Walnut Ridge routs Grove City, advances to first district final appearance since 2020
Aekins pours in 27, leads red-hot Scots past Grove City 69-46
PICKERINGTON, OH – Senior phenom Dom Aekins waved goodbye to a rowdy group of Grove City students with 3:21 remaining in the fourth, putting the final dagger in the hearts of the Greyhound faithful who had to endure four quarters of masterful play from the Duquense commit.
No. 22 Walnut Ridge, coming off a monumental win against Northland in a game that many dubbed the true City League Championship, faced No. 20 Grove City to punch their ticket to a district final on Wednesday night. In a near-sell-out crowd, the contest had the trademark intensity that comes with playing in March.
Ridge came out of the gate hot, starting the game with a 12-0 run, leaving the Greyhounds with no answers on either side of the ball. Aekins hit his first three shots of the game, including a ridiculous step-back three from the parking lot that sent the Scot faithful into a frenzy. On the defensive side of the ball, Walnut Ridge forced five turnovers before Grove City got off the schneid, compelling coach Eric Saxton to call a timeout to try to regroup his squad from the disastrous start. It was clear from the jump that the Greyhound's game plan was centered around getting 6’8 forward Kraig Gilbert the ball in the low-post and forcing Ridge to pick their poison of collapsing and leaving an open shooter or leaving a defender 1v1 vs the big. However, LJ Foster and De’Yaire Adams did an excellent job ensuring no passes came easy into the post. Aekins and Marquis Lucas wreaked havoc on the perimeter, forcing multiple bad passes that resulted in turnovers.
After going four minutes without scoring, Gilbert finally made his presence felt by converting an acrobatic and-one slam that acted as a defibrillator, bringing the energy back into the gym for the Greyhounds. Following the slam, Aekins picked up a technical foul, his second foul of the quarter, which forced him to sit for the final three minutes of the first. Grove City saw this as their opportunity to crawl back into the game, going on a 10-0 run to close out the quarter, led by the scoring efforts of sixth man Demtiri Adado, who ended the quarter with eight.
With the game knotted at 15 in the second, Ridge head coach Chuck Jefferson showed faith in his star player by letting Aekins start the second quarter despite having two fouls. This move paid off in a big way for Jefferson, as Aekins brought life back to the withering Walnut Ridge offense, who only scored three points during Aekin's absence.
After Grove City took their first lead, Aekins came down and immediately converted an Anthony Edwards-esque and-one-scoop layup that could only be described as masterful. This is where the game took a turn in a big way, as Ridge found their stride on both sides of the ball for the rest of the quarter, out-scoring the Greyhounds 16-8. A big reason for Ridge’s defensive success in the quarter was the play of guard Deon Johnson. The freshman, who has multiple power five offers, came off the bench and devastated Grove City’s offensive gameplan by forcing numerous turnovers and shutting down Kraig Gilbert. Johnson also facilitated Ridge’s lethal transition game, racking up multiple assists in the process. Johnson’s defensive prowess, alongside Aekins's 13 first-half points and 10+ rebounds, gave the Scots a 31-23 lead going into the break.
After only hitting one three in the first half, Grove City desperately needed someone to step up and take the pressure off of Kraig Gilbert offensively. The talented guard duo that makes up almost 20 points per game for the Greyhounds, Keegan Holmstrom, and Kevin Gallagher, were held to two combined points in the first half. However, Holmstrom came out the gates and knocked down a big three-pointer, followed by Kraig Gilbert hitting a trey, which pulled Grove City within six points a minute and a half into the quarter. After watching Aekins blow by pressure all game, coach Saxton decided to implement a 3-2 zone midway through the third, which deterred the Scots offense from scoring momentarily. However, all hell broke loose shortly after, as Coach Jefferson countered by enforcing a ferocious full-court press midway through the third, turning the game on its head. Dom Aekins and Deon Johnson tortured the Grove City guards in the backcourt, forcing consecutive turnovers that led to one of the quickest 8-0 runs a team can go on. Aekins and Johnson had two steals apiece in the quarter, leading the Scots to a 52-37 lead with all the momentum on their side.
The fourth quarter was much like the end of the third. Grove City continued to find little offensive success on a stout Walnut Ridge defense, and Dom Aekins was doing what Dom Aekins does best: get buckets. Senior forward LJ Foster put the icing on the cake for the Scots, who dominated the quarter from start to finish, by putting down an emphatic slam that capped off an excellent win for the Scots.
Looking Ahead
Walnut Ridge is set to square up against one of the premier teams in the state, Delaware Hayes, on Saturday in the district finals.
While the Scots will come into this game as heavy underdogs, this team has been playing its best ball of the season lately, ripping off six wins and beating three of the top 20 teams already in the tournament.
Ridge has an uber-talented core of two-way players in Aekins, Foster, and Johnson, which should give them a shot in almost any ball game they play. However, I believe that role players such as Marquis Lucas and De’yaire Adams have the potential to make or break this Ridge team moving forward, as they will be asked to step up in a big way on the offensive side of the ball.
While a district title may seem far-fetched from the outside looking in, the Scots are hot, March is the month, and when you have a player like Dom Aekins, the sky is the limit.
Written by Jack Diwik