Pioneers use size, skill to end Newark’s tournament run

On Mar 9, 2023

COLUMBUS ― Before it ever took Ohio Dominican’s Alumni Hall court Wednesday night, Newark knew it had an uphill battle on its hands against tall, strong and athletic Olentangy Orange.

When the Pioneers roared out to an 18-3 lead, the Wildcats’ climb became akin to scaling a mountain.

Orange (24-3), playing in its first-ever Division I regional semifinal, had to rally to win 50-45 at Newark two months ago. But that was without 6-foot-4 senior Mikey McCollum. With McCollum back and Newark without junior Ethan Stare, who had 17 points in the earlier meeting, the Pioneers scored 48 points in the paint, hit a sizzling 65 percent from the field and rolled to a 64-38 win.

The Pioneers prevented a third consecutive upset win by the Wildcats (19-8), an 11 seed which had bumped off sixth-seeded Gahanna and second seed Olentangy Liberty, and will play Thursday’s Pickerington Central-Westerville South survivor at 7 p.m. Saturday in Ohio University’s Convocation Center for a state berth. Orange’s dynamic 6-3 senior guards Jordan Edwards and Elias Lewis continually got to the basket for layups, teaming for 32 points and a pair of dunks, while the Pioneers’ defense held Newark to 14-of-36 shooting for 39 percent.

“At this time of year, you have to protect the rim and get to the rim, and tonight, we struggled at both,” coach Jeff Quackenbush said. “A lot of that was because of them. They’re very good. They have big, skilled guards, and they’re hard to guard for us. And to score on. As much as we struggled defensively, we did offensively.”

“We were undersized the whole year, so that’s not an excuse,” said senior guard Grant Burkholder, who scored 20 points in his final Newark game. “But they were not only bigger than us, they were skilled and they were strong.”

Lewis, who scored 14 points, had eight in Orange’s run to the 18-3 lead, including a 3 from the right wing as the Wildcats missed six of their first seven shots. Newark fought back to within 28-18 late in the half on a 3 from the top of the key by sophomore Braylon Morris, but freshman Levi Davis answered with one of his own for the Pioneers.

The Wildcats had a chance to get back in it starting the second half. Burkholder drove for a basket, making it 31-22, and Newark had back-to-back possessions to get it closer. But they came up empty and the burly Edwards, who had an 18-point, 10-rebound double double and also had four assists, drove for a layup and and a reverse layup, triggering a 12-2 surge to a commanding 43-24 lead. The Wildcats then missed their first six shots of the fourth quarter.

“We got off to a bad start and gave them a big lead early,” Quackenbush said. “Then, we had to chase them, and that opened up the driving lanes. We gave up eight offensive rebounds in the first half, and that’s the first time that happened all year.”

“They went on some runs, and we had to match their energy when they went on those runs,” said Burkholder, who made 8-of-15 from the floor, but the rest of the Wildcats were only 6-of-21. “We always compete at some point, but we just got too far behind.” Morris added eight points with a pair of 3s, but no other Newark player was close to double figures.

Devin Brown, a promising 6-4 sophomore, added 11 points and six rebounds as Orange dominated the backboards 25-9. Davis chipped in with nine points, three steals and two blocked shots for the Pioneers, who went 26-of-40 for their 65 percent.

While the loss was disappointing, it was still a memorable season for Newark, which had two losses to top-seeded Pickerington Central, another to second seed Liberty, a pair to third-seeded Orange, and setbacks to seventh seed Pickerington North and eighth seed Hilliard Bradley.

“Give our kids a lot of credit,” Quackenbush said. “They grinded it out. They had a heck of a tournament run, and played a heck of a schedule that got them ready for it. And our seniors led us through the long grind of the season.”

“I’ll always remember being on the court, every day, but also, all of the great times off the court with everyone,” Burkholder said. “I think they have a great future. Steele (Meister) will be back for his fourth year, Braylon (Morris) showed what he could do, and (freshman) Ty (Gilbert) got better and better.”

Stare, who came into his own this season, also returns to give Newark a solid nucleus for 2023-24.

“We had a freshman and three sophomores who grew up a lot, and got a lot of great experience,” Quackenbush said. “We’ll take 28 days off, and start getting ready for next year.”