Start girls basketball team captures Toledo City title in Ohio

Clinging to a one-point halftime lead last Saturday against Notre Dame Academy (Toledo), the Start (Toledo) girls basketball team turned up the heat defensively.

The result was a 22-4 run during the third period and an eventual 59-46 victory that gave the Spartans their second Toledo City League championship in three seasons. When Start won the 2009 City title, it went on to earn a Division I state runner-up finish.

The Spartans, who were ranked seventh in last week's state poll, have similar aspirations for the coming postseason.

"This feels great, especially with it being the last City Championship for our seniors," senior guard Maleeka Kynard told the Toledo Blade. "We just knew we had to pick up our defensive intensity. They were getting a lot of shots in the lane and they were getting to the basket and making shots."



Kynard, who has signed with Ohio State, finished with 14 points and four rebounds. Kentucky-bound senior Asia Bishop, a 6-foot-2 post player, fought through heavy defensive attention to contribute 13 points and 13 rebounds. Junior Jaymie Jackson had 16 points and grabbed five rebounds to lead Start, which improved to 18-2.

Notre Dame Academy, which also lost to Start 60-50 on Jan. 31, finished the regular season with a 16-4 record. The Eagles received 16 points from Demy Whitaker and 14 from Cat Wells.

During the third quarter, Start made eight of 10 shots from the floor and went 6-for-8 from the free-throw line and forced seven turnovers.

"I didn't know we did those things (statistically), but I knew we played well in the third quarter," coach Bob Brown told the Blade. "Those numbers are pretty amazing considering the talent of Notre Dame. They do a tremendous job of taking away your strengths."

MaxPreps Ohio girls basketball playoff brackets

NORTHLAND BOYS WIN AGAIN
The Northland (Columbus) boys basketball team made it five consecutive Columbus City League championships last Saturday when it beat Walnut Ridge (Columbus) 59-52.



The Vikings' Trey Burke, a Michigan recruit, was held to 14 points, but junior guard Jordan Potts made a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 15 points. Junior Devon Scott scored 14 points and classmate Jalen Robinson added 11 points as well for Northland, which improved to 19-1.

The Vikings were third in last week's Division I state poll and have gone 69-0 against City League-North Division opponents the last five seasons in addition to winning each of the conference finals.

"It means a lot," Northland coach Satch Sullinger said. "I think everybody sat around and wanted a pound of our flesh this year, and (this team) didn't let that happen."

MaxPreps Ohio boys basketball playoff brackets

BUCHTEL BOYS DOWN FIRESTONE
Senior guard Jazel Garrett scored 10 of his game-high 18 points during the third quarter to lead the Buchtel (Akron) boys basketball team past host Firestone (Akron) 63-53 last Saturday. It gave the Griffins their second consecutive Akron City series title. Buchtel, which is ranked third in the state in Division II, outscored the Falcons 27-12 in the third quarter to rally from a 32-26 halftime deficit.

Continue reading{PAGEBREAK}STATE'S BEST STACKED FOR DISTRICT
The top three teams in the final Division I state wrestling poll each will be taking large contingents to district competition this weekend.



St. Edward (Lakewood), which ended the season ranked first, advanced in all 14 weight classes and had eight champions at the Lorain sectional last Saturday. Defending state champion and second-ranked Wadsworth had eight individual champions from the sectional at Medina and will send 13. Both teams will compete at the Lorain district tournament Friday and Saturday.

Third-ranked Perry had seven individual champs and will send 13 competitors to the district tournament at Mentor.

COFFMAN BOYS EDGE BEARS
The Dublin Coffman boys basketball team edged previously undefeated Upper Arlington (Columbus) 55-49 in overtime last Friday to earn a share of the OCC-Central Division title. The loss ended a 38-game regular-season winning streak for the Bears and gave both teams a final mark of 13-1 in conference play. Upper Arlington is 19-1 heading into the district tournament and the Shamrocks are 16-3.

TOP PERFORMERS
* Ryan Green, Granville boys basketball: Green made five 3-pointers and finished with 21 points to lead his team to a 68-59 victory over Whitehall-Yearling last Friday. The win gave the Blue Aces a share of the MSL-Ohio Division title with Heath at 11-3.

* Cole Krizancic, Mentor boys basketball: Krizancic, who is Mentor's all-time leading scorer, finished with 35 points during a 108-105 loss to St. Edward last Saturday. Krizancic made consecutive 3-pointers to help keep Mentor's hopes alive in the final minute and scored 14 points during the fourth quarter.

* Summer Finley, Chillicothe girls bowling: The freshman rolled a 584 series to edge Bishop Ready (Columbus) senior Allison Lichwa for the sectional championship last Friday at Eastland Lanes in Columbus. Finley bowled a 198-214-172 series to take the title and will compete at the district tournament Saturday at HP Lanes in Columbus.



COMING THIS WEEK
* State swimming and diving, Wednesday-Saturday (Feb. 23-26): The Upper Arlington boys and girls swimming and diving teams will be among the favorites in their respective Division I state meets this week in Canton's C.T. Branin Natatorium. The Bears boys finished third at the boys state meet last year and won district with 432.5 points last Saturday at Ohio State. The Upper Arlington girls team, which scored 295 at the state meet last year to top its closest competitor by more than 100 points, scored 505 points to win district.

* District wrestling, Friday-Saturday (Feb. 25-26): Hilliard Davidson, which was ranked 10th in the final Division I state poll, will be one of the headlining teams at the district tournament Friday and Saturday at Hilliard Darby. The Wildcats, Beavercreek and Olentangy Liberty (Powell) each had 10 district qualifiers after respectively winning sectional team titles.

* Padua Franciscan (Parma) vs. North Olmsted, ice hockey: The Padua Franciscan ice hockey team will face North Olmsted in the third round of the Brooklyn district tournament at 6 p.m. Thursday at Brooklyn Recreation Center. The winner will play March 1 for a spot in the state tournament.

ALSO
Bishop Ready (Columbus) and Worthington Christian are central Ohio schools that had their girls soccer coaches recently resign.

Jarrod Ulrey covers Central and Northern Ohio for MaxPreps.com. He covers prep sports for ThisWeekSPORTS.com and can be reached at julrey@thisweeknews.com.