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12/7/05

NCH 'better than last year'
North College Hill 107, Lockland 65

By Tom Groeschen
Enquirer staff writer

Lockland threw its best punch at national basketball power North College Hill, and the Panthers still lost by 42 points.

The Trojans, with junior guard O.J. Mayo scoring 26 points, overpowered Lockland 107-65 before a sellout crowd of 950 at NCH on Tuesday night.
Lockland actually led 26-18 early in the second period, and the home crowd was getting a tad restless. Several steals and breakaway lay-ins later, NCH was off on a 16-1 run to grab a 34-27 lead.

Game over.

"We came out a little sluggish," Mayo said. "Then we started hitting the boards harder and got out running, like we usually do. We played average, but the important thing is we won."

NCH (2-0) is rated No. 6 nationally by USA Today and is a unanimous No. 1 in The Enquirer Divisions II-IV area coaches' poll.

Lockland (0-2) is ranked No. 6, and the Panthers clearly are better than their record. Their first loss this year was to Wyoming, which is No. 3 in the Divisions II-IV poll.

"They wanted to play us , and they didn't back down," NCH coach Jamie Mahaffey said.

"It's good we can have a game like this. We have to recognize we've got to bring our championship effort every night."

NCH, the defending Division III state champion, routed perennial Division I power Withrow 89-38 in a season opener Friday. Mayo, the nation's No. 1-rated junior by most scouting services, also scored 26 in that one.

Mayo got help Tuesday from Bill Walker, a 6-foot-6 junior forward who had five dunks among his 21 points. Senior forward Andre Evans had 15 points, 6-11 junior center Keenan Ellis scored 13, and sophomore point guard Damon Butler scored 11 for NCH.

"We know about O.J. and Bill and Keenan, but they seem much deeper this year," Lockland coach Paul Andrews said of NCH. "We wanted to spread the court and make it a two- or three-quarter game, but they were too much.

They look even better than last year."

Mayo had four dunks, as NCH out-dunked Lockland 10-0 overall. Mayo's totals also included five assists and three steals.

For Lockland, junior guard Thomas Smith had 20 points, senior guard Dajuan Harris scored 15, junior forward Antoine Wilhite had 14, and senior forward Sheldon Johnson scored 10.

Lockland (0-2) - Harris 5 4 15; Johnson 4 0 10; Ogletree 3 0 6; Smith 6 5 20; Wilhite 6 2 14. Totals: 24 11 65.
North College Hill (2-0) - Walker 10 1 21; Evans 7 1 15; Ellis 5 3 13; Mayo 11 0 26; Butler 5 0 11; Glover 1 0 3; Horne 0 1 1; Davis 4 0 8; Leary 3 1 9. Totals: 46 7 107.
Lockland22131020-65NCH18262934-107
3-pointers: L 6 (Harris, Johnson 2, Smith 3), NCH 8 (Mayo 4, Butler, Leary 2, Glover).