High school basketball: Flyin to the Hoop Friday game previews

The 23rd annual Beacon Orthodontics Flyin to the Hoop high school basketball showcase takes flight Jan. 16-19 at Trent Arena in Kettering, Ohio. The four-day basketball festival features a nationwide slate of individual and team talent. New this year are Nike EYBL Scholastic games. 

Since its inception, FTTH has hosted 102 future NBA players. Last year the event hit a new milestone when Shai Gilgeous‐Alexander became the first event alumnus to be named NBA Finals MVP as the Oklahoma City Thunder won the NBA World Championship. SGA played at Flyin to the Hoop in 2017 with Hamilton Heights Christian Academy (Tenn.).

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Here's what to look forward to Friday at FTTH... Previews by Mike Roth

Dream City Christian National (Glendale, Ariz.) Vs Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah)
Friday, 6:30 pm
The opener pits two west coast Nike Scholastic teams against each other. Dream City Christian is one of the youngest teams in the Nike Scholastic league with Ikenna Alozie, a Houston commit, as their most notable senior prospect. 2027 duo Keaundre Morris and Malachi Jordan each hold an offer from Washington, while Jordan also holds offers to Ohio State, Kansas, Indiana, Missouri, Tennessee and more. They’ll take on a Wasatch Academy squad that’s led by the solid guard play of Junior County (UConn) and Katrelle Harmon (Creighton). These two teams met in November 2023 with Dream City Christian, led by Ikenna Alozie, a current senior on the roster, taking down a Wasatch squad led by current Ohio State point guard John Mobley Jr. 
 
SPIRE Academy National (Geneva, Ohio) Vs Reynoldsburg (Ohio)
Friday, 8:15 pm
The first Nike Scholastic program from the state of Ohio, Spire is sure to draw eyeballs from across the country. Spire has tons of nationally ranked talent with a top 100 2027 guard duo of King Gibson and Darrell Davis. Notable seniors on Spire include Iowa State commit Dorian Rinaldo-Komlan, Alabama commit Tarris Bouie III, Providence commit Aiden Derkack (Derkack’s older brother Jordan is a senior on the Dayton Flyers this season) and Georgetown commit Alex Constanza. Constanza played at FTTH prior in 2024 as a member of Westminster Academy (played Kettering Alter and Richmond Heights). Reynoldsburg is no stranger to this event either having beaten Centerville last season and losing a thriller to Oak Ridge in 2024. The Raiders are loaded with talent as Ohio University commits Xavier McKinney and Jorden Bowens headline the roster. Add in sophomore Mekhi Roddy and the Raiders are stacked with Division I talent.