Northland Holds off Central to Claim Title

Most of the fans in attendance at the Fairground Coliseum to watch the Northland Vikings face off against the Westerville Central Warhawks were probably expecting a blowout victory for the one loss Vikings. As we know now, the game was anything but that, as Westerville was in the game up until the final horn sounded, and had a legitimate chance at coming away with the victory. In fact, Central was up 61-62 with 15 seconds left in the game. From there, Northland’s Trey Burke received an inbounds pass, drove the length of the court and drew a foul. Burke converted both free throws to put the Vikings ahead 63-62 with 8.1 ticks remaining. Coming out of a Westerville time out, Lavonte Justice was fouled , and he calmly sank both freebis to put Northland up for good with 2 seconds left. Central’s last second heave had no chance, as Northland claimed consecutive district titles with a 65-62 win.

Trey Burke led all scorers with a game-high 19 points; Jalen Robinson finished with 15 and Devon Scott added 14. For the Warhawks, Quinton Henderson and Kam Harris had great games, and finished with 15 and 13 points, respectively. Northland will now face the Gahanna Lincoln Golden Lions on Wednesday in the regional semi-finals. Many central Ohio fans have been hoping for the rematch, since the Lions upset the then #1 ranked team in the country last year to advance to the state final four. This game should be a good one! To see the pictures I took at the game, visit the Buckeye Prep Facebook Fan Page.