Upper Arlington’s Hayden Henry celebrates after hitting a three-point shot at the buzzer to put the Golden Bears up 25-16 over Newark at the half. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Lorrie Gardner)
Upper Arlington, Olentangy Liberty, Dublin Coffman and Reynoldsburg took home Division I district championship trophies in a wild day of boys action at the Ohio Expo Center.
Columbus, OH – The buzz permeated throughout The Ohio’s Center’s Taft Coliseum when Pickerington North standout guard Arness Lawson – a Duquesne signee and the program’s all-time leading scorer – was absent during warmups.
“When did I find out he wasn’t playing?” Dublin Coffman coach Adam Banks asked. “When the jump ball went up in the air. He’s such a talented player and tough player, it sort of throws your game plan for a loop.”
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Imagine how his counterpart, North coach Jason Bates felt.
“It’s definitely hard to be thrown a curveball like that before the biggest game of the season,” he said. “But we’ve never been a one-man team and I knew we’d put forth a great effort without him.”
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For the record, Lawson was arrested on several charges Friday night.
Despite the turmoil, the team produced the most exciting contest of the four-game card with Coffman pulling out a 61-60 overtime upset of sixth-seeded North, the Ohio Capital Conference Ohio Division champion.
Coffman (14-10) effectively spread the floor in the overtime with standout senior guard Colin McClure rifling assists for wide-open layups by Thomas Cochran and Gabe Schmidt.
North (20-4) hung tough with JR Bates (28 points) making play after play.
Schmidt made another layup on an inbounds pass with 1:14 left and McClure sealed the deal by sinking four free throws in the final minute.
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“In order to win the game, we knew we needed to create and make open shots,” said McClure, a Thomas More signee who topped the Rocks with 27 points despite being tightly defended by Favor McFadden all night. “Credit to Pickerington North for the pressure they applied all night, but we wanted this badly. We hit a couple road bumps during the course of the season but we knew we were capable of this.”
Stone Clifton added 17 points with five threes for Coffman.
“We had some guys like Stone and (freshman) Luke Muhlenkamp step up and make huge shots tonight to help get us over the hump. And Colin did a great job at point guard finding them.”
JR Bates hit a three-point shot at the buzzer to account for the final margin.
“We played Coffman earlier in the year (Jan. 14, winning 54-49) and we knew they were tough,” Jason Bates said. “I’m proud of the way my team competed right down to the final buzzer.”
Upper Arlington 49, Newark 44
Sophomore guards Hayden Henry and Luke Mitchell hit the big shots down the stretch as eighth-seeded Upper Arlington (14-9) knocked off fifth-seeded Newark (19-5) for its 11th district title.
Upper Arlington’s Charlie Hunt, defends against the shot attempt of Newark’s Jake Quackenbush.
After Newark whittled a 12-point deficit to 36-35 midway through the fourth quarter, Mitchell swished a big three-point shot from the corner and Henry hit two runners in the lane.
“We’ve been in this position a lot of times this year with our schedule,” said Henry, who hit a buzzer-beating three at the end of the first quarter and banked in a 55-foot trey just before the halftime buzzer.
Newark, which fought gallantly despite a poor shooting night, wasn’t done yet, though.
Ty Gilbert hit two threes and Braylon Morris another in the final 82 seconds as the Wildcats pulled to 45-44 with 26 seconds left.
After being fouled quickly at the 18.7-second mark, UA’s Cal Casey missed both foul shots but 6-foot-9 Ohio State-bound junior Alex Smith grabbed the long rebound. He made both free throws to make it 47-44.
Morris missed a three and Mitchell, who boxed out adeptly, got the rebound and was fouled. His two free throws sealed the outcome.
Upper Arlington never trailed in the contest.
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Mitchell attributed the early lead to UA’s execution on the offensive end.
“We were moving the ball really well and getting good looks,” he said. “Getting ahead of them early was really key for us.”
Upper Arlington coach Joe Bills was ecstatic with the effort.
“It was amazing the way we shot the ball at the end of the game,” he said. “Henry carried us a lot of times and Luke was just so clutch down the stretch. I’m really proud of our defense today. We contested everything. They earned everything they made. I’m just thrilled we came away with a victory. After all the highs and lows we’ve been through this year, we get to stand here and cut down nets.”
Mitchell scored 15 points and was supported by Henry (12) and Smith (11).
Jake Quackenbush paced Newark with 14 points as Gilbert and Norris chipped in 10 each.
“It’s tough to win games shooting just 34 percent (from the field),” Newark coach Jeff Quackenbush said. “I can’t fault our effort, but it just wasn’t our day. When they got the lead, we had to chase them around and they’re going to get open looks the way they run their sets. They made plays and hit shots. Hand it to Upper Arlington.”
Olentangy Liberty 75, Pickerington Central 59
Northwestern signee Tyler Kropp racked up totals of 23 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots as third-seeded Olentangy Liberty (20-4) trounced Pickerington Central (12-12) for its fourth district title.
“I lost in the district final my freshman and sophomore years and left with a sour taste in my mouth, so this feels really good,” said Kropp, a 6-foot-9 senior. “We knew we had a big height advantage and crashing the boards was a big emphasis for us. We were able to get everyone involved on the offensive end.”
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Christian Moulton added 18 points and Nick Butterfield 16 for the Patriots, whose starting lineup of 6-9, 6-7, 6-5, 6-5 is not only imposing but athletic. When Central got behind, it was forced to trap and press, opening up numerous odd-man rushes that Liberty exploited.
“They’re a guard-oriented team and we’re more inside-oriented so obviously we wanted to attack the rim,” Liberty coach Greg Nossaman said. “It brought back memories for me because the last time we played in the Fairgrounds was 2013 when we faced Northland and Seth Towns and my son was a senior.”
Reynoldsburg 57, Hilliard Bradley 51
Second-seeded Reynoldsburg averted what could have been the most startling upset in district final history as the Raiders’ frenetic defense keyed a 22-6 fourth quarter comeback.
Upset-minded Bradley perplexed Reynoldsburg with its outside shooting at first, but the Raiders adapted in the second half to advance.
Bradley (8-15) came out smoking from three-point range in its empty-post screen-heavy offense and hit eight three-pointers on the way to a stunning 33-18 lead.
Turning up its half-court and full-court pressure to the max, Reynoldsburg – tall and talented with three players signed or committed to Ohio University – gradually scrambled its way back into the game.
The comeback wasn’t decided until Jordan Fisher sank 4 of 4 foul shots in the final 21 seconds.
“Of course, there was a sense of desperation on our part,” said Fisher, who led the balanced Raiders (23-1) with 16 points. Four of his teammates contributed between nine and 11 points.
“We kind of knew all of those threes weren’t going to fall all game long. In the long run, I think we needed this. This scare will help us going forward.”
Reynoldsburg coach Andy Moore was so frazzled, he returned to the locker room to unwind rather than participate in the postgame celebration. It marked the Raiders’ fourth district title and first since 2018.
Reynoldsburg’s Jordan Fisher was a one-man wrecking ball inside the paint.
“We weren’t really locked in defensively and did a poor job closing out their shooters,” Moore said. “When we went to our full-court diamond press, it caused a lot of trouble and really got us going. It’s kind of hard for a team to play keep away from us with all the height and length we have. We’ll take something from that for sure. We haven’t had to battle back like that all year.”
Bradley coach Brett Norris was proud of the way his team executed the game plan, but ultimately couldn’t handle the Raiders’ athleticism.
Garrett Sever and Jayden Reed-Davis scored 13 points each for the Jaguars, who hit 11 three-pointers.
“We probably didn’t get enough shots,” he said. “Their defense became a problem and fatigue became such a factor. We got to playing sideways. I’m proud of our effort, but I felt like we had an opportunity to come away from here with a win and didn’t capitalize.”
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