District Semifinal Recap: Divisions I, III, IV and VII
In the busiest night ever for Central District semifinal action, here are the results from the 21 games across the area. Find out which teams locked in spots in the district finals this weekend.
Division I
#5 Olentangy Orange 53, #21 Hilliard Darby 45
Olentangy Orange advances to the district finals to take on No. 3 Olentangy on Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Ohio Expo Center. This will be the second weekend in a row that Olentangy has taken on Orange in the district finals, with the Lady Braves emerging victorious last weekend. The Pioneers are looking to exact revenge and win a fourth-straight district championship - a feat that is not often done in Central Ohio D1 basketball. Pickerington Central is the last team to do so, winning four-straight from 2016-19 and Brookhaven before them with seven-straight from 2000-06.
#1 Hilliard Bradley 52, #22 Central Crossing 25
Hilliard Bradley advances to the district finals to take on No. 12 Grove City on Saturday at 12:15 p.m. at the Ohio Expo Center. Hilliard Bradley is looking to win its first district title since an iconic game from Cade Norris in 2024 against Westerville Central. The Jaguars are going for their fifth district title in program history, as Bradley has as good a chance as ever to advance to the state tournament for the first time. A likely trip in 2020 was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has to certainly be on the minds of the Bradley coaching staff.
#12 Grove City 70, #14 Olentangy Liberty 65 (OT)
Grove City advances to the district finals to take on No. 1 Hilliard Bradley on Saturday at 12:15 p.m. at the Ohio Expo Center. Grove City is in the district finals for the first time since 2015. Coach’s son Jake Saxton dropped 30 points in the win over Liberty and will be a tough cover for the Jags. A win for the Hounds would be their first district title since 2009.
#2 Newark 50, #23 Delaware Hayes 44 (Monday)
Newark survived an upset scare from last seed Delaware Hayes and narrowly advanced to the district finals to take on No. 8 Gahanna Lincoln on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at the Ohio Expo Center. The Wildcats are a yearly fixture on District Final Saturday and will be going for their third district title in the last four seasons and area-leading 27th all time. Newark will have a tough challenge in a Gahanna Lincoln team that is playing its best basketball of the season right now after winning the OCC-Ohio in thrilling fashion.
#8 Gahanna Lincoln 55, #18 Lancaster 38
Gahanna Lincoln advances to the district finals to take on No. 2 Newark on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at the Ohio Expo Center. After the graduation of an accomplished 2022 class highlighted by Sean Jones and Javan Simmons, the Lions have struggled to match that level of success since. The win tonight puts Gahanna back in the district finals for the first time since that 2022 team, which made back-to-back regional final appearances but lost each time. This Lions team will have a chance to knock off former OCC-Ohio foe Newark. This game gives us a match up of the two longest tenured OCC head coaches in Gahanna Lincoln’s Tony Staib and Newark’s Jeff Quackenbush - who each won regional titles in 2008 (Quackenbush) and 2010 (Staib) at these same schools.
#4 Reynoldsburg 69, #20 Thomas Worthington 48
Reynoldsburg advances to the district finals to take on No. 15 Pickerington North on Saturday at 4:45 p.m. at the Ohio Expo Center. Reynoldsburg is looking to repeat as district champions for the first time in school history. The Raiders’ other district titles came in 2006, 2012, 2018 and 2025. Reynoldsburg is playing at a high level and will have a great chance to repeat as regional champions.
#15 Pickerington North 52, #17 Dublin Jerome 51
Pickerington North advances to the district finals to take on No. 4 Reynoldsburg on Saturday at 4:45 p.m. at the Ohio Expo Center. The Panthers have not won a district championship since 2019, losing in surprising fashion in the district finals last year when star player Arness Lawson was kept out of the game for legal issues (he has since been cleared). Barring any last minute surprises this year, the Panthers will be a heavy underdog, however, senior guard JR Bates is good enough to make it interesting.
#13 Olentangy Berlin 53, #6 Dublin Coffman 50
Olentangy Berlin advances to the district finals to take on No. 10 Westland on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Ohio Dominican. This is the first district final appearance in school history for a young Berlin program that has quickly ascended from the worst program in the OCC to a district title challenger in a span of a few years. The Bears will be taking on a Westland team that has made a similar ascent in just two years. Berlin will be very familiar with their opponent after beating Wetland 70-49 just one week ago at home.
#10 Westland 45, #11 Groveport Madison 44
Westland advances to the district finals to take on No. 13 Olentangy Berlin on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Ohio Dominican. The Cougars are in the district finals for the first time since 2005, with the last appearance before that in 1997 - both district title victories. Westland has made a drastic rise in three years under head coach Joel Jackson Sr., who took the program from the worst 10-year record of any team in the OCC to a district final appearance in an extremely short amount of time. With 16 wins, Westland is having its best season since 2013, but has advanced one round further than that team did.
#7 Upper Arlington 66, #16 Hilliard Davidson 51
Upper Arlington advances to the district finals to take on No. 9 Pickerington Central on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Ohio Dominican. The Golden Bears complete the three-game sweep of Hilliard Davidson and are back in the district finals for the second-straight year. Despite losing star senior Alex Smith to prep school, the Golden Bears have a chance to win back-to-back district titles.
#9 Pickerington Central 59, #19 Marysville 40
Pickerington Central advances to the district finals to take on No. 7 Upper Arlington on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Ohio Dominican. Similar to Gahanna Lincoln, Pickerington Central had to replace a legendary 2023 class that led the program to a state championship and state runner-up finish in back to back seasons. However, after a two year district final appearance drought, the Tigers are back in the district finals at Ohio Dominican, a place they dominated this round at, winning every district title game they played in at Alumni Hall in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022 and 2023.
