The Dublin Scioto High School boys basketball team can point to the last five weeks of the season when addressing its successes and failures of the 2004-2005 campaign.

A four-game skid in late January which included three losses to OCC-Cardinal Division opponents erased any hopes for league championship.

Its run through the Division I tournament, however, reached a district semifinal for the third consecutive season and ended with a 53-46 setback to former league foe and 11th-seeded Thomas Worthington on Mar. 1.

"I think a lot of our success this season had a lot to do with our confidence," said junior post player Clark Crum, who was first-team all-league and honorable-mention all-district. "We made it further than most people probably thought we would, but we didn't put ourselves in position to win a league championship and that's probably even more disappointing than losing in the tournament."

The Irish finished 14-9 overall and 6-4 in the league -- tied for third place with Olentangy -- behind champion Grove City (8-2) and Pickerington Central (7-3) and ahead of Chillicothe (2-8) and Westerville Central (1-9).

Scioto was poised for at least a share of the OCC title even with back-to-back losses to Olentangy (35-26 on Jan. 21) and Grove City (57-43 on Jan. 28), but its final league loss came to visiting Pickerington Central (45-43 on Feb. 1) at the buzzer.

"We were in position and then we had a bad stretch there," coach Tony Bisutti said. "We kind of gave in mentally, but it was nice to see us bounce back after that."

Five victories would follow the losing streak, including league wins over Chillicothe (47-37 on Feb. 4) and Westerville Central (51-37 on Feb. 11).

The Irish opened the tournament with a 60-46 victory over Whetstone and added another in a 47-46 upset of eighth-seeded Gahanna.

Scioto made no secret of its offensive strategy all season to get the ball to Crum (6-foot-7), who scored 15 of his 23 points in the first half against the Lions.

If opponents were successful in containing him, however, it was up to the perimeter players to hit some shots. Sometimes they fell; sometimes they didn't.

"You look a lot better in a lot of areas when you're hitting shots," Bisutti said. "But we shored things up at the defensive end, which helped us win some of those games."

Crum, through 20 games, averaged a team-leading 17.7 points and nearly seven rebounds. He made 51 percent of his shots from the field and 72 percent of his free throws.

Senior guard Zach Duzan, who was named second-team all-league, evolved into the team's best defender and averaged two steals a game along with 8.7 points and 2.2 assists.

Senior guard L.J. Freeman averaged 8.7 points and was honorable-mention all-league. He also led the team in free-throw shooting (79 percent).

"Those two kind of complimented each other when they were playing well," Bisutti said.

Next season, the Irish will return only two starters in Crum and 6-3 post player Austin O'Connell, who began to appear in the starting lineup with his rebounding abilities, especially at the offensive end.

Other departing seniors include 6-2 forward Kyle Rolf, one of the better long-range shooters on the team, and 6-1 post player Jordan Whitehouse, who provided many minutes off the bench.

"Our sophomore class is deep, and I think it's going to be solid and supplement our guys with varsity experience," said Bisutti, who ends his 10th season with the program at 157-81. "I think next year we'll have the ability to put contrasting styles on the floor."