With less than a minute to go and her team trailing by one point, Gahanna Lincoln junior guard Clarke Jackson understood what was at stake
With less than a minute to go and her team trailing by one point, Gahanna Lincoln junior guard Clarke Jackson understood what was at stake in the first of four Division I district finals Feb. 26 at Ohio Dominican.
Jackson, who helped the Lions win their first district title since 2018 and their eighth overall, scored the final six points and finished with 15. “I needed to block because we couldn’t give up that layup,” Jordan said. “I had four fouls, but I just went for it because we needed it.” Coffman made nine of 11 free throws in the fourth quarter to hold off the Wildcats and improve to 23-1. The Shamrocks advanced to a regional semifinal March 1 against Pickerington Central at Westerville South.
Grady finished with 12 points and six rebounds, Covington had 13 points and five assists, Vaccari had 11 points and Cassidy Lafler added five points and 10 rebounds for Coffman, whose only loss was to Pickerington Central 55-53 on Nov. 27. “We wasted a lot of energy ,” South coach Jermaine Guice said. “We got decent shots but we couldn’t finish.
Marysville, which finished 23-4, was trailing 37-22 midway through the third quarter when Jackson made back-to-back baskets to start a 10-0 run by Central. Delaware, which was making its first appearance in a district final since 1992 and last won a district title in 1988, has one of the area’s top players in senior guard Chloe Jeffers and was the 10th seed.Reynoldsburg took a 28-13 lead when senior guard Imarianah Russell, a West Virginia commit, followed a steal with a layup with 6:26 left in the second quarter.