Luke Mitchell and Gabe Schmidt scramble for a loose ball during a physical game that saw the Bears dominate in the overtime period, outscoring Coffman 13-5 to hand the ‘Rocks just their second loss of the season. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Brian Bayless)
Buoyed by back-to-back forced turnovers, Upper Arlington scored the first five points of overtime and knocked off Dublin Coffman in an OCC boys rivalry game. Coffman rallied from an 11-point deficit to win the girls game.
Upper Arlington, OH – Anyone who has been part of or followed the Dublin Coffman-Upper Arlington boys basketball rivalry over the past two decades could pretty much make book on one or two key possessions deciding the outcome.
No surprises here. It happened again Friday in a spirited Ohio Capital Conference Central Division showdown before a near-sellout crowd for a highly competitive girls/boys doubleheader at Jim Hamilton Court.
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To be fair, a handful of pivotal possessions told the tale as the host Golden Bears came away with a 57-49 overtime win over first-place Shamrocks.
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“It seems like every one of these games comes down to the wire, and fortunately our guys came out the winning end this time,” UA coach Joe Bills said. “To win this one means the world to our guys not only because Dublin Coffman is a fantastic team but it also keeps us in the hunt as far as the league goes. I couldn’t be prouder of our guys.”
Coffman (9-2, 3-1) rallied from a 10-point third-quarter deficit to pull even on a deep 3-point shot by Thomas Cochran, then grabbed the lead 44-42 on a basket by Gabe Schmidt on an inbounds play.
Luke Mitchell scored on a nice curl play in the lane for UA (8-3, 2-2) to set the stage for the grand finale.
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Coach Adam Banks called timeout twice (once a split-second before his team fumbled the ball out of bounds) to draw up a final shot. Schmidt was denied on a spin move in the paint, and a putback try also went awry to force overtime.
Thomas Cochran fires a shot over Bears’ defender Charlie Hunt.
On the first possession of overtime, Cochran was stripped in the lane by Luciano Harrigan and teammate Hayden Henry hit a floater in the lane to give UA the lead. After another Coffman turnover, Brody Larrison knocked down a huge three to make it 49-44 with 2:11 left.
Given the way Upper Arlington takes care of the ball and defends, coupled with the fact that there is no shot clock in Ohio, that was about all she wrote.
“I pretty much knew we were going to lose the tip (against 6-foot-8 Cochran), so I started a slightly different lineup in overtime with Harrigan just because he’s so good at getting his hands on ball and disrupting things,” Bills said. “That deflection, and the second turnover, turned into five points for us and I think that was the key sequence of the game.”
Banks couldn’t argue with that assessment.
“We didn’t start the overtime as energized as we should have and it proved costly as we couldn’t get back in the game,” he said. “Give Upper Arlington a lot of credit for coming through when the chips were down. It’s always a great rivalry when these teams play, regardless of record, and tonight was another great game.”
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To his point, in nine of the past 10 seasons Coffman and UA have split their home-and-home series. UA came in 10th and Coffman 11th in MaxPreps’ state power rankings.
Brody Larrison gets up and over Charlie Guth for two during the first half.
Mitchell scored 23 points, with five three-pointers, to pace the Golden Bears. Larrison added 12 and Henry 11.
“We set the tone with our toughness and once we got the lead back in overtime, things really went into our favor,” Mitchell said. “This is a great win for us and I feel like it sets the tone for us going forward.”
Coming off a district championship in 2024-25, UA had grand expectations before standout 6-9 senior forward Alex Smith, an Ohio State signee, decided in July to transfer to Prolific Prep in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
“We talked as a team about what our chances were with Alex gone and we agreed that nothing changes as far as our goals and expectations … just that our margin of error got smaller,” Bills said. “Sure, Alex could score the ball and provided a big presence inside, but we knew if we all came together, moved the ball like we do and got contributions from a lot of guys, we could be really competitive again.”
Cochran had 17 points, Charlie Guth 13 and Schmidt 10 for Coffman, which retained its first-place tie in the OCC with Hilliard Bradley, which was upset by Olentangy Orange Friday.
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GIRLS
Dublin Coffman 47, Upper Arlington 39
Known as a feisty player from her days as a record-breaking scorer at Bellevue High School and Bowling Green State University, first-year Coffman coach Carly Santoro-Antle read her team the riot act at halftime after slogging to an 11-point deficit.
Riley Blankenship evades Bears’ defender Molly Martin. Blankenship would contribute a team-high 17 points for the ‘Rocks.
Athletic director Duane Sheldon came out of the stands once to remind his coach that she was eight months pregnant and should tone it down a bit.
“Carly gets pretty intense when she has to,” sophomore Riley Blankenship said with a smile. “She got on us a little at halftime and challenged us to up our on-ball defense. She gives us great energy with the way she coaches, and we needed it.”
The Shamrocks used a 10-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to gain the lead and spent much of the final four minutes effectively milking the clock in a four-corner offense for the win.
“We had a little pep talk, mostly about showing a better effort on the defensive end, which is where we hang our hats on,” Santoro-Antle said. “It started with attacking their switches and extending our defense out on the perimeter to make them uncomfortable.”
Being eighth months pregnant did not keep Coffman head coach Carly Santoro-Antle from getting fired up on the sidelines during Coffman’s comeback win over Upper Arlington.
Blankenship scored 17 points, Kylie Mast 13 and Emmy Frient 11 to pace Coffman (9-4, 5-0), which protected its OCC Central lead. UA had won the past four meetings.
“That was a huge win for us on the road, especially given the way things started out,” Santoro-Antle said. “Every year when we talk about team goals, winning the OCC championship is one of them.”
Coming off a 22-3 district championship season, Upper Arlington (6-5, 3-2) had even loftier goals. But 6-foot senior Elizabeth Hunt, a Marshall signee, her twin sister Hannah and junior Ella Hanky all suffered season-ending injuries. A fourth projected starter, Elizabeth Poling, was sidelined with concussion symptoms, leaving the Golden Bears with three sophomores and two freshmen in the starting lineup Friday.
Molly Martin scored 19 points to lead UA, but it wasn’t enough.
“Coffman came out in the second half and defended us at a high level,” coach John Wanke said. “No excuses on our end. It’s January now and we lost two of the players before the season even started, so we can’t use our youth as a crutch any more. I’m proud of the kids. They showed great resolve tonight against a fine team.”
Katie Bohman gets a hand on a shot attempt by UA’s Molly Martin.
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