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Trojans put to the test, but Mayo closes deal

Photo: North College Hill's O.J. Mayo drives the ball past New Albany's Mitch Robertson in their Southwest District Boys Regional game.

Division III boys: NCH, Fenwick advance

By Carey Hoffman
Enquirer contributor

FAIRBORN - North College Hill faced its toughest test of the tournament Thursday night, but even a great game plan that was well-executed wasn't enough to overcome the talents of sophomores Bill Walker and O.J. Mayo.
New Albany trailed by only six points with 4:30 left in the game, but Mayo scored 12 of the final 14 points for NCH to set up a 58-43 victory in a Division III regional semifinal played at Wright State's Nutter Center.

NCH (24-1), the top-ranked team in Ohio Division III, will next shoot for a trip to the state tournament when it faces Fenwick in the regional title game on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

From an NCH perspective, the game can be divided into two distinct sections. There was the first half, which was all Walker - 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting. Then there were the final nine minutes of the game, when Mayo went from having just two points to a total of 21, including 17 of NCH's 19 points in the final quarter.

"In the first half, we had two kids on Walker, so in the second half we went to a triangle on him, and then Mayo gets going," said New Albany coach Sam Davis.

NCH led 27-18 at half, but the final 3:30 of the half was played even as New Albany scored on each of its final five possessions of the half to really increase its confidence. The Eagles spread out their offense and had the discipline not to turn the ball over while they searched for opportunities.

New Albany looked like it might be in even better position when David Klink's jumper with five seconds left cut the deficit to 25-18, but Mayo threw a baseball pass off the inbounds to Walker, who dunked to end the half.

"You just can't (afford to) do anything wrong against them," Davis said.

NCH made some adjustments defensively that helped hold New Albany at bay as the second half progressed. Trojans coach Jamie Mahaffey called timeout late in the third quarter with the lead at 33-28, and sent his team farther out on the floor to pressure New Albany's small lineup.

That produced three straight turnovers which NCH used to create a 6-0 run to close the quarter.

"It was kind of a strange game, but it was a good game for us," said Mahaffey. "It was a game of patience. You could get what you wanted, if you were willing to work for it."

Walker led all scorers with 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Mayo scored 21.

New Albany (18-7) - Campbell 0 1 1, Weldon 4 4 12, Robertson 1 0 2, Klink 7 2 20, Peters 1 0 2, Armstrong 2 0 5, Martin 0 1 1. Totals: 15-42 8-11 43.

North College Hill (24-1) - Mayo 5 10 21, Ellis 5 1 11, Walker 11 2 24, Goins 1 0 2, Butler 0 0 0. Totals: 22-42 13-14 58.