[OSUBasketballJunkie]

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12/11/05

Trojans trio combines for 73
Mayo hits 33 points, Ellis 22, Walker 18 in dunk fest

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - O.J. Mayo and Bill Walker came back home for the second time in two years and gave the packed Veterans Memorial Field House crowd plenty of dunks and highlights to drop their jaws about in a 104-point victory over Wellston on Saturday.

The top-ranked juniors in the nation and Huntington natives combined for 20 dunks in only three quarters of play in a 138-34 win for North College Hill (3-0). Mayo scored a game-high 33 points, and Walker had 18 while battling leg cramps; neither played the entire fourth quarter.

That didn't stop the two from staying after the game to sign autographs for hundreds of kids, fans and players from one of the three other teams to play in the second annual Border Battle.

"This is something very important to me, to play here and see these guys play," said Juan Carlos Torres, a Sheldon Clark (Ky.) foreign exchange student from Mexico who got his picture with the two players and their autographs after the game.

"It's an important experience in my life," Torres said.

But for the majority of the crowd, the doubleheader was a chance to see the former middle school phenoms they used to watch in the Huntington YMCA leagues or at Rose Hill Christian Academy before they transferred to the Cincinnati high school.

"It's unbelievable. I've never seen anything like this," said Brandon Hicks of nearby Coal Grove, Ohio. "I saw them when they were in eighth grade at Rose Hill, but it was nothing like this. This is amazing. Back then they were still good, better than any high school player I've seen, but this is amazing.

"It's great that they come here and play, because I'd hate to have to drive to Cincinnati to see them. I have no idea who they could find to play with these guys. No one around here would even come close."

In the waning minutes, the only suspense was whether the Trojans would hold onto a 100-point lead with Mayo and Walker sitting.

"Look at this," Hicks said with two minutes left in the fourth quarter. "A 100-point lead. That's the only reason we stuck around after Bill and O.J. quit playing, was to see if they'd win by 100."

The Trojans got 22 points from center Keenan Ellis. They finished with 29 total dunks.

North College Hill plays The Patterson School (N.C.) at 2 p.m. today in the final game of the Border Battle. Both Walker and Mayo expect a much tougher game. The Patterson School has a national reputation and a 10-0 record against top-flight competition.

"It's just about like this everywhere," said Walker, who broke one of the rims at last year's Border Battle, of the frenzied atmosphere and autograph seekers. "These are people that live in the same place I live and I'd do anything for them. I was ready to come home last year and ready to come home this year, too."

Walker and Mayo said they make an extra effort to put on a special performance at home. But there are always surprises.

"You never see that, only when you come home," Walker said after being handed a youth football team picture of him, Mayo and their childhood teammates to sign. "Stuff like that makes it worthwhile. There's no telling how old we are in that picture."

Both players said they hope to come back to Huntington again for a third consecutive season next year. Mayo said he would like to play at Marshall University's Cam Henderson Center next season if possible.

Mayo said a potential meeting with West Virginia's Class AAA state champion, Huntington High, for whom many of their old friends and teammates play, would be great.

"It's a lot different coming back home and getting to play in front of my mom, my little brother and my sister," Mayo said. "Everybody wants to see that game, and if it happens, it happens. But if it don't, it don't. I wish them the best of luck."