Midwest Pre-Nationals Championships-Recap

All-Ohio Red-5th Grade Champions

This past weekend I had the opportunity to catch some of the action at the Midwest Pre-Nationals Championships in Columbus. The field was smaller in numbers, but there were a few talented teams at the top of each grade division. The event hosted teams from grades 4-11^th. One of the most competitive divisions was the 7-team 8^th grade D-I division, with teams like the Ohio Hoopsters, All-Ohio Red, Cincinnati Lakers, Buckeye Prep and Dayton Metro. By the time the horn sounded on Sunday, the Ohio Hoopsters were tournament champions with a 5 point victory over All-Ohio Red.

Henry, Lanier, Davis, Hawkins, Mobley, Harris, Jones, Robertson & Milner

Although I only spent limited time at the event, there were a few teams and individual players that caught my eye. In the 5^th grade division, the two top teams were All-Ohio’s 4^th grade team and Aaron Brown’s Buckeye Prep squad. Both teams matched up early in pool play, and All-Ohio proved why they are one of the top 4^th grade teams in the country after notching a 45-31 victory. Standout performers in that game included Josiah Harris (5’7 C Canton), Sean Jones (4’6 PG Columbus) and Trey Robertson (4’5 PG Waverly). Later on Sunday, both teams met in the championship games and  this time, the final score was much closer as All-Ohio went on the claim the championship with a 45-39 win.

S. Goodson, O. Peek, C. Davis, C. Carlisle & N. Pfriem

On Saturday, Ed Lyshe’s Buckeye Prep team faced off against Cory Davis’ Cincinnati Lakers in pool play. Buckeye Prep’s slow start led to a double-digit deficit that could not be over come. Although Buckeye Prep rallied late to make it respectable, the Lakers eventually got the 58-47 win. The Lakers were paced by the outstanding play of Omari Peek (6’4 WF Walnut Hills).  Peek had his stroke dialed in from deep and was a scoring machine. He was supported by the play of Nick Pfriem (6’0 PF Roger Bacon) and Cory Davis (6’3 WF Walnut Hill). Buckeye Prep was led by Seth Goodson (5’10 SG Gahanna) and Cameron Carlisle (5-10 SG Gahanna).

Some of the other standout performers I saw this weekend included:

Darrion Henry-6’3 C Princeton (2020)

Brandon Lanier-5’10 PF Mount Healthy (2020)

Damien Davis-5’3 SG Columbus (2021)

PJ Daniels-5’4 PF Columbus (2021)

Jaden Hawkins-White-5’4 WF Columbus (2021)

Daaron Brown-5’3 PG Columbus (2021)

Anthony Milner-5’4 PG Columbus (2021)

Graham Snider-5’3 PG Canal Winchester (2021)

John Mobley Jr.-4’2 PG Columbus (2024)