Columbus Academy 59, Grandview Heights 44
Jason Singleton's 36 points leads the Vikings toward their seventh straight win and snaps the Bobcats 9-game streak
Written by 270 Hoops staff writer Greg Glasser
GRANDVIEW HEIGHTS - It was a battle of unbeaten streaks; Grandview Heights entered Friday night on a nine-game undefeated run, Columbus Academy with six straight — but it was the Vikings that kept their run in tact as they beat the Bobcats on the road 59-44, which Academy has now handed Grandview two of their three losses on the season after the Vikings previously won 67-35 in December.
The double-digit victory initially would have been hard to predict, given how the game started as there were eight lead changes and three moments with a tied score throughout the first half, which had the Vikings nurse a four-point lead into half.
“I felt like if we put more heat on their guards, it would be harder for them to enter to [Boston Pearson] and [Duncan Peters], who were hurting us going into halftime,” Columbus Academy head coach Jeff Warstler said after the game. “We went into this knowing it’d be a two-point game late, so in these spots, we gotta stay calm and do the best we could with pressure and hope it’d wear them down come fourth quarter.”
Warstler was correct with his team’s halftime adjustments as that defensive pressure limited Pearson and Peters to a combined 12 second-half points compared to 18 in the first two periods.
But it was never a two-point game late. Academy senior and Harvard signee Jason Singleton hit his third triple of the game to open the fourth quarter which pushed the Vikings’ lead to ten as they maintained a double-digit advantage for nearly the final six minutes.
In addition to the Vikings defensive adjustments, it also helped to have one of the best players in Ohio as Singleton continued his Mr. Basketball campaign with a banner 36-point, six-steal, four-assist performance.
