asian dude walks in tellin us he can make us millionaires. I never did anything with my life. People push me down, but I’m Canadian, I cant fight back. So we was like fine we will play, now we livin with some white car salesman and he sayin we gonna be rich. Who wouldn’t take that offer?”

After all this time, speculation has built and the truth about the Findlay Prep basketball team has been exposed. Latvian native Marko Petrovic was tricked into interviewing with Behind the Box Score after we told him a free bottle of vodka would be provided. When asked about how he was brought into the Findlay program, Petrovic said, “I’m Latvian, my mother is a prostitute on the highway, nobody loves me and my dad drinks more than a Russian. I play this game called uh basketball, my mother says it will make me rich like a Ukrainian one day. So when I’m drinking before school, this Peck guy comes into my house made out of straw and says I can be given everything I have ever wanted. He says I will get actual clothing, uhm a house made out of sturdy material and money, lots of it, not the Monopoly money we use here in Latvia. When we lost to that team from New York or Columbus, I think it was somewhere in California, I was pissed because I would actually have to do something other than basketball. Makes me want to sell my self here rather than learn something.”

When the whole program was conceived, mastermind Cliff Findlay never dreamed his team would lose. Bailing the best stars out of jail, plucking players from war zones and the arm pits of the Earth, Findlay’s team was supposed to be unstoppable. After losing to Northland, the “school” now has weaknesses and the remaining road games have been cancelled. Coach Peck was asked by reporters why he decided to cancel the road games and this was his response. “Look, these bums make me look bad. I was some video coordinator at UNLV and now I gotta act like I’m coaching. I win all the time then I finally lose, now we look like we suck. I’m gonna take this money we were supposed to use for all of our games and go join Tiger at the night club.”

Forward Winston Shepherd of the team was asked how he felt about the news and it seemed he was the most upset, “I’m Jewish ok, I joined this team so I could skip out on my family’s celebrations for Hanukkah.  Now I have to spin some dradle and blow out candles for the next week. Damn I was supposed to be makin money on this team now I gotta go to class and live a normal life.” When Northland was in the process of beating the Pilots, Vikings forward Jared Sullinger was spotted smiling at the free throw line, many thought it was simply because he was about to send the Viks home winners. When BtBS dug into the situation, Sullinger actually said he was smiling because when he knocked down those two shots, those bums would have to go to class like everyone else, and they wouldn’t be undefeated. Sullinger would add, “That Thompson dude, damn he cried more than Tim Tebow after Alabama. Yeah, boy, you fouled me get over it. I dominated him, made him feel like poop, now he has to go learn about useless physics and math. Haha, I think it’s hilarious.” Vikings wingman JD Weatherspoon chimed in, “Yeah, I didn’t even have to play and we still beat them. My ankle didn’t hurt, I was sitting on the bench getting their homework ready after knowing we would beat them. Whose number one now?”

Pilots guard Cory Joseph was especially livid following the release of the news. Joseph was checked into Riverside Methodist Hospital with two sprained ankles after having to guard Trey Burke the entire game. Joseph wasn’t available to the media after doctors said his injuries were too severe. The aforementioned Thompson was even more angered when he realized his assignments would be sent through the air, just like the two shots he tried to attempt on Devon Scott and Sullinger, both of which were blocked back to back. The funniest part of the entire situation is the fact that the team GPA will likely be lower than Matt Forte’s yards per carry average. Have fun in class Pilots, not the first time you have lost this week.

The problem thus far for East was that they could score, but could they maintain leads? In a 78-61 victory over McKinley, the Tigers answered that question. With 27 points coming from Dixon, the balance in scoring was key to the win as two more players scored in double digits (Jordan Laster, 18 pts, Lipson, 16 pts). Building a 41-35 lead by halftime, the defensive pressure would need to be increased to secure a win.

Serving as the mantra of the game, the Tigers answered the call. Limiting the visiting Panthers to nine points in the third quarter, a 35-26 run to end the game let off a sigh of relief for the home fans that witnessed an 11 point lead given up in the final minutes during Tuesday’s loss against Mifflin. Dixon was the player of the game, leading everyone in scoring with 26 points. Two of those came on a poster dunk in the second quarter where a deflected pass left Dixon with open court. Setting up for the dunk, the trailing defender came into the picture in hopes of stopping an easy two. No such feat would be accomplished for Linden as Dixon went right up and over the opposition for a dunk that should be put posters all through the Capital City.

Dixon did more than dunk on  Friday, knocking down three huge shots from behind the arc essentially giving the Tigers the balance they needed for a victory. Three decades removed from the glory years at East when Tiger fans saw the teams from 1967-69, go 70-1 with two state championships in ‘68 and ‘69, now this program is hoping to return to that status, or at least close to it. Improving to 1-1 on the season, the next crucial game for the Tigers comes on January 5th at Northland, arguably the best team in the nation. If Dixon can keep dominating on both sides of the ball and can get help from his teammates, the Tigers have a small chance of upending the Vikings.

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 first official meeting between the two schools. Standing only 4.1 miles apart, the two schools have never played each other in the 7, now 8 years of existence of Central Crossing.

The two have played before, but only in a “SWCS Classic” as they called it. But that also has not been played since 2006-07, the same year Central Crossing posted their first winning season at 12-9. The only “classic” part of those sets of scrimmages was a match-up between the Comets and Hounds, when the Grove City mini student section that made the trip harassed point guard Bryce Barnes in the early part of the game. The chanting and trash talk was stopped when Barnes pulled up a deep three and drained it. He then proceeded to put his finger up to his lips to “shh” the crowd, a very un-Bryce like move.

Had an actual game been played between the two in the past three years, it would have been an instant classic without a doubt. The senior classes of 2009 left a legacy behind that will never be forgotten on either side. Grove City, in the sophomore through senior seasons for the class of ‘09 racked up a record of 46-16, with a district title, an outright OCC title, and a shared OCC crown. Central Crossing also had great success for a young program, going 33-30, with their first ever winning season, and first 1,000 point scorer in Bryce Barnes.

Even with everything mentioned above, the rivalry will still be played at a high level. Many of the players are good friends off the court, and the passion for the game will be shown when they step on to the floor in a few hours.

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.

Jared Sullinger backed up last night’s performance tonight, bruising Centennial for 31 points while not playing nearly as many minutes as the night before. A night ago Sullinger was dominating D1 commit Tristan Thompson, tonight, his defenders weren’t nearly as good and the results showed.

Trey Burke had another solid outing, racking up 20 points and dishing out eight assists. Burke once again outplayed the opponent this time talented guard Bucky Chenault, who has been one of the better guards in the city this year. Burke once again flashed his ability to hit from anywhere on the floor, knocking down four three point field goals. West Virginia commit Jalen Robinson also had a solid performance, nearly reaching a double double with nine points and 12 rebounds. The balance in scoring was remarkable for the Vikings on Friday, as ten players scored.

Leading 28-15 at the end of the first, Northland once again turned up the heat on defense, limiting the Stars to 12 points for the next two quarters prior to having essentially the JV squad in for the final session. In addition to the pressure put on the defensive side of the ball, the Viking offense also lit it up, outscoring Centennial by 43 in the second and third quarters. Resting his sore ankle, JD Weatherspoon wouldn’t be needed tonight in a game where the bench players could have won.  The ability to not lose focus and play as a team when national spotlight has been cast on them has been a goal of this Northland team. With a 46 point win tonight, this team has extended the path to City League destruction and nationwide success.