Top Central Ohio Games To Watch This Week
It’s Christmas week and that means less games, for a great reason that is! By the way, cherish these couple days with your family and friends, the basketball will still be there! Toward the end of the week there are…
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Continue ReadingIt’s Christmas week and that means less games, for a great reason that is! By the way, cherish these couple days with your family and friends, the basketball will still be there!
Toward the end of the week there are quite a few good games on the slate around Central Ohio. Here we take a look at those.
Friday:
Dublin Jerome (5-3) vs. Olentangy Orange (4-2)
Jerome is young, but have a solid unsigned senior in Dan Lee. Potentially the smartest player in the area, too! Lee is leading the way for Jerome with over 16 points a game. Sophomore Matt Butler and freshman Ryan Nutter have been equally important however. So far this season the Celtics have wins over London and Newark that really stand out. The young team is playing well and could be a challenge to many teams in the OCC this year.
Orange has been up and down to start the season with wins over Delaware Hayes, Westerville Central and Big Walnut so to mention. Senior/junior duo Ryan Cutler and Andre Irvin are leading the way, combining for nearly 30 points a game. Offensively Orange has been solid and have the scorers to get things done. This should be an underrated, but interesting game.
Shaker Heights (5-0) vs. Pickerington Central (5-2)
Shaker Heights is off to an undefeated start with their best win coming in the beginning of the season. Defeating Cleveland Heights 77-74 in a thriller of a game that Prep Hoops covered actually. Dakota Cochran is off to a big start including highlight plays and a 39 point game against Elyria. The duo of Cochran and Shammah Scott combined with other players like Daniel Young could make for a tough night for the Tigers.
Pickerington Central has played well as of late, just one loss to Pickerington North since their opening season loss to Toledo St. Francis. Wins over Akron Butchel and Springfield standout so far for the Tigers. A solid starting five including Garner Wallace, Conner Maciag, Elhadji Thiam and Tahleik Walker will give Central the ability to play with anyone. It’ll be a tough matchup with Shaker, a team that seems to play quick.
Pickerington North (5-3) vs. St. Charles (5-2)
Pick North has had a rough schedule to start the season as anyone. Taking losses to Akron SVSM, Gahanna and Hilliard Bradley are only going to make the Panthers better this season. Also, they’ve bounced back with nice wins over Pickerington Central and Centerville. Each game showed some big time talent that North was able to better match.
One of St. Charles losses came to the tough Columbus South, which they played rather well. Other than, they haven’t really been tested this season, but that changes when they take on Pickerington North. Big man Victor Searls has been a matchup problem for opposing teams and could be for Pick North. Jared Frey could counter the shooting ability of Hunter Shedenhelm, but isn’t quite the defender that Shedenhelm will bring to the table.
Saturday:
Dublin Coffman (4-3) vs. Reynoldsburg (3-3)
Coffman is manned by Keaton Turner that we all know has the ability to burn any team he matches up with. Good for 24 points a game through their first seven games, Turner can go. Junior Nash Hostetler has broken on the scene this year, showing he has the scoring ability too with a 21 point game. Coffman likes to play quick and get out and run. Sophomore Ajay Sheldon is one to watch as he is a ball handling option and can take some scoring duties too. Coffman is a younger team and lost a lot from last year. The ups and downs will come, but they’ll always be competitive.
Reynoldsburg is playing .500 ball through the first few games with their best win coming over Africentric. Playing Gahanna, Pickerington Central and Newark early in this season has been quite a challenge for the Pirates. Cooper Davis is player to watch in the sophomore class. The wing is leading the burg in scoring with 14 points a game, brings a good defensive frame to the table as well. Him and senior Sean Moore will be the guys to watch for Reynoldsburg as they combine for over 25 points a game.
Upper Sandusky (4-1) vs. Shelby (6-0)
Upper always has a good squad, even back to the Jon Diebler days they always have scorers. With their only loss coming in a close one to Williard, Upper Sandusky shares one common opponent so far with the Whippets and that is Galion. Both teams blew the Tigers out, so that isn’t a very telling measure.
Shelby will need TJ Pugh, Cody Lantz and Jonny DeVito to continue to play at a high level if they want to stay undefeated.