All-Ohio Purple Claims Title

All-Ohio Purple-6th Grade AAU DI State Champs

In the 6^th grade division, All-Ohio Purple (AOP), Ohio’s #1 ranked team, solidified their place as the big dog in the state with a 45-42 win over the Pickerington Wildcats. By most accounts, AOP was the heavy favorite this weekend, but the fact that the Wildcats finished second, and took AOP to the wire, suggests that Picktown needs to move up in our rankings.  The championship game represented a rematch of sorts, in that AOP defeated Pickerington earlier in the year rather soundly. But on Sunday, the game was much closer. The Wildcats used an 8-0 run late to cut the AOP lead to just 1 point, and had a chance to tie the game with a shot at the buzzer  but could not convert.

In the semi-final game, Pickerington defeated a beefed up Dayton Metro team by about 9 points. I say “beefed up,” because Metro has added Dayton area’s Antwon Johnson, one of the top bigs in the state. The standout performers for the Wildcats included: Isaiah Steelman (6’1 C Hilliard), Seth Goodson (5’5 SG Gahanna), Xavier Henderson (5’5 PG Pickerington) and Garret Tipton (5’10 PF Orient).

Although the championship game was a close one, AOP’s semi-final game against the Cincinnati Lakers was deemed “the toughest of the tournament,” by the AOP coaching staff. In fact, the game was characterized as a “slugfest,” by the AOP coaching staff, that got a little chippy by the end of the game. The most outstanding players for AOP were Terry Durham (5’0 Combo guard), Demontez “Kane” Cooper (4’8 PG) and Jordan Coovert (6’0 PF). For the Lakers, the most outstanding players for the tournament were Cory Davis (6’0 WF Hamilton), Jack Crvaack (6’2 C Cincinnati), Ryan Hill (5’0 PG Cincinnati) and Johnny Miller (5’2 SG Cincinnati).

As a side note, and as expected, the 6^th grade Ohio Hoopsters took home the gold medal at the DII AAU State Tournament in Columbus. On another note, I have to give some props to Coach Parker and Dayton Nets/Buckeye Prep, as they parlayed a good weekend of basketball to a second place finish. From what I hear, the Nets were as close 2-3 points late in the fourth quarter, but could not get over the hump against the Hoopsters. The Hoopster’s Juan Elmore, David Madison and David Fitzgerald were all standouts over the weekend. Also, the Nets’ Darius Quisneberry got great reviews for his performance as as did Deshan Parker. I have seen both of these guards on multiple occasions and they are ferocious competitions. The other teams receiving bids were Buckeye Prep who finished 3^rd and TUFU finished in fourth place. 


Congratulations to Coach Jerry Francis and his 5^th grade All-Ohio Red (AOR) for winning their 4^th consecutive state championship this past weekend with their 6-point win over a very talented All-Ohio Purple (AOP) squad. The state of Ohio has had some classic rivalries over the years, but the AOR v AOP rivalry ranks right up there with the best.  Both teams have a legitimate chance to not only medal at the AAU Nationals this year, but either team can win it all.