Columbus Dominates All-Ohio City Series

12 Grade Championship Team

Let there be no doubt, central Ohio teams made a huge statement this weekend at Jerry Watson’s All-Ohio City Series event, as the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grade teams all took home championships! Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo and Cleveland all sent representatives in each of the four grade divisions, but Columbus enjoyed broader support and more success. For the sake of full disclosure, the event was not perfect, and I’m sure Jerry Watson will tinker with elements of the event next year. In addition, other than Cincinnati, some of the other communities were unable to motivate their best players to compete in the event and to represent their respective cities. However, at the end of the day, it was a great basketball event in terms of competition and excitement.

Of course there were many reasons for passing on the event, but at the end of the day, Columbus area organizations, including high school and AAU coaches, did not throw up barriers for participation in this event and embraced the concept of playing for our community. From what I saw this weekend, the kids who played their hearts out this weekend did so for community pride and competition, not All-Ohio, OBC, Kings James, CBIZ, Dayton Nets, ect. Big ups to Ozzie Davis and the Queen City Prophets, Orlando Berry, Paul McMillan, Mark Baker in Dayton and the Toledo guys for looking past boundaries and fear of losing players, and deciding to support the event. The players who attended the event had a great experience competing against the best talent in the state, and it’s unfortunate that many of the kids from other cities had to come to Columbus and go to battle without their full complement of players.

12 Grade Division

In the 12 the grade division, a 5-0 Cincinnati team faced off against a 4-1 Team Columbus. After falling to Cincinnati in a 12 minute exhibition-type game earlier in the day, the central Ohio area based team entered the game with redemption on their minds. By the time the clock showed zero, Columbus had grabbed the title by a score of 109-92. All-I can say to those who missed this one, you missed one hell of a game! I can’t recall the last time I saw a gym explode after every amazing shot or play the way it did today. People will be talking about how Trey Burke and Aaron Thomas, Michigan and Florida State commits, respectively, went toe-to-toe, with each other dropping 34 points worth of long range bombs and drives to the basket, or how super crafty Stevie Taylor pulled out all of his tricks on the way to an 18-point game and numerous oohs and awes from the crowd.

Also, many will talk about the balanced attack of Team Columbus and the contributions the team got from guys like Miami (OH) bound Brian Sullivan (16 points) who had his shoot dialed in, Ohio Dominican-pledge Steve Bridgeman (12 points) and Upper Arlington’s Wesley Richter (7 points). In support, Schroeder’s Jalen Billups, who has clearly gotten a lot better since I saw him play last year, added 15 points in the championship game, while Middletown’s Jailhen Teague finished with 15 points. On another note, after the game, Jerry Watson proclaimed to the crowd the Ohio’s 2010/2011“Mr. Basketball” had just played in the championship game and those in attendance could write down where ever they pleased. Time will tell of Watson’s crystal ball was accurate! Below are the results of day two of the event.

Columbus Roster-Stevie Taylor-5’9 Gahanna Lincoln, Trey Burke-6’2 Northland, Brian Sullivan-6’0 Upper Arlington, Steve Bridgeman-6’5 Bloom Carroll, Wesley Richter-6’6 Upper Arlington, Zach Riddle-6’2 Dublin Coffman, Dwayne Bazemore-6’9 Walnut Ridge, Adam Hall-6’6 Dublin Coffman & Clinton James-6’2 DeSales. Cincinnati Roster-Jaihen Teague-6’1 Middletown, Gene Primus-6’1 Aiken, Ulysses Thomas-6’4 Princeton, Christopher Lowe-6’5 Taft, Aaron Thomas-6’6 Withrow, Jabrill Coaston-6’5 Roger Bacon & Jalen Billups-6’8 Schroeder.

All-Tournament Team

12 Grade All-Tournament Team

Trey Burke (MVP)
Jalen Billups
Steve Bridgeman
Brian Sullivan
Stevie Taylor
Aaron Thomas

11th Grade Division

The championship game in the 11th grade division was highly contested, as Team Columbus entered the game at 4-1, after an upset loss against the second Columbus team, and team Dayton was looking to remain undefeated. In the contest, Dunbar’s Teddy Hawkins arrived for the second day of action and immediately announced his arrival. Although Dayton’s backcourt tandem of Lima senior’s Tyler White and Trotwood’s Andre Yates was spectacular, Dayton had no answer for Marion Franklin’s Elijah Macon who dunked his way to 22 points and MVP honors. I can’t recall the last time I saw Macon play so hard and with so much passion. It was truly a beautiful sight. Columbus went on to claim the championship by a score of 83-79. Other leading scorers for Columbus included Isaiah Rogers and Khalid King, both of whom finished with 10 points. For Dayton, Dunbar’s Tedddy Hawkins finished with a team-high 19 points while his high school teammate Gary Ackbar added 12 points.

Columbus Roster-Isaiah Rogers-5’8 Westerville South, Khalid King-6’3 Brookhaven, Granat Harris-6’3 Harvest Prep, A.J. Ireland-6’4 Bloom Carroll, Nick Neal-6’4 Dublin Jerome, Matt Rhodes-6’6 Westerville North, Nick Archer-6’8 Olentangy Liberty, Jalen Robinson-6’8 Northland and Elijah Macon-6-8 Marion Franklin. Dayton Roster-Jacob Lavavie-6’0 Alter, Soloman King White-6’0 Northmont, Andre Yates-6’1 Trotwood, Tyler White-6’1 Lima Senior, James Brown Jr.-6’1 Trotwood, Gary Akbar-6’4 Dunbar, Justin Rossi-6’8 Franklin and Jacob Rossi-6’8 Franklin.

All-Tournament Team

11th Grade All-Tournament Team

Elijah Macon-MVP
Isaiah Rogers
Grant Harris
Nick Archer
Teddy Hawkins
Tyler White
Andre Yates

10th Grade Division

Columbus’ sophomore team capped off an undefeated weekend with a 118-95 win over a scrappy Toledo squad. Also, the freshman team completed the sweep with an 81-60 win over Cincinnati.

Columbus Roster-Keon Johnson-5’6 Mansfield, Jack Gibbs-5’10 Westerville North, John Drapper-5’10 Eastmoor Acd., Kenny Robinson-6’0 Harvest Prep, Isaac McGlone-6’1 Bloom Carroll, Jaylen Benton-Northland, Kevin Marsh-6’4 Dublin Coffman, Aaron Jackson-6’4 Gahanna, Wendell Davis-6’5 Reynoldsburg & Marquice Lawrence-6’5 Marion Franklin. Toledo Roster-Dave Brown-5'5 Maumee Valley CD, Austin Gardner-5'10 St. Johns, Tony Kinard-6'0 Rogers, Clemme Owens-6'0 Rogers, Demetrius Woodley-6'3 Lima Senior, Deondre Martin-6'5 Lima Senior, Vitto Brown-6'7 Bowling Green & Mark Donnal-6'9 Anthony Wayne.

10th Grade All-Tournament Team

10th Grade All-Tournament Team

Jack Gibbs-Columbus (MVP)
Aaron Jackson-Columbus
Wendell Davis-Columbus
John Drapper-Columbus
Austin-Gardner-Toledo
Tony Kinnard-Toledo

9th Grade All-Tournament Team

Freshman All-Tournament Team

Shamar Waugh-Columbus (MVP)
Ronnie Williams-Columbus
Dymiere Finch-Columbus
Manuel Powell-Columbus
Kenny Kaufman-Cincinnati
Maycio Teague-Cincinnati (8th grader)

To see day two pictures, visit the Buckeye Prep Facebook Fan Page. Also, check out the ESPN piece on the event. Championship pictures.