Mike’s Tuesday / Wednesday Playoff Standouts

Dugan has established himself as a quality second scoring option next to GCL South player of the year Cam Williams Cam Williams 6'2" | PG Elder | 2025 State OH and with Williams battling an injury, Dugan’s double-double performance gave Elder enough firepower to hold off a scrappy Milford squad. I was impressed by the motor Dugan played with, going hard for rebounds and beating opponents down the court. This allowed Dugan to get a transition and-1 layup, a putback and-1 layup and he also knocked down a pick and pop 3-pointer. A really valuable high school basketball player, Dugan will need to step up in the district final if Elder wants to move on again.

Knockdown shooters can swing momentum in march and Hilvert made some key 3-pointers in Fairfield’s opening round victory over conference rival Middletown. His teammates did a nice job of finding him with his feet set and he set the tone early with two 3-pointers to open the game. The only player in the game to make 3+ 3-pointers and Hilvert tied for the fewest turnovers of any starter on either team with just one. Sometimes the game is simple, make shots and don’t turn the ball over and Hilvert did both of those for his team on Tuesday.

An active performance from Bronston off the bench who tied his season-high with 6 points including an and-1 righty finish and a powerful slam dunk. Bronston also threw a nice big to big assist for senior Gabe Clemmons Gabe Clemmons 6'10" | C Fairfield | 2025 State OH and grabbed three rebounds in the limited minutes he was out there for. Nice to see him step up in a big game against a team with similar size, Bronston will look to build on that momentum as he has one of the highest upsides of any forward in Cincinnati’s 2027 class.

A statement victory by Coldwater who took down one of the top seeds in the state in Spencerville in the district semifinals. Blockberger put the team on his back in the third quarter, making some tough shots at the rim off spin moves and backdoor cut off screen action. The highlight of the game came at the end of the third quarter when Blockberger walked into a pull-up 3-pointer just before the third quarter horn to give his team the lead heading into the final frame. Also an all-state quarterback, Blockberger is one of the most talented all around athletes from his part of the state and will look to keep the magic alive against conference rival Marion Local in the district finals.

Another heartbreaking playoff loss for the Bearcats but Orr left it all on the court for his final high school game as he did an excellent job crashing the offensive glass and getting easy putback layups. Also blocking a couple shots throughout the game, Orr’s physicality was a strength against a Coldwater group that has a bunch of multi-sport athletes. While the Sensabaugh brothers return next season, with Orr and a couple other seniors leaving the Spencerville team will look different in 2025-26.

Marion Local came out aggressive and got out to a big first half lead before hanging on in the fourth quarter to advance. Niekamp was solid on both ends of the court as his size and pure presence in the paint deters shots at the rim. Offensively, Niekamp had a few buckets at the rim where he was simply too big and too strong to stop. I was also impressed with his big to big passing against a zone defense, hitting teammate Kale Ahrens Kale Ahrens 6'3" | PF Marion Local | 2027 OH a few times on the block for layups. In the fourth quarter with New Bremen making their big push, Niekamp hit a 3-pointer to ice the game and help the Flyers move on to the next round.