Battle at the Berkey Saturday Standouts
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The Battle at the Berkey is a great event to catch small town action with a six game per day weekend event. In this article I’ll break down one standout from each winning team on Saturday. Dominic Theado OH #103…
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Continue ReadingThe Battle at the Berkey is a great event to catch small town action with a six game per day weekend event. In this article I’ll break down one standout from each winning team on Saturday.
Fresh off a buzzer-beater victory from Landon Johnson Landon Johnson 5’11” | PG Bishop Watterson | 2025 State OH the night prior, Bishop Watterson continued to roll with a dominant performance over Wadsworth. With tough defense and crisp ball movement, Watterson had a variety of guys contribute as Theado won game MVP. A multi-sport stud, Theado uses his strength to bully opponents on drives. A good shooter as well, the Watterson guards drove and kicked to Theado for open looks that he converted efficiently. A slam dunk was the icing on the cake for a strong weekend by the Eagles.
The leading scorer of the first day of the event, Holt was getting BUSY in the first three quarters. Playing at his own pace and knocking down a high percentage of his off the bounce shots, Holt was getting where he wanted to and was scoring the ball efficiently. In the third quarter it felt like everything Holt threw up at the rim went in as he hit some deep off the bounce 3-pointers and had a couple floaters that found the bottom of the net. Finishing with 37 points and the win, Holt is a name to watch in northeast Ohio’s 2026 class.
Highlights
Another team with a strong weekend was Toledo Christian, they rolled over Dalton after beating TAAC rival Emmanual Christian the night prior. In a 31 point blowout, a variety of guys got going for the Eagles but I wanted to spotlight Butler’s play. He recently broke the Toledo area record with 36 consecutive made free throws. Butler is a strong guard who finished at the rim with crafty finishes. Defensively he got a few steals as Dalton didn’t handle the pressure Toledo Christian threw at them very well. With a couple off the bounce 3-pointers, including one step-back 3-pointer that was a tough shot. Toledo Christian has a lot of pieces and are capable of making a run in the loaded NW Ohio Division IV regional.
Highlights
We’ve talked about two teams that got key wins on Friday and followed it up the next day with a strong performance, but Berlin Hiland lost a tough game Friday night to Garaway and followed it up with a statement win over Wayne Trace. Hiland is sound defensively and they make you earn every bucket in the half-court. Offensively, Hiland shot the ball at a high rate from 3-point range and converted a lot of these looks. Detweiler is the guy who makes them go offensively with his dribble-drive and kick game to their shooters. Besides just being a creator for others, Detweiler can really shoot it himself with some rhythm one dribble jumpers. His highlight of the game was a nasty crossover move into a pull-up jumper at the halftime buzzer that was nothing but net. Another team to watch out for in Division IV, Berlin Hiland looks poised to make another deep playoff push.
Olentangy was a late add to this event and they wasted no time ending Creston Norwayne’s unbeaten season with a dominant victory. The size and athleticism of Olentangy was unlike any opponent Norwayne had seen and the hot shooting of Agrawal was key in the win. Five first half 3’s and a game high 32 points off EIGHT made 3-pointers, Agrawal was red hot from downtown.
Sagester has grown 2-3 inches since I saw him last May and that makes a huge difference in his game when he’s driving to the paint and looking to score. Playing at his own pace, Sagester has good touch at the rim and Tri Village runs some nice actions to get him open off screens. One of the elite shooters in Ohio’s 2026 class, when Sagester gets time and space he’s usually making you pay even when he’s 4-6 feet behind the 3-point line. When you combine his shooting ability with unselfish play and crisp sets, it’s easy to see why Tri Village is having a great season and Sagester is at the middle of it. Scoring 22.9 PPG and already having converted on 46% of his 98 3-point attempts this season, Sagester is one of the top small town scorers in Ohio as just a Sophomore. Their game against Preble Shawnee in mid February will be a great test to likely determine who wins the conference crown.