Africentric 65 , Centennial 51
Nubians use a fourth quarter surge to capture City League championship
COLUMBUS, Ohio - - Same two schools, different ending result. A frantic crowd watched on at historic East High School as Africentric (14-4; 13-1) used a fourth quarter surge to finally put away the Centennial Stars (18-4; 14-0) by a final of 64-51 to claim their first Columbus City League championship since 2021.
“It’s sweet because we was here last year, with the same group, we had to make some adjustments,” Nubian head coach Mike Bates said about how this win feels. “You bring the same five starters back expectations is high and sometimes that pressure can crush kids and we just stayed locked in.”
After holding as much as a 13-point lead in the first quarter, Africentric held a 20-11 advantage to end the opening eight minutes. Senior Joshua Smith excelled in the first, scoring 15 of his game-high 29 points with only one missed shot in the period.
