Gahanna Lions-4th Grade State Champions

Norwalk-4th Grade Runner-ups

Unlike like Saturday, Sunday action at the League Ohio Championships only featured a couple of competitive games, as all but 2 games ended in blow out victories. In the 4th grade division, Riverside jumped out to a commanding 21-2 lead over Olentangy Berlin Royal in a quarter-final game before Olentangy came roaring back to within 2 points. However, Riverside would eventually regain the lead and go on to advance to the semis against Gahanna by a score of 43-36.

The undisputed game of the day pitted the 4-0 Gahanna Lions against the 4-0 Norwalk Truckers in the 4th grade championship game. Although Gahanna would race out to a 26-21 lead early in the opening period, Norwalk countered with a 13-2 run of their own to take a late game lead. With about 3 minutes left in the contest and down by about 7 points, Gahanna’s Jordan Taylor got hot, hit several clutch jumpers and free throws, including 2 steals, to get Gahanna to within 1 point with 15 seconds to go. Taylor’s last steal led to a Derrick Peryman trey with under 5 seconds to give Gahanna a thrilling 57-55 comeback win. Gahanna was led in scoring by Taylor who scored a game-high 17 points, followed by Derrick Perryman (16),  Landon Geist (11) and Mason Vines (10). We don’t know exactly how many points he had, but big Maddox Gamble had a monster game, and he had to have finished with 20 + points in the final game. Gamble’s post up game was spectacular, and his soft touch around the rim was impressive. We also really liked Wes Pittenger, who had a big game as well.

In the 3rd grade division, 4-0 Avon Gold cruised to the 3rd grade championship with a gaudy 39-11 win over the Lancaster Gales. In the 5th grade Platinum Boys Championship game, Elyria got a lopsided 60-35 win over Avon Gold. Not only was the 6th grade Gahanna Lions never really tested in pool play, they cruised through bracket play as well, notching a final 80-59 win over Fairview in the championship game.

In the final analysis, this event has a ton of potential! If organizers can find a way to include Cincinnati and Dayton area teams in the event, they could truly have something special  on their hands. Finally, below is a short list of day II standouts. Congratulations to all of the champions!

Standout Performers

Name Hit/Pos Class City/State
 Derrick Perryman 5’3″/SG 2031 Gahanna, OH
  Jordan Taylor 4’7″/PG 2032 Gahanna, OH
 Mason Vines 4’8″/PG 2031 Gahanna, OH
 Maddox Gamble 5’6″/C 2031  Norwalk, OH
Wes Pittenger 5’3″/PF 2031 Norwalk, OH
 Jason Maly 4’8″/PG 2031 Avon, OH
 Andrew Gibbs 5’6″/C 2030 Elyria, OH
 Raheel Washington 5’11″/C 2029  Gahanna, OH
 Evan McNeal 5’11″/WF 2029 Gahanna, OH
 Steve Blackmon 5’2″/PG 2029 Gahanna, OH
 John Moore Jr. 5’1″/CG 2031 Riverside, OH
 Cam Rauch 5’0″/SG 2031 Riverside, OH
Anderson Swartz 4’7″/SG 2032 Lancaster, OH
Landon Geist 5’1″/PF 2031 Gahanna, OH

4th Grade All-Tournament Teams

1st Team Derrick Perryman Jordan Taylor Mason Vines Maddox Gamble Wes Pittenger
2nd Team  John Moore Jr. Cam Rauch Jullian Winner Anderson Swartz Kyle Darfus
3rd Team Jason Maly Landon Geist Michael Gallager Kamden Betts Jerimiah Buchner

Standout Performer Pictures

Derrick Perryman

Jordan Taylor

Mason Vines

Maddox Gamble

Wes Pittenger

John Moore Jr.

Evan McNeal

Raheel Washington

Steve Blackman

Cooper Sheffield

Jason Maly

Andrew Gibbs