Jason Morrow:
Future150 National Editor/ Midwest Recruiting. Covering high and middle school basketball. OH,IN and IL.
Newark, OH (Future150) -- Instead of just the traditional game recap and scouts notes on a game, I will be bringing a new look to the postgame write-up on every game throughout the high school season, adding in facts and stats to truly show what happened over the 32 minutes of action.
Four facts:
- When Newark's Jordan Dartis is on, he is really on. The Ohio U. signee seemingly did not miss last night, knocking down just about every three he took last night. They were not toes on the line threes either, some of them were deep, nearly touching his heels on the volleyball line with one or two of his game-high seven threes.
- Free-throw shooting can win or lose a game, and in Gahanna's case on Friday, it was the determining factor in walking off Gary Walter Court with a victory. The Lions were 12-of-13 from the stripe in the second half that saw Newark kept scrambling to stay in the game. Senior Jenisys battle was a perfect 6-of-6 in that second half as well, with the big free-throws as time was thin.
- Winning a road game at Newark is really, really tough. The home atmosphere with the fans and support, along with the Wildcats being a really well-coached team makes it difficult to walk in and take a game with ease. Newark's never-say-die attitude in Friday's contest was crucial, as they trailed by as many as 7 twice and each time the momentum swing seemed to favor Gahanna up until that point.
- Newark's supporting cast around Dartis was pretty effective last night, especially against the zone employed by Gahanna. Darius Shackleford had 10 points, and was able to split the zone in rotation with shots at the elbow. Point guard Khayle Woods had five points, all of which came in the second half, but his impact as distributor was crucial.
Three players of note:
- Jordan Dartis (2015/G): Mentioned at length already, the senior did all he could on Friday night to keep his Newark squad around, knocking down seven threes for a game-high 26 points. Headed to Ohio U next year, the streaky guard will definitely make an impact right away with his long-range game.
- Warren Yates (2016/G): Getting a bigger role with fellow junior Matt Moyer out with foul trouble, the guard really made an impact with some timely buckets to keep things under control for Gahanna. His co-team high 17 points and four rebounds was very important for the Lions in a big OCC-Ohio win.
- Nick Ward (2016/F): Mentioned last, but surely one of the biggest components to Friday night's win was the high-major forward Nick Ward. His 6-foot-8 body was just too much to handle at times for Newark, punishing the 'Cats for 17 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. When he gets position on the block, the junior is virtually impossible to guard.
Two Game-Changing Plays
- With 5:49 left in the first quarter, Moyer was summoned to the Gahanna bench after picking up two quick player-control fouls, effectively taking the Syracuse-commit out of the game in the first half. Newark was able to capitalize on this and it led in part to the Wildcats only trailing by two going to the break.
- Senior guard Jenisys Battle knocking down two free-throws to seal the win with :3.7 seconds left. This pushed the margin of 59-55 to its final resting place, giving Gahanna the big OCC-Ohio win.
One Final Thought
- With Pickerington Central losing to Reynoldsburg at the buzzer, and Gahanna knocking off Newark in the closing seconds, there is nothing given in the Ohio Capital Conference's Ohio Division, it is earned. Every night is a battle.
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