Columbus-area boys high school basketball enjoys banner night

On Feb 19, 2022

With nine teams still in contention in four league title races, the final night of the league schedule for central Ohio boys basketball teams lived up to expectations Feb. 18.

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Among those that earned a championship was Ready, the smallest of the CCL’s five schools and a program that hadn’t earned an outright title since 2002.

Also earning championships were Gahanna Lincoln in the OCC-Ohio, Pickerington Central in the OCC-Buckeye and Upper Arlington in the OCC-Central.

The Silver Knights beat Hartley 55-30 on their home floor to finish 6-2 in the CCL and improve to 18-3 overall.

They also got the help they needed to not have to share the title when DeSales edged Watterson 48-44, as the Eagles dropped to 12-8 overall and settled for a runner-up finish with St. Charles at 5-3.

Charlie Russell had 20 points and Luke Ruth scored 11 for Ready, which is the second seed for the Division III district tournament.

“The thing about this team is that we’ve found different ways with different guys,” Knights coach Tony Bisutti said. “It’s just a really good group.”

Three teams had a shot at winning the OCC-Central entering the night, but the Golden Bears stood alone atop the standings after beating Hilliard Davidson 73-62 at home to improve to 17-4 overall and finish 7-3 in the league.

Nick Heath had 25 points and Quinn Corna scored 22 for UA, which won its ninth league title in 13 seasons and 22nd in program history after going 1-9 in the OCC-Central last season.

“It’s been a really tough, gritty and determined group all year through some adversity,” UA coach Tim Casey said. “We got tagged a couple times, but they came back stronger and more determined.”

Davidson, which got 19 points from Peyton Frey, dropped to 14-7 overall and tied Olentangy Liberty at 6-4 in the league after the Patriots’ shot at winning a share of the title ended with a 65-55 loss at Olentangy Orange.

Liberty, which dropped to 12-10 overall, got 17 points from Cooper Davis, including the 1,000th of his prep career after he entered the game needing 13 to reach the milestone.

In the OCC-Ohio, Gahanna won 52-41 at Pickerington North to improve to 20-2 overall while finishing 10-0 in the league.

The Lions led 30-18 with 6 minutes, 32 seconds to go in the third quarter before the Panthers rallied to tie it at 35 with 6:07 remaining. Gahanna answered with a 13-2 run that included six points from Javan Simmons, who finished with 18.

North dropped to 18-3 overall and finished 8-2 in the league.

“We had to be resilient like always and be strong,” said Lions senior guard Sean Jones, who scored 17 points. “It’s a great memory, but we want more and we’re ready to keep going.”