Tyson Perkins goes up in traffic as he and his Warriors defend their home turf against the Pacers. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Brian Bayless)
With heavy OCC-Capital Division implications on the line, the Warriors earned a season sweep of the Pacers and showed why they could be a Division II state-title contender.
Westerville, OH – With an eye on earning a season sweep of defending regional champion Delaware Hayes and taking a major leg up in the league championship race, Westerville North played like the polished and athletic unit it has gained a reputation of being Friday on a night one of its program icons was honored.
Kevin Thuman, who was an assistant coach for the Warriors when they won the Division I state championship in 1993-94 and led the program to a state semifinal appearance during his first season as head coach in 1995-96, was among those recognized prior to the game as part of the 2025 North Athletics Hall of Fame.
The Warriors still have a regular season to complete and a long postseason to journey through, but they showed in their latest matchup against the Pacers that they just might have the pieces to reach the heights of Thuman’s best teams.
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Not only has North won 12 in a row after holding off a late rally to beat Delaware 73-70, but it has faced a mostly Division I schedule during a season in which it will compete in the Division II postseason after the OHSAA’s expansion from four divisions to seven.
“It’s a mature group, a sophisticated group,” said Shan Trusley, a 1988 North graduate who served as an assistant under Thuman from 1993-2013 and is in his 12th season as head coach. “We sit down with them and show them the RPI and show them this is where we are in the Central District, what we have to do to get ourselves seeded high and win the league. They’re good kids and you trust them because you know the outcome’s going to be pretty good.”
Landon Vanderwarker crashes the glass during a furious Pacer comeback attempt at Westerville North.
North, which was a district runner-up a season ago, began its current winning streak with a 65-56 victory over Delaware on Dec. 13.
With the season sweep of the Pacers, the Warriors are 13-2 overall and at 7-0 in the Ohio Capital Conference Capital Division.
After the Pacers took a 12-6 lead with 5 minutes, 22 seconds left in the opening quarter, North’s transition prowess helped it answer with a 13-0 run. The Warriors held a 39-32 halftime advantage and increased the lead to 53-40 midway through the third quarter before Delaware began chipping away.
Delaware junior guard Jeremiah Russell completed a three-point play with 1:25 left in the third period and senior teammate Drew Banaszak scored 32 seconds later to make it 55-50, but North senior guard Micah Young responded with a three-point play with 3.5 seconds left in the period.
“Basketball is a game of runs, and we knew they weren’t a slouch team,” Young said. “They’re going to make some runs, but we had to come back with a run of our own.”
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Young, a Concord signee, finished with 15 points and was one of three North players to reach double figures along with senior guard Tai Perkins, who scored 20, and sophomore guard Tyson Perkins, who added 14.
Tai Perkins, who has signed with Akron, is the older brother of Tyson Perkins, and Young is their stepbrother.
Micah Young smothers Delaware’s Carter Piatt-Brown late in the second half.
“We talk about basketball at home and off the court,” Tai Perkins said. “It’s easy to talk when we’re all on the same page. We stay together and we play together. We’ve got a lot of experience playing in these types of games. We’re just going to try and keep on winning every league game and not underestimating any of them to win the conference championship.”
Delaware opened the fourth quarter on a 10-2 run and tied it at 60 on a 3-pointer by Russell that followed a blocked shot by senior forward Landon Vanderwarker.
North went up 69-64 on a pair of free throws by Young with 1:17 remaining and 71-67 with 29.7 to go when Tai Perkins hit two foul shots.
The Warriors finished 6-for-6 from the foul line in the final period and made 14 of 15 free throws overall.
Vanderwarker, a Kent State signee, finished with 16 points but missed a 3-pointer with 22 seconds to go and didn’t score in the fourth quarter.
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“They’re really good, they’re really talented, and they can really shoot it,” said Trusley, who is just the fourth coach since the school opened in 1975. “From all the film I’ve watched and the scouting I’ve done, there are a lot of good teams out there, but they’ve been playing really well right in this moment. Landon’s a great player, and the key was he didn’t have a point in the fourth quarter, which is a credit to our kids because we played really good team defense.
Tai Perkins gets up and over Delaware’s Chase Griggs during a key 73-70 win.
“We always talk about being the best version of ourselves, and that comes when we’re pressuring the basketball. What you saw tonight was normal for us. We do that every time we step onto the floor. To their credit, they made a lot of plays and made a lot of shots to stay close. But it’s a veteran group. Micah and Tai have played four years of varsity basketball, and there isn’t a situation that’s too big for them.”
Delaware dropped to 12-3 overall and 6-2 in league play but could have the pieces to again be a Division I district title contender if it regularly can combine Vanderwarker’s abilities with the kind of production it received from the junior guard combo of Russell and Chase Griggs, who finished with 20 and 18 points, respectively.
“We had too many turnovers and got beat on the glass, and that was definitely the difference,” Pacers coach Adam Vincenzo said. “Especially in a game like this, they’re about the best you can be in the state in transition, and we just got outworked on the glass in spurts. I knew it was going to be a game of runs back and forth, and we kept saying we’ve got to make one more play, one more run. I’m very proud of how we responded.
“It’s a credit to them. We’ve been beaten on the glass three times this year, and all three are losses – and two of them are to them. The biggest challenge is how the heck do you simulate (their transition) in practice. That’s why those guys are really good, and if they’re not having an opportunity to hold up a trophy in March, I’d be shocked. Our guys are hurting, and they should be after a game like that, but we really like our chances to still be special.”
