OHSAA boys basketball: Pickerington Central, Africentric capture regional championships

From staff reports

March 12, 2022 at 10:04 PM·4 min read

Pickerington Central boys basketball coach Eric Krueger said the key to his team’s second win over Gahanna Lincoln this season, the latest coming in an intense, highly anticipated Division I regional final March 12 at Ohio Dominican, was simpler than it might have looked.

“I just told the kids before the game, ‘Let’s be who we are.’ Let’s do the things we’ve done all year and continue to work defensively, rebound, share the ball offensively and play together and get in transition,” Krueger said after a 59-42 win gave the Tigers their first regional championship since 2018. “Basketball is a simple game. We’re not trying to overcomplicate it. Let’s just be tough to score on.”

Pickerington Central’s Devin Royal (21) embraces teammate Sonny Styles (24) as they walk off the court with teammates Gavin Headings (30) and Andrew Hedgepeth (10) following their 59-42 win against the Gahanna Lincoln Lions during a OHSAA Boys' Basketball regional final at Ohio Dominican University Alumni Hall.

Devin Royal’s game-high 22 points, 13 of which came in the first half, set the tone as the Lions allowed 50 or more points for only the fourth time this season and struggled offensively much of the night in a rematch of a 58-53 Tigers win Jan. 8.

More than 1,800 fans packed Alumni Hall for a game that sold out in less than 20 minutes, according to Ohio Dominican officials.

Central improved to 24-2 and will play Lakewood St. Edward in a state semifinal at 5:15 p.m. March 19 at University of Dayton Arena.

Sat., Mar. 12, 2022; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Pickerington Central forward Devin Royal (21) shoots a jump shot over Gahanna Lincoln Lions forward Javan Simmons (24) during the second quarter of a OHSAA Boys' Basketball regional final between the Pickerington Central Tigers and the Gahanna Lincoln Lions at Ohio Dominican University Alumni Hall.

The Tigers led 18-16 at halftime and fended off every Lions run, the last of which was an 8-0 spurt to trim a 26-16 deficit to 26-24 after Gahanna missed its first six shots of the second half.

Central responded with a 12-0 run in a 2-minute, 55-second stretch spanning the third and fourth quarters to take a 14-point lead.

Five Tigers players scored in that span, including a Josh Harlan 3 and Gavin Headings 10-foot jumper to beat the third-quarter buzzer.

“I was trying to start fast and get rolling and get everybody else hyped,” Royal said. “This is exciting, it feels great, but it’s only momentary. We still have two more games to win to do what we want to do.”

Sat., Mar. 12, 2022; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Gahanna Lincoln Lions guard Sean Jones (5) drives past Pickerington Central Tigers forward Gavin Headings (30) during the third quarter of a OHSAA Boys' Basketball regional final between the Pickerington Central Tigers and the Gahanna Lincoln Lions at Ohio Dominican University Alumni Hall.

Sean Jones’ 15 points led the Lions, who finished 25-3 and lost in a regional final for the second consecutive season. Gahanna was seeking its first state berth since 2010.

“We were in foul trouble early and I think that got us a little tentative,” Lions coach Tony Staib said. “(Central) is a good defensive team because they’re so long and athletic, so sometimes it’s hard to get good shots.”

—Dave Purpura

Africentric 61, Sugarcreek Garaway 48

Africentric is headed to the state tournament for the fifth time after pulling away from Garaway in a Division III regional final at Ohio University.

The last time the Nubians were at state was in 2018 when they were runners-up. They also won the Division IV state championship game in 2005 but later forfeited the title after it was determined that they’d used an ineligible player.

Africentric will play Ottawa-Glandorf in a state semifinal at 10:45 a.m. March 18 at the University of Dayton. Ottawa-Glandorf beat North Robinson Colonel Crawford 51-44 on March 12 in a regional final at Bowling Green.

“They’re hanging with me and doing it for each other,” Nubians coach Michael Bates said. “I told them that if they saw the team the way I see it, they’d see a championship team.”

Africentric, which improved to 23-5 while Garaway finished 21-5, led 26-25 at halftime before taking control in the second half on the strength of its full-court pressure defense.

The Nubians limited the Pirates to 3-for-12 shooting in the third quarter while outscoring them 14-7.

Garaway also had no answer for Africentric junior post player Dailyn Swain, who made 11 of 12 shots and finished with 30 points, nine rebounds and two blocks.

While the Nubians shot 23-for-36, they also outrebounded the Pirates 31-15 and limited them to 18-for-49 shooting, including 5-for-21 from 3-point range.

Josiah Smith had 13 points and Dan Wagner added 11 for Africentric.

Logan Yoder had 16 points and Alexander Roden scored 15 to lead Garaway.

“It was a tight ballgame,” Bates said. “The first quarter they worked their offense and I thought we played really great half-court defense, but they were just really patient. They got into spots that they wanted to and were able to get some buckets, but at the same time, we were able to run our offense extremely well. The whole first half we didn’t do a good job of speeding them up, so when we came out in the second half, the talk was about picking up the full-court (pressure) and we were able to push the lead out.”

—Jarrod Ulrey

sports@thisweeknews.com

@ThisWeekSports

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Pickerington Central, Africentric win boys basketball regional titles

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Africentric 61, Sugarcreek Garaway 48

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