Size has never been intimidating this season for the Dublin Scioto High School boys basketball team.

Just ask 5-foot-11 senior guard Zach Duzan, who isn't bothered by the stature of eighth-seeded Gahanna, which is Scioto's foe in a Division I second-round tournament game at 8 p.m. today in the Fairgrounds Coliseum.

"I'm not scared," he said. "It makes it fun for me. I think with a mismatch, I play a little bit harder on defense. It's a big test for us, especially in a tournament game, to stop a team like that."

The big men in Gahanna's lineup include senior forward Nate Linhart (6-6), junior forward John Summers (6-8) and senior guard Kollin Hancock (6-0).

Linhart, who will play for Akron next season, had 20 points, three dunks and nine rebounds last Saturday in a 64-53 win over Independence in the tournament opener. Hancock also scored 20 to help his team improve to 15-5 overall.

All of Gahanna's starters are capable of scoring double figures in any game.

"Our smaller post guys can play pretty physical if they have to," said coach Tony Bisutti, whose team improved to 13-8 with a 60-46 win over Whetstone last Saturday in its tournament opener. "I'm not real concerned about big teams. I'm more concerned about smaller, quicker teams."

The Lions will have to worry about Scioto's inside-outside game.

Junior post Clark Crum was averaging 17.5 points and making more than 57 percent of his shots entering tournament play.

If defenses focus on Crum, the Irish have capable outside shooters like senior wing Kyle Rolf, who made five 3-pointers and finished with 16 points against Whetstone.

"They're more of a half-court team and they execute really well," Hancock said. "We'll have to pay attention to that."

An effective zone defense helped Scioto pull away from Whetstone in the first half, as the Irish took a 28-14 halftime lead.

After opening the game with a man-to-man defense, the Irish shifted to a 2-3 zone in the second quarter.

"When they came out, they weren't hitting 3s," Crum said. "I think the coach just decided that a zone would work the best and he was right."

The Braves made 16 of 49 field-goals (32.7 percent), while the Irish were 17-for-35 (48.6 percent), including 7-for-14 from 3-point range.

Crum supplied 16 points and senior guard L.J. Freeman made all 10 of his free-throws and finished with 13 points.

"We shot the ball," said Bisutti, whose team fell to Dublin Coffman 33-27 a year ago in a district semifinal. "It helps the big guy in there a little bit when guys are hitting shots. It takes some of the pressure off him. They got looks and they made them."

The victory marked the fourth in a row for the Irish, who had lost four consecutive games before the win streak began.

"It's definitely a confidence-builder," Duzan said. "We want to keep our momentum going and keep hitting our shots. It's a little bit different atmosphere here (at the Coliseum)."

A win today would push Scioto into a district semifinal for the third consecutive season. The Irish would play 11th-seeded Thomas Worthington or Westerville South at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Fairgrounds.