Boys Basketball: Daniels’ late bucket seals another Harvest Prep district crown
Worthington Christian also wins Division III district title
Thursday, March 7, 2024
By Michael Rich
mrich@cbussports.com
Harvest Prep’s Khalil Daniels (5) drives the baseline against Africentric’s Rohaun Harris-Hardy during the Warrior’s district final win at Ohio Dominican Mar. 7. Photo: Kevin Rouch
It didn’t matter to Khalil Daniels who got the winning basket. He just happened to score the game-winner to give the Harvest Prep boys basketball team its third consecutive Division III district title.
Brandon Roddy dumped a pass off to Daniels from the top of the key for a layup with 10 seconds left.
Africentric had three chances at a game-winner, before the ball went out of bounds to seal a 62-61 win for Warriors on March 7 at Ohio Dominican’s Alumni Hall.
“It didn’t matter who scored it; it didn’t matter who shot it – I just wanted to win,” said Daniels, a junior wing, who had 10 points, three rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and two steals. “At the end of the day, that’s all that mattered to me. Being here and being with my brothers … I just loved this game and I’m happy that we won, that’s all.”
The Warriors, who won their 10th district championship overall, face Minford or Seaman North Adams in a regional semifinal on March 13 at 8 p.m. at Ohio University’s Convocation Center.
Prep, seeded third, improves to 21-5 while the 12th-seeded Nubians finish 14-10.
Rohaun Harris-Hardy went 4-for-4 at the foul down the stretch to cap an 8-0 run. His last two free throws gave Africentric a 61-59 lead with 49.6 seconds remaining.
After a Brandon Roddy free throw, Africentric’s Cortez Freeman turned the ball over to set up Daniels’ winning basket.
Five players finished in double figures for the Warriors, who led by as much as 12 in the first half.
“We played together and stayed as one the whole game,” said senior guard Adonus Adams, who had 15 points, five rebounds and four assists to lead Prep. “It got bad in the third and fourth quarter, but we stuck it out and won the game.”
Ephraim Campbell had 12 points and 10 rebounds, two blocks and two steals, Roddy finished with 11 points, three assists and three rebounds and Antwon Pollard added 10 points with five coming in a 10-2 run in the first half that put Prep in the driver’s seat.
Africentric’s Cortez Freemen, who led the Nubians with 19 points, shoots against Harvest Prep’s Jamarcus Jones during their district final game at Ohio Dominican Mar. 7. Photo: Kevin Rouch
Freeman led the Nubians with 19 points and added six rebounds and Derron Gray Jr. went for 17 points, 10 rebounds and a pair of assists.
“This is a resilient group,” Africentric coach Michael Bates said. “We started the year 2-5 at the end of December. From that point on, we went 12-4 before this game. We had a team that went to the final four the last two years. So, a lot of people didn’t expect a lot. These young boys didn’t have a chance to show what they could (last season) because we had so many seniors. So, for them to show their resilience and show their growth over the course of this season.”
Chris Cooper-Patton had 13 points, six rebounds and five assists and Harris-Hardy added eight points, five rebounds, two assists and a couple of blocks for Africentric.
“I can’t be anything but proud of my kids,” Bates said. “I love them to death and they did everything we asked at the end of that game to win that game. We gave ourselves an opportunity.”
Johnson leads Warriors to district crown
Samuel Johnson works on his free throw shooting after every practice. It’s an important part of the senior forward’s game.
Johnson came through on 16 of 18 attempts at the foul line in the biggest game of the season so far for the Worthington Christian boys basketball team, which beat league rival Columbus Academy 60-47 in the first of two Division III district final games on March 7 at Ohio Dominican’s Alumni Hall.
“As soon as we’re done with practice every day, I go and get my 10 made free throws in,” said Johnson, who went for 26 points, 15 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. “It’s for times like this. I praise God that they were falling tonight. I went up there, calmed my breathing, found my rhythm and just (shot).”
Worthington Christian’s Samuel Johnson, who made 16 of his 18 free throw attempts, had 26 points to lead the Warriors over Columbus Academy in a district final Mar. 7 at Ohio Dominican. Photo: Kevin Rouch
The Warriors, who improved to 22-4, advanced and will play Castalia Margaretta or Genoa Area in a regional semifinal March 13 at 6 p.m. at Bowling Green’s Stroh Center.
It’s the Warriors’ first district title since 2021 and 13th overall.
“I won as an assistant – it feels good to get one as a head coach,” said Worthington Christian first year coach Quintin Aden Jr., who won three district championships as an assistant coach at Harvest Prep. “(Johnson) shoots free throws well as long as he’s calm and relaxed. His problem is legs, so those timeouts really helped. As long as he’s got his legs under him, he’s money.”
Academy and Worthington Christian split two games in Central Buckeye League play this season with the Vikings winning 52-44 on Jan. 16 and the Warriors winning 47-35 on Feb. 16. Worthington Christian won the league title at 11-1, two games ahead of second place Academy.
This time around, Logan Woloshan knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter to help the Warriors to an 8-2 start. Woloshan finished with six points, four assists and three rebounds and fifth-seeded Worthington Christian never trailed.
Worthington Christian led by as many as 14 points in the first half.
“I knew right out the gate there was going to be a lot of attention on me,” Johnson said. “As a basketball player, you’ve got to play through that. When I had three guys on me, I found my guys who were open.”
Jason Singleton scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half, including a basket with 6 minutes, 2 seconds remaining to cut top-seeded Academy’s deficit to 29-22.
But Jonah Lewis responded with a 3-pointer on the next possession. He hit three 3s in the game and finished with 14 points.
Samuel Owusu-Sarfo added six points and seven rebounds for the Warriors.
M.J. Jackson had 14 points and seven rebounds and Theo Falkenhain chipped in six points, three rebounds and three steals for the Vikings, who finished 21-5.
“If (Johnson is) going and our supporting cast is helping out, then we’re hard to beat,” Aden Jr. said.
Columbus Academy’s Jason Singleton (center) works through the Worthington Christian defense during their district final game at Ohio Dominican Mar. 7. Photo: Kevin Rouch