Showdown at South
The first game I went to was the battle of Westerville with high stakes attached. Westerville north came in at 13-1 coming off a blowout loss to Newark while Westerville South came in at 10-3 with a blowout loss to Reynoldsburg. With a North victory they would clinch the OCC-CAPITAL title while a South win they would keep hope alive for a 4th-straight division title. This game was physical and a foul fest from the word go. Both teams in the first quarter came out looking to run. The warriors jumped out to an early 9-2 lead only to see South go on a 12-2 run to grab a 14-9 lead and then North rallied to tie it at 14 on a 3-pointer by Imari Martin. The 2nd quarter was a parade to the foul line and the stars on both sides getting into foul trouble. You never want the refs to be the story of the game but that’s what happened in the first half. The lead changed hands multiple times in the 2nd quarter and then grabbed the momentum and led 27-22 at the end of the first half. The third quarter had so many twists and turns and lot of emotions on both sides with every foul call. There were missed opportunities on both sides with turnovers, missed layups and missed foul shots. E’moni "Pit Bull" finch kept North in the game with her play and at the end of 3 they trailed the wildcats 40-38. The 4th quarter and the OCC-CAPITAL title was decided on a game-changing run by the warriors of 11-2 over a 3-minute stretch capped off by an Imari Martin 3 that gave North a 49-42 lead. The Wildcats were able to claw their way back, but missed free throws by the wildcats were their undoing while North made theirs late. South had one last possession to tie but as was the story all night E’moni "Pit Bull" Finch stole the attempted pass to Leila Jones for a 3-point shot and North won the game 52-49. With the win North sweeps the season series from South for the first time since Gabby Hutcherson was a freshman at Westerville North. They improve to 14-1, 10-0 OCC-CAPITAL while Westerville South drops to 10-4, 7-2 OCC-CAPITAL. E’moni finch led all scorers with 17 points while Aja Austin led South with 16 points in the losing effort.
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