Central Ohio High School Stories - February 2024
Girls Basketball: Africentric, Harvest Prep win Division III district titles
Thursday, February 29, 2024
By Michael Rich
Natiah Nelson wasn’t sure why so many of her teammates were asking her how many career points she had in her girls basketball career. So, when Africentric coach Janicia Anderson told her that she had surpassed the 1,000-point milestone on Feb. 29, she was more than pleased. [More]
Central Ohio shines at DI state swim meet
Saturday, February 24, 2024
By Jarrod Ulrey
While there were a couple surprises along the way, things went mostly as expected for central Ohio at the Division I state boys and girls swim meet Saturday at Branin Natatorium in Canton. That proved to be great news considering how much success the area has had in recent years in the big-school division and was expected to have again this winter. [More]
Swimming: Grandview’s Furbee wins 2 titles … again
Friday, February 23, 2024
By Michael Rich
Carrie Furbee couldn’t stop smiling after the day she had at the Division II state swimming meet. And it was a big, wide smile. It was the kind of smile that’s only worn after a great achievement. The Grandview junior won two state titles on Feb. 23 at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton. [More]
Diving: Olentangy Orange’s Ness overcomes shoulder injury to finish 3rd at state
Wednesday, February 21, 2024
By Michael Rich
Augusta Ness wasn’t sure what to expect at the Division I state diving meet on Feb. 21 at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton. The senior diver from Olentangy Orange had competed in the showcase three before, but not under these circumstances. [More]
Diving: Bexley’s Monus wins program’s first state title; New Albany’s Patel takes second
Tuesday, February 20, 2024
By Michael Rich
Jackson Monus sat in the removable bleachers looking at his phone between dives. It wasn’t as if the Bexley freshman was uninterested. Quite the opposite, actually. Monus, who was in the midst of winning the program’s first state diving championship, was trying to keep an even keel. [More]
‘A positive influence on everybody’: Green, Furukawa lead Big Walnut bowlers into postseason
Tuesday, February 20, 2024
By Scott Gerfen
When Nick Green began bowling competitively five years ago, he knew repetition would help improve his game. He didn’t need to be at the bowling alley. “I went to my basement and made a little backstop with a bunch of pillows and set up a couple pins,” Green said. “It was less about trying to hit the pins and more about teaching myself the correct way to throw the ball.” [More]
‘I have to trust myself’: Central Crossing’s Rudolph seeks 1st state wrestling title
Monday, February 19, 2024
By Scott Hennen
Rudolph enters the postseason 34-10, but is not worried about losses as much as in the past. She takes what she can from the tough competition to help improve her performances. Addison Rudolph is familiar with what lies ahead, and the Central Crossing senior is ready to get the postseason underway. [More]
Boys Basketball: Vikings take advantage of opportunity, win 2nd straight City title
Saturday, February 17, 2024
By Jarrod Ulrey
Even though it remained unclear which team would represent the City League-North Division in the City championship game until earlier this week, the members of the Northland boys basketball team never stopped believing things would work out in their favor. [More]
Boys Basketball: Ponder leads Olentangy to first OCC crown
Friday, February 16, 2024
By Michael Rich
Searching for a little extra motivation this week, Olentangy boys basketball coach John Feasel dusted off some old gear from when he coached the girls program. After all, Olentangy had a chance to do something it had not done since joining the Ohio Capital Conference in 1997 … win a league championship in boys basketball. [More]
Girls Basketball: Buckeye Valley enjoying historic breakthrough season
Thursday, February 15, 2024
By Jarrod Ulrey
Following a 56-19 victory Feb. 12 at home against Columbus Academy, the Buckeye Valley girls basketball team savored a net-cutting ceremony after capturing its first league championship since 2007 and just its third in program history. [More]
Hockey: Upper Arlington outlasts Olentangy Berlin for 3rd CBJ Cup
Sunday, February 11, 2024
By Michael Rich
Tate Rook was a little surprised when he woke up this morning feeling as good as he did. The Upper Arlington hockey team survived double overtime and he didn’t get home until after 11:30 p.m. But the freshman forward was full of energy and scored two goals to help the Golden Bears defeat Olentangy Berlin 7-5 to win the Blue Jackets Cup championship on Feb. 11 at the OhioHealth Ice Haus. [More]
Girls Basketball: Africentric pulls away from Stars for 9th straight City title
Saturday, February 10, 2024
By Jarrod Ulrey
While winning its eighth state championship last winter, the Africentric girls basketball team broke the Division III title-game record for points in a game. Still, the Nubians’ No. 1 focus, according to senior Natiah Nelson, is centered around using their defensive effort to make things happen offensively. [More]
Boys Basketball: Orange clinches OCC title in battle with Bradley
Friday, February 9, 2024
By Scott Gerfen
Olentangy Orange boys basketball coach Anthony Calo knew the time was right. In his 13 years of coaching, Calo’s teams had never played a 1-3-1 zone defense, he said. But with the Pioneers trailing by eight points in the third quarter on the road in a tough environment at rival Hilliard Bradley, they needed a different approach against Jaguars coach Brett Norris. [More]
Girls Basketball: Stafford shines in Olentangy’s win over Jerome despite shoulder injury
Friday, February 9, 2024
By Michael Rich
Olentangy girls basketball coach Jamie Edwards admits he was nervous when his star point guard Whitney Stafford went down in the first quarter. But when she got back up and showed no signs that her right shoulder was injured any further. Stafford was not limited for the first time in her four games since returning from the injury. She led the second-ranked Braves to a 62-47 win at Dublin Jerome. [More]
Boys Diving: New Albany’s British-born Patel aiming for new heights
Thursday, February 8, 2024
By Scott Gerfen
Hamish Patel is not your average high school diver. When meeting him for the first time, one of the first noticeable traits is his British accent. But it all makes sense after hearing about the journey from his native England to becoming one of the state’s most accomplished high school divers. [More]
Wellington girls basketball team enjoying breakthrough season
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
By Jarrod Ulrey
Shortly after he became the Wellington girls basketball coach, Jordan Johnson got a chance to watch Elodie Ware compete in an AAU game. He liked what he saw immediately from Ware, a player who had split time between junior varsity and varsity as a freshman and had limited experience up to that point at the travel level. [More]
Girls Basketball: Defensive effort stars in Marysville’s win at Olentangy Liberty
Saturday, February 3, 2024
By Michael Rich
Addy Tweed provided a spark on offense. But it was her effort on defense that really solidified the Marysville girls basketball team. The seventh-ranked Monarchs gave host Olentangy Liberty fits on its way to a 39-27 victory in a non-league game on Feb. 3 – just a day before the Central District tournament draw. [More]
‘I just like seeing them smile’: Olentangy Berlin’s Layla Merriweather enjoying record-breaking year
Saturday, February 3, 2024
By Michael Rich
Layla Merriweather recognizes the strong correlation between success and fun. The senior guard is having a lot of fun and that’s led to a record-breaking season for the Olentangy Berlin girls basketball team. The Bears have already tied the program record in wins at 13-6 overall. [More]
Boys Basketball: Linden-McKinley beats Northland, moves into title position
Friday, February 2, 2024
By Jarrod Ulrey
When Kevin Darthard took over as the Linden-McKinley boys basketball coach for the 2018-19 season, he vowed to turn the program into a perennial City League power. With a 49-37 victory Friday over defending league champion Northland, the Panthers moved into a first-place tie with the Vikings at 11-1 in the City-North. [More]
Girls basketball: Westerville Central earns share of first-ever OCC title
Friday, February 2, 2024
By Scott Gerfen
Kate Yaussy recalls winning just three games as a freshman. Now the senior and the rest of her teammates on the Westerville Central girls basketball team can call themselves OCC-Ohio Division champions with Friday’s 71-46 victory at Gahanna. [More]
Girls Basketball: Watterson rallies to edge Stallions, capture CCL title
Thursday, February 1, 2024
By Jarrod Ulrey
Her team behind all night, and with first place in the CCL on the line, Sophie Ziel and her Watterson girls basketball teammates “dug deep,” as she called it, Thursday at DeSales. Ziel, a 5-foot-8 junior guard who has been receiving college recruiting interest and came in averaging 16.5 points, didn’t score in the first half as her team trailed by as much as 14. [More]
Dublin Jerome swimmers look to add to state memories
Thursday, February 1, 2024
By Jarrod Ulrey
Olivia Matson and her teammates on the Dublin Jerome girls swimming and diving team would like nothing better than to recreate what she calls the “perfect day” a little less than a month from now. The Celtics had just eight competitors at last year’s Division I state meet, but that small contingent scored enough points on the final day of competition to give the program its first championship. [More]
