Top Central Ohio Games To Watch This Week

<p class="p2"><span class="s1">It’s Christmas week and that means less games, for a great reason that is! By the way, cherish these couple days with your family and friends, the basketball will still be there! </span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Toward the end of the week there are quite a few good games on the slate around Central Ohio. Here we take a look at those. </span></p> <h3 class="p2"><span class="s1">Friday: </span></h3> <p class="p2"><span class="s1"><b>Dublin Jerome (5-3) vs. Olentangy Orange (4-2)</b></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Jerome is young, but have a solid unsigned senior in <span style="color: #ff6600;">Dan Lee</span>. Potentially the smartest player in the area, too! Lee is leading the way for Jerome with over 16 points a game. Sophomore <span style="color: #ff6600;">Matt Butler</span> and freshman <span style="color: #ff6600;">Ryan Nutter</span> have been equally important however. So far this season the Celtics have wins over London and Newark that really stand out. The young team is playing well and could be a challenge to many teams in the OCC this year. </span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Orange has been up and down to start the season with wins over Delaware Hayes, Westerville Central and Big Walnut so to mention. Senior/junior duo <span style="color: #ff6600;">Ryan Cutler and Andre Irvin</span> are leading the way, combining for nearly 30 points a game. Offensively Orange has been solid and have the scorers to get things done. This should be an underrated, but interesting game. </span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1"><b>Shaker Heights (5-0) vs. Pickerington Central (5-2)</b></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Shaker Heights is off to an undefeated start with their best win coming in the beginning of the season. Defeating Cleveland Heights 77-74 in a thriller of a game that Prep Hoops covered actually. <span style="color: #ff6600;">Dakota Cochran</span> is off to a big start including highlight plays and a 39 point game against Elyria. The duo of Cochran and <span style="color: #ff6600;">Shammah Scott</span> combined with other players like Daniel Young could make for a tough night for the Tigers. </span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Pickerington Central has played well as of late, just one loss to Pickerington North since their opening season loss to Toledo St. Francis. Wins over Akron Butchel and Springfield standout so far for the Tigers. A solid starting five including <span style="color: #ff6600;">Garner Wallace, Conner Maciag, Elhadji Thiam and Tahleik Walker</span> will give Central the ability to play with anyone. It’ll be a tough matchup with Shaker, a team that seems to play quick. </span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Pickerington North (5-3) vs. St. Charles (5-2)</span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Pick North has had a rough schedule to start the season as anyone. Taking losses to Akron SVSM, Gahanna and Hilliard Bradley are only going to make the Panthers better this season. Also, they’ve bounced back with nice wins over Pickerington Central and Centerville. Each game showed some big time talent that North was able to better match. </span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">One of St. Charles losses came to the tough Columbus South, which they played rather well. Other than, they haven’t really been tested this season, but that changes when they take on Pickerington North. Big man <span style="color: #ff6600;">Victor Searls</span> has been a matchup problem for opposing teams and could be for Pick North. <span style="color: #ff6600;">Jared Frey</span> could counter the shooting ability of <span style="color: #ff6600;">Hunter Shedenhelm,</span> but isn’t quite the defender that Shedenhelm will bring to the table. </span></p> <h3 class="p2"><span class="s1">Saturday: </span></h3> <p class="p2"><span class="s1"><b>Dublin Coffman (4-3) vs. Reynoldsburg (3-3) </b></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Coffman is manned by <span style="color: #ff6600;">Keaton Turner</span> that we all know has the ability to burn any team he matches up with. Good for 24 points a game through their first seven games, Turner can go.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>Junior <span style="color: #ff6600;">Nash Hostetler</span> has broken on the scene this year, showing he has the scoring ability too with a 21 point game. Coffman likes to play quick and get out and run. Sophomore <span style="color: #ff6600;">Ajay Sheldon</span> is one to watch as he is a ball handling option and can take some scoring duties too. Coffman is a younger team and lost a lot from last year. The ups and downs will come, but they’ll always be competitive. </span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Reynoldsburg is playing .500 ball through the first few games with their best win coming over Africentric. Playing Gahanna, Pickerington Central and Newark early in this season has been quite a challenge for the Pirates. <span style="color: #ff6600;">Cooper Davis</span> is player to watch in the sophomore class. The wing is leading the burg in scoring with 14 points a game, brings a good defensive frame to the table as well. Him and senior <span style="color: #ff6600;">Sean Moore</span> will be the guys to watch for Reynoldsburg as they combine for over 25 points a game. </span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1"><b>Upper Sandusky (4-1) vs. Shelby (6-0) </b></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Upper always has a good squad, even back to the Jon Diebler days they always have scorers. With their only loss coming in a close one to Williard, Upper Sandusky shares one common opponent so far with the Whippets and that is Galion. Both teams blew the Tigers out, so that isn’t a very telling measure. </span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Shelby will need <span style="color: #ff6600;">TJ Pugh, Cody Lantz</span> and <span style="color: #ff6600;">Jonny DeVito</span> to continue to play at a high level if they want to stay undefeated. </span></p>