Opponents this season have been able to pinpoint the Achilles' heel of the Dublin Scioto High School boys basketball team.

That strategy includes an effective zone defense to contain junior post player Clark Crum and then some hope the Irish outside shooters go cold.

With 11th-seeded Thomas Worthington playing physical on the boards and switching man-to-man and zone defenses, the plan worked to perfection last Tuesday in a 53-46 victory over Scioto in a Division I district semifinal in the Fairgrounds Coliseum.

"They're pretty athletic in that zone and we didn't respond to it," said coach Tony Bisutti, whose team ended its season at 14-9. "Our guys came out and really lacked patience and we had to get into a game that really wasn't us."

The Cardinals improved to 16-7 and will face top-seeded Westland at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in a district final at the Fairgrounds. The Cougars trailed ninth-seeded Lancaster by as many as 16 points in the first half before winning 53-47.

Three teams from the OCC-Buckeye Division -- Thomas, Dublin Coffman and Westland -- are all playing for district championships this weekend.

"I thought our man-to-man and zone defense were both effective and we kept them from getting any rhythm," Thomas coach Bob Miller said. "The real key for us was the zone and getting those rebounds."

The Cardinals outrebounded the Irish 29-22, but it was more lopsided at the offensive end.

"All week we had been rotating guys," said Thomas post player Luke Mehling, who led all scorers with 16 points. "Our goal was to not let (Crum) get the ball and try to wear him down. If he did get the ball, we doubled-teamed him."

Crum had to work for his team-high 15 points with seven coming at the free-throw line. Senior forward Kyle Rolf was 1-for-8 from the field and senior guard L.J. Freeman was 1-for-7. Scioto made just 14 of 41 field goals (34.1 percent) overall.

Guard Zach Duzan had 11 points and Austin O'Connell scored eight off the bench for the Irish.

"I don't think it was so much our shooting as it was our rebounding," Crum said. "I know myself I didn't box out well enough. They were banging me pretty good. They just had more energy than we did and played harder."

Duzan and Freeman hit 3-pointers in back-to-back possessions to close out the first quarter and give Scioto a 14-10 lead.

Thomas responded, however, by taking the second quarter 11-2 for a 21-16 halftime lead.

The Cardinals' offensive run continued in the second half with an 8-2 spurt to open the third quarter as their lead increased to 11 points.

Scioto showed some life in the fourth quarter as Rolf hit a 3-pointer with about 6:30 to play to cut the lead to nine. Turnovers helped the Irish get even closer late in the game and Freeman hit a 3-pointer with 50 seconds left to cut the lead to six.

"They left the door open for us and a little bit of magic would've helped," Bisutti said.

Scioto reached a district semifinal for the third season in a row by upsetting eighth-seeded Gahanna 47-46 on Feb. 24.

The Lions had a chance to tie the game at the free-throw line, but Colin Hancock missed the back end of a one-and-one with two seconds left.