TOUGH TASK IN FRONT OF IRISH

After finding a way to pull off a dramatic 65-64 win over Olentangy on Friday night, the Irish face a challenging road game against the Westerville South Wildcats on January 27.

Since falling 62-48 to Scioto on December 12, the Wildcats have won six consecutive OCC Cardinal games and stand 10-3 overall.

They started the second half of league play on Friday with an impressive 67-52 win at Westerville Central, a team that had won six consecutive games heading into that contest.

A Westerville South win will move the Wildcats into a first place tie, while a Scioto victory will push the Irish ahead two games in the Cardinal Division.

The Irish and Wildcats are similar teams in that their coaches emphasize a commitment to strong team defense. They will press and trap in order to force their opponents into mistakes that can lead to easy baskets.

Both teams like to test their opponents with the transition game on offense, and, will make the extra pass in order to get the best possible look at the basket.

Ed Calo’s squad is led by a pair of guards. Senior Jason Davis is one of the best shooters in the league and is a steady performer on both ends of the floor. He is headed to NAIA nationally-ranked Walsh University to continue his basketball career. He is averaging more than 11 points a game, but scored 17 points when these teams met in December.

He is joined by sophomore Traevon Jackson who is averaging more than 13 points a game. He scored 14 in the previous match-up and had a team high 4 rebounds.

Frontcourt players Adrian Collins, Tevin Favor and Olamide Olanrewaju all average more than 7 points a game. It is not unusual for the Wildcats to insert 10 or more players into the lineup on a given night.

The Wildcats are a relatively young team with only a few seniors on the roster. They are, however, familiar with playing winning basketball as the program won a district championship last season, dropped the Irish in the regional semi-final and took eventual state champion Newark to the wire in the regional finals.

The game is a tripleheader involving all three levels. The freshman game is slated to tip at 4:30 p.m., while the JV game will follow at around 6 p.m. and the varsity game at 7:30 p.m.