Columbus D1 District Finals: Glue Guys
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The Columbus Division I district finals saw some standout performers that we highlighted in our last article. We also wanted to shout out some glue guys who helped their teams either move on or have a chance to win at…
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Continue ReadingThe Columbus Division I district finals saw some standout performers that we highlighted in our last article. We also wanted to shout out some glue guys who helped their teams either move on or have a chance to win at the end of the game.
The lone player who’s team didn’t move on, Brown and Westerville Central battled for 32 minutes and came up just short. A player with a knack for getting loose balls, Brown ended up with rebounds, deflections and steals due to his activity and aggressiveness. A consistent high energy player the past three times I’ve seen him play, Brown does a lot of things that don’t show up in the stat sheet. As a scorer, Brown had some second chance buckets, a reverse pivot into an open layup and an and-1 in the fourth quarter. This game had everything you’d want from a high school playoff game and it’s a shame somebody had to go home after the final buzzer.
A balanced scoring attack for Olentangy Orange saw a balanced scoring output with three players in double figures and Davis with seven points. He had the loudest two points of the game when he had a monster and-1 slam dunk that got the Pioneer faithful on their feet. A quick first step, Davis is able to get into the lane and score at the rim. A football first prospect, it’s impressive how many ways Davis impacts the game and the high IQ he plays with. Already getting FBS offers as a quarterback, Davis received an offer from Miami (OH) the day following the district title win on the hardwood.
Highlights
Another multi-sport athlete who excels on the gridiron and the hardwood, Lowman played with more confidence than I’ve ever seen from him on Saturday. Shooting the cover off the ball from the wing, it seemed like every times Lowman was left open from 3-point range it was nothing but net. This quarterback shows his vision and arm strength on the hardwood with some incredible outlet passes and no look cross court dimes to shooters. Playing at his own speed and productive as a rebounder, decision maker and shooter, I was really impressed with Lowman on Saturday.
A player who keeps getting better, Russell started his rise in the fall and has continued to improve each time I watch him play. Knocking down multiple spot-up 3’s in the first half, one from the wing and another from the corner, Russell has improved his confidence as a perimeter shooter. Russell also had an acrobatic lefty finish where he hung in the air and had another lefty transition layup after he used his active hands defensively to force a turnover. Despite being one of the smaller guys on the court, Russell got his own miss on a layup and got an easy putback as a result. While Delaware Hayes has a strong senior core, the Pacers have a lot of talent in their Sophomore and Junior class that will be hungry to compete again next season.
Newark was in complete control of their district final after a 14-0 run to open the second quarter gave them a comfortable cushion. It was Quackenbush’s 3-point shooting that led them through that run as the Sophomore wing shot the ball with confidence with his feet set. The Wildcats do a great job with their discipline defensively, making teams move the ball to beat them and Quackenbush got his hands on a few passes and was in the right spot as a help-side defender to cut off driving lanes. I was impressed with Newark’s resiliency throughout the game and they shut the door on the late runs Westerville North made to try and fight back into the contest.