What’s happening in central Ohio high school sports?
•Considering the standard the Upper Arlington hockey team set for itself last year, when it advanced to its first state tournament since 2007, coach Hamish Baird’s assessment of the Golden Bears’ play backs up how strong they have been through two months.
“We’re ahead of where we were last year as far as our development and play,” Baird said. “We’re playing better than we were at this point last year. We were running right about .500 and dropped some games we shouldn’t have. This year, I feel like we’ve won the games we’re supposed to win and the games that against highly competitive teams have been highly competitive.”
UA is 18-6 overall and 5-3 in the CHC entering a Jan. 21 game against Dublin Coffman at OhioHealth Ice Haus. The Bears, who were ranked fourth in last week’s state poll, were 10-9-0-2 through 21 games last year before going 12-1-0-1 in their last 14.
Sam Burns has 35 goals, almost double second-leading scorer Max Robins’ 18. Sixteen Bears have at least one goal.
“We have a lot of leaders on the team,” Baird said. “We have a lot of scoring punch and our defense is solid.”
—Dave Purpura
•The Dublin Jerome boys swimming and diving team continued its strong season by winning the Northeast Classic on Jan. 15 at Branin Natatorium in Canton.
The Celtics finished first (320) ahead of runner-up Hudson (177) and third-place Olentangy Liberty (158) as 46 teams scored.
Alex Davis, D.J. Lloyd, Carson Smith and Nicky Leonard capped the meet by winning the 400-yard freestyle relay in a meet-record 3 minutes, 6.47 seconds.
“It’s a step in the right direction for our goals at the end of the season,” coach J.J. Spangler said. “It was an opportunity to get a trial run at the postseason and now we can work on some things that we saw.”
The girls team finished fifth (181) behind champion New Albany (303). Libby Grether won the 500 free (4:55.89) and set a program record of 56.32 in the 100 backstroke while finishing fourth.
—Frank DiRenna
•The Olentangy girls swimming and diving team broke three program records in the Northeast Classic on Jan. 15 at Branin Natatorium in Canton.
Martina Peroni, Anna McGrath, Cameron Kuriger and Regan Kauderer broke the record in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:47.54 in the preliminary. The previous record of 1:47.92 was set by Grace Horstman, Grace Butcher, Bridget Parker and Olivia Gollmar in 2018. The Braves finished seventh (1:48.39) in the final and also finished second in the 400 free relay (3:32.53).
Peroni broke her own record of 1:51.1, set in 2020, in the 200 free with a time of 1:49.56. She finished ahead of McGrath (1:51.5), who placed second. Peroni also won the 100 butterfly (54.48).
McGrath swam 1:04.07 in the 100 breaststroke preliminary to break Butcher’s record of 1:04.21, also set in 2018. McGrath placed second (1:04.43) in the final.
Also, Kuriger was second in the 100 fly (54.81).
Overall, Olentangy scored 158 points to place sixth of 44 teams behind champion New Albany (303).
Max McAlister was 11th in the 100 fly (52.88) and 16th in the 200 free (1:48.96) to lead the boys team, which tied for 36th (7) of 46 teams behind champion Dublin Jerome (320).
—Michael Rich
•Hudson Williams finished first in the 100 backstroke (48.09) and second in 200 IM (1:49.53) to lead the Olentangy Liberty boys swimming and diving team in the Northeast Classic on Jan. 15 at Branin Natatorium in Canton.
The Patriots scored 158 points to finish third behind champion Dublin Jerome (320).
Williams also teamed with Aiden Gaier, Gavin Weis and Mason Miller to place second in the 400 free relay (3:10.31) and teamed with Miller, Gaier and Keegan McCauley to finish sixth in the 200 medley relay (1:37.9).
Jack Franz was fifth in the 500 free (4:49.7) and Anthony Sciulli was second in diving (445.6).
—Michael Rich
•Lauren Klinefelter of the Columbus Academy girls swimming and diving team set program records in the 200 individual medley (2:08.29) and 100 butterfly (55.81) during the Northeast Classic on Jan. 15 at Branin Natatorium in Canton.
Abby Wilson, a 2015 graduate, held the previous record in the 200 IM (2:09.17) and Abby Brown, a 2013 graduate, had the previous mark in the 100 fly (56.66).
Klinefelter, a senior, finished third in the 100 fly and ninth in the 200 IM as Academy placed 15th (49) behind champion New Albany (303).
The boys team tied for 24th (20) behind champion Dublin Jerome (320).
—Frank DiRenna
•Led by freshman Millie Evans, the Bexley girls swimming and diving team set three program records in the Northeast Classic on Jan. 15 at Branin Natatorium in Canton.
Evans set the new standard in the 100 fly while finishing ninth in 55.49.
She also joined sophomores Anja Hoy and Annabel Long and freshman Owynn LaFollette to set program records in the 200 medley relay (1:53.55) and 400 free relay (3:45.01). The relays both placed 11th in the preliminaries.
—Scott Hennen
•Junior Nicholas Minkin set a program record for the Bexley boys swimming and diving team in the Northeast Classic on Jan. 15 at Branin Natatorium in Canton. Minkin finished fifth in the 100 back in 53.25.
—Scott Hennen
Super 7 polls:Four new teams join boys, girls basketball rankings
•Isaiah Johnson matched a program record for 3-pointers in a game in helping the Westerville South boys basketball team remain undefeated with a 54-49 win over Dublin Jerome on Jan. 17.
Johnson connected on seven 3s and hit two free throws in the closing seconds to help South hold off Jerome in the One Westerville MLK Basketball Classic at Westerville North. He finished with a game-high 23 points.
Johnson matched the effort of 2006 graduate Michael Calo, who made seven 3s in a 61-48 win over Dublin Coffman in January 2006. Calo is the son of South coach Ed Calo.
“Isaiah was feeling it,” coach Calo said. “What happens with us when one guy is down, another guy picks him up. We have guys who are capable. There’s a lot of burden on (Drey Carter). He has a lot of pressure. Everybody is double-teaming him and making sure that their defense is set against him, so when they do that, it gives some other people some open opportunities and our guys have to cash it out.”
South improved to 13-0 and will visit Dublin Scioto in an OCC-Capital Division game Jan. 21. The Wildcats are tied for second with Pickerington Central in the Division I state poll, behind Centerville.
—Frank DiRenna
•Ten consecutive wins have catapulted the Pickerington Central boys basketball team to a tie for second place with Westerville South in this week’s Division I state poll, and coach Eric Krueger admitted not all of them have been things of beauty.
At 11-1 overall and 4-1 in the OCC-Buckeye Division, the Tigers’ past three wins have come against then-eighth-ranked Gahanna (58-53 on Jan. 8), Reynoldsburg (44-40 on Jan. 14) and Garfield Heights (62-36 on Jan. 16) in Flyin’ to the Hoop at Kettering Fairmont.
“We’ve talked about grinding out possessions,” said Krueger, whose team is seeking its second consecutive league championship and ninth district title in 11 seasons. “Sometimes you win not playing the best you can play. You have to find a way to grind it out, gut it out on both sides of the ball. Defensively, we just try to lock in and find a way to win possessions.”
The Tigers used a late 6-0 run to subdue Reynoldsburg and controlled the game throughout against Garfield Heights as Devin Royal recorded 27 points and six rebounds.
“Playing in tight games, that’s the kind of game we’re going to see in the tournament,” Krueger said. “Those are the games you learn and grow from as a team.”
—Dave Purpura
•With a 77-60 victory over Africentric on Jan. 14, the Walnut Ridge boys basketball team remained in contention for the City League-South championship.
The Scots dropped their first three games but have lost just once since and are 8-4 overall and 6-2 in the league.
The win over Africentric gave Walnut Ridge a season split with the Nubians, who are 9-3 overall and 6-1 in the league.
Zion Blevins had 25 points and Dominique Aekins scored 24 against Africentric for the Scots, who then beat Dayton Thurgood Marshall 75-38 on Jan. 15 in the Battle in the 614 at Ohio Dominican.
Aekins, a sophomore guard, averages 17.8 points, while Na’Varion Adams, a sophomore forward, averages 13.2 points.
Walnut Ridge played host to Eastmoor Academy on Jan. 18 and follows the next day with a matchup at Gahanna, which is fifth in the Division I state poll.
—Jarrod Ulrey
•The Olentangy Orange boys basketball team is 7-5 entering its OCC-Central home game against Hilliard Davidson on Jan. 21. All of the Pioneers’ losses have come in league play.
“I’m just trying to figure out how to get through this league,” coach Anthony Calo said. “We have lost two by three (points) and two others by five. We’re doing things right,…
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