Boys Basketball

Irish win district title

Scioto topples defending state champ in final

Wednesday,  March 18, 2009 1:20 PM

By SCOTT GERFEN

ThisWeek Contributor

By Chris Parker/ThisWeek

Scioto's Bradley McDougald is surrounded by teammates Deji Olatoye (left), David McKinley, Ranier Duzan, Dustin Thomas, Eric Stamets and Jason Reineck last Saturday after knocking off defending state champion Newark 68-52 in a Division I district final.

By Chris Parker/ThisWeek

The Irish's Eric Stamets grabs a rebound last Saturday.

Throughout the season the Dublin Scioto High School boys basketball team has won with diversity.

That's what carried the second-seeded Irish last Saturday in a 68-52 victory over fourth-seeded and defending state champion Newark in a Division I district final in the Fairgrounds Coliseum.

It's never been a one-man show.

"Our offense was all together," senior Bradley McDougald said. "We ran some stuff off of our sets, and if that didn't work we'd run our motion. We stuck together, running screens for each other. Everybody was just playing their roles."

Still, the 6-foot-2 guard managed to score a career-high 29 points in leading Scioto to its second consecutive district title.

The Irish faced Cincinnati St. Xavier last Wednesday at the Fairgrounds in a regional semifinal. Northland will play Grove City today in the other semifinal.

The winners will play for the regional championship and a berth in the state tournament at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Fairgrounds.

Northland improved to 23-1 after surviving a 59-56 victory over Westerville North in a district final. The Vikings' only loss came to Canton Timken, which fell to North Canton Hoover in a district final. Scioto lost to Hoover 50-48 at the buzzer Dec. 14.

Northland is led by Jared Sullinger, a 6-foot-9 junior center who is averaging 19.8 points in the postseason, and J.D. Weatherspoon, a 6-6 junior guard who is averaging 15.3. Senior Javon Cornley (6-5 forward) has been used to guard the opponent's top post player.

Grove City's Jon Smith, a St. Louis-signee, had 26 points, 20 rebounds and 10 blocked shots in an 81-52 win over Dublin Coffman last Saturday as the Greyhounds improved to 22-2 and won their first district title in 10 seasons.

"It all has to start with Jon," Grove City point guard Aaron Murfin said. "He's a threat in everything he does. The last game he had a triple-double and also had five assists. With Jon being as dangerous as he is, it opens things up for us."

"Even though we haven't played during the regular season, with the three central Ohio teams there is some familiarity," added Scioto coach Tony Bisutti, whose team was 23-1 before last Wednesday. "We've scrimmaged and faced each other in the offseason. It is going to be interesting and make for a great regional."

Last Saturday's victory kept Newark from winning a third consecutive district championship. The Irish opened quickly with a 10-0 run and for the game shot 27 of 40 (67.5 percent) from the field and 6 of 7 (85.7 percent) from 3-point range.

"We came out on fire and hit some shots and worked it inside," senior guard David McKinley said. "I think we knew we'd have a height advantage."

Deji Olatoye had 10 points and nine rebounds.

"We wanted to come out and go inside early and try and get Deji and (Marco St. John) going a little bit, and I think we did that," Bisutti said. "They feed off each other really well and they know how to read the help. We've spent some time on that."

With a little more than four minutes left in the first half, Newark cut the lead to 23-20, but McDougald made sure the Wildcats got no closer by scoring the next five points, including a 3-pointer.

McDougald, a Kansas football recruit, was 10 of 12 from the field. He also made a career-high three 3-pointers.

"McDougald played a great game, and if he's making jump shots, he's a tough guard for anybody," Newark coach Jeff Quackenbush said. "When he hits those jump shots you've got to chase him around, and that hurts you on the inside with your interior defense."

Cody Dennison led Newark, which finished 20-4, with 20 points.