Trey Kloock knocks down a 3-point shot during a dominating opening quarter that saw Olentangy jump to a 17-0 lead on Berlin. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Logan Gapen)
Already crowned champion of the Ohio Capital Conference Cardinal Division two weeks ago, Olentangy raced to a 17-0 lead and blasted intra-district rival Berlin to go into the district tournament with a head of steam.
Delaware, OH – Amiable veteran Olentangy boys basketball coach John Feasel is never one to mince words.
When looking ahead to the Division I Central District tournament draw on Sunday, he expects his 19-2 Braves – which gained the No. 3 seed with a 77-51 shellacking of intra-district rival Olentangy Berlin Friday – to garner a lot of attention.
Huffer Chiropractic can help your athlete perform at their best – with offices in Osgood, Jackson Center, Marysville, and Dublin, Ohio.
“We’re probably seen as a low-hanging fruit in the draw,” he said. “I’ve heard about some coaches being eager to jump into our bracket because they don’t think we’re that good. A lot of people may look at our schedule and say our league isn’t that strong … but that’s OK with us. You don’t go undefeated in your league and win 19 games without being pretty good. I can say this about our guys: We’re going to be a tough out, that’s for sure.”
Veteran central Ohio columnist Steve Blackledge writes the OCC and sports at large for Press Pros.
Hilliard Bradley and Newark earned the top two seeds, followed by Olentangy, Dublin Coffman and Reynoldsburg, with defending state champion Olentangy Orange, Upper Arlington and Pickerington Central lurking as outliers. Observers would be quick to point out that while each of these programs (except for Olentangy) boast a rich tradition, none appear invincible.
So why not Olentangy, which has proven to be a well-rounded, resilient squad that has outscored opponents by an average margin of 60.9 to 48.5?
“We’re practicing and playing as good as we have all season right now,” junior standout guard Ty Walburn said. “The coaches are drawing up good game plans for us and we’re executing well. We’re playing with a lot of motivation and are hoping to achieve some big things in the tournament.”
Logan Services, with locations in Dayton, Cincinnati, and Columbus, proudly sponsors your favorite area sports stories on Press Pros Magazine.com.
The Braves’ bench and student section went nuts when the second-stringers got their chance late in the game with a 30-point lead.
After capturing just their sixth conference championship in the 72-year history of the school, Olentangy is hoping to win only its second district crown. The other came in 1991. Barring a disaster, the Braves look well on their way to breaking the program record of 21 wins – which happened in the first year of the newly consolidated school in 1953-54. Just 32-37 in the previous three seasons, Olentangy last posted a 15-win campaign in 2012-2013.
The rematch at Berlin had all the markings of a potential upset. After trailing most of the way, Olentangy won the first meeting on Jan. 16 64-62 on a wild, last-second desperation basket by 6-foot-9 Jackson Mangham. The Connecticut football signee missed his 10th straight game Friday with a left knee injury, but is expected to return for the tournament opener.
Furthermore, this was Berlin’s Senior Night and the Bears surely would be hyped up to ruin the Braves’ perfect Ohio Capital Conference Cardinal Division season before a sold-out crowd.
Kurtz Bros. has four Central Ohio locations: Dublin, Westerville, Alexandria, I-71/Frank Road.
“This was not a trap game in our minds,” Walburn said. “We wanted to ruin their Senior Night and go 2-0 versus our crosstown rivals. We were as fired up as ever for this game.”
Mike Alexander defends against the shot of Luca Filia.
Walburn wasn’t kidding.
The Braves roared out of the gate on fire, defending with a passion, hitting the boards and spacing the floor beautifully to free the open shooter. And, yes, the shots were falling. Barely three minutes into the contest, Olentangy led 17-0 before the Bears knew what hit them.
“I told my Dad (former Olentangy coach John Feasel Sr.) that we played really well in practice this week and if we played anything like that, we’d be in good shape,” he said. “I could tell we were really focused and really intense coming into this one.”
It marked the 299th career win for Feasel, who coached Olentangy’s girls for 13 seasons before taking the boys job in 2013-14.
Berlin committed turnovers on its first three possessions and Olentangy cashed in. Things continued to spiral out of control. By the time Bears coach Donovon Barrett called his second time out of the quarter, it was 20-2. At that time, Berlin was 1-for-7 from the field with five turnovers.
Polaris Pools is proud to sponsor coverage of Olentangy Schools on PressProsMagazine.com. To inquire about a beautiful Polaris Pool in your backyard, go to shearerlandscaping.com/polaris-pools/
Ty Walburn drives toward the lane en route to a 19-point performance on the night.
“Give them all the credit in the world,” Barrett said. “They beat us on all of the 50-50 balls and I don’t think we got a first-shot rebound until about the two-minute mark. We’ve been in position to come from behind like this before, but we’ve got to compete better than that. They played to their strengths and got into some transition situations where we lost their shooters.”
By halftime, Olentangy’s lead was 39-20 and it never got any closer.
Walburn, a strong OCC Cardinal player of the year candidate, led the Braves with 19 points. Sophomore Trey Kloock had all of his career-high 17 points, with five 3-pointers, in the first half. Mike Alexander added 13 points and Robert Page 10.
“As soon as I hit my first shot, my confidence was soaring,” said Kloock, who has knocked down a team-high 52 threes. Incidentally, Trey is his given name. “The defense opened it all up for us. We did a great job shutting down their two best players (Noah Bruns and Luca Filia) and that helped get us in the flow.”
Robert Page contributed 10 points and played some stingy defense on Berlin sharpshooter Noah Bruns.
Added Feasel, “Kloock is that type of shooter that we he gets going, he’s hard to cool down. I can see him exploding for 30 one of these nights.”
Bruns, a sophomore sharpshooter who came in averaging 21.3 points, finished with 19 but 16 came after halftime when the outcome was all but decided. Page did a bang-up job guarding him.
Berlin (13-7, 6-4) came in scoring 62 points per game.
“It’s disheartening for sure to play like that,” Barrett said, “but we know what we’re capable of and anything can happen in the tournament.”
Aptus Wealth Management proudly sponsors the Buckeyes and Central Ohio sports on Press Pros.