Columbus City League Preview: Mifflin Punchers

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Mifflin Puncher basketball team, much like where they are located in Columbus, Ohio, is always stuck in the middle. Stuck in the middle between both Stelzer and Sunbury Rd. just like they seem to be stuck in the middle in the Columbus City League north. Rarely does this school see a losing basketball season, but rarely do they see a Columbus City League championship game. With such a tradition at this school, they hope to climb back into contention in a loaded north division. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Puncher’s lack height at this moment in the summer but that can always change with growth spurts and new players coming on to varsity. But, what they lack in height, they pack in grit. Depth will also be an issue, there will be many young men new to the varsity team next season. Getting the new players up to varsity level speed is always a process and the lack of experience may hurt them in close games. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This team will fight you for everything, a team should never expect a win once they walk into the Mifflin gym, 9 of their 12 victories came at home last season. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Mehki Jarrett</strong> and <strong>Kendrick Frempong</strong> are the two players from last season’s team that the Punchers will rely on. These two played in the most games for this team last season, playing in close games and averaging around 16 points per game between them on a balanced scoring team where the leading scorer averaged 13 points per game.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jarrett is a small guard (and this writer loves small guards) who is a blur with the ball in his hand. Standing at all of 5-foot-7, Mehki Jarrett gets to the basket with ease of the dribble and is impossible to stay in front of. His quick feet help him play passing lanes and stay in front of whoever he is guarding. Of course, a taller player can shoot over the top of him but Jarrett will not make it easy. Jarrett will be an asset to a lower-level college program, he has playmaking skill inside the lane as if he was 6-foot-4 and can shoot well enough that defenders cannot leave him open.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 5-foot-10 Frempong will have an opportunity to show more of his skill this season. He scored in double-digits in four of his last five ball games to end the 2019-2020 season, if he can continue that pace then this team will be able to defeat anyone up north. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Emil Pena</strong>, <strong>Tyler Macklin</strong>, and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="" first="Caleb" last="Smith"]</strong></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> round out the returning players for the Mifflin Punchers. They do not have many games on their resume so this season will be the first test they have and it is coming in a north division that has legit Ohio High School Final Four contenders. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Mifflin Punchers hope to find themselves out of the shadows and back on top soon, this season will be one of the tougher ones. With little experience and a loaded division, this team may struggle to get where they want to go.  </span></p>