North College Hill High School (Cincinnati, Ohio)

[bucknut11]

NCH is ranked #3 in the country in SI.com's power rankings

The junior-dominated Trojans draw huge crowds wherever they go and last week was no exception as they raised their winning streak to 36 with three victories. O.J. Mayo (6-5) thrilled a capacity crowd of 10,560 with 23 points in an 82-70 victory over previously unbeaten Cincinnati Taft. Bill Walker (6-6) scored 22 points, including five thunderous dunks, and 6-3 sophomore guard Courtney Davis scored 20 points. The Trojans drew 4,200 at Frankfort, Ky., where they had their toughest game of the year, edging defending-state champion Laurel County, 65-57. Laurel County actually forged a 43-37 lead in the third quarter while Mayo was benched with four fouls. However, Mayo made six straight free throws in the game's final minute to secure the victory, finishing with 18 points. Walker scored all 12 of his points in the second half and grabbed seven rebounds. Keenan Ellis (6-11) scored 14 points. Former University of Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins continues to shadow the College Hill team (he saw two games last week) while searching for a head college job.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ONN

1/28/06

Three years post-LeBron, new national power emerges
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CINCINNATI -- The arena packed with more than 10,000 fans is rocking to pregame music while outside, scalpers demand $25 to $50 for tickets with face value of $10, and frantic motorists scramble for rapidly disappearing parking spaces blocks away.
All this for a high school basketball game.

The drawing card for the Jan. 16 game at Xavier University was North College Hill High's Trojans. Featuring prospective NBA players O.J. Mayo and Bill Walker, Ohio has another high school dream team, three years after LeBron James joined the Cleveland Cavaliers after leading Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School's "fab five" to national prominence.

Big crowds and big games are nothing new for North College Hill, which has also played in large arenas in Columbus, Kentucky and West Virginia and as far away as California.

"It's very intense. You just have to be prepared and don't look ahead," coach Jamie Mahaffey said of his team's schedule. "But our players are very mature about it. They stay focused."

Mayo, a smooth shooting and ball-handling guard, and Walker, a powerful, inside-dominating player, are widely considered the nation's top two juniors. They are joined by 6-11 junior Keenan Ellis and a strong supporting cast on a team that lost only one game last season and headed into this weekend unbeaten.

"They're a great team," said Cincinnati Taft coach Mark Mitchell, whose team lost 82-70 at that Jan. 16 game for its first loss and earlier beat three teams from other states in a New York tournament. "The difference in knowing that you're good and being arrogant about it is that they know they're good and they play together. Everybody works for the common good."

After losing to the Trojans in last year's Division III state championship game, Ironton coach Roger Zornes commented: "It was like playing an all-star team out there."

The Trojans have won most games by lopsided margins, beating Wellston by 104 points and avenging last season's lone loss to Cincinnati St. Xavier with an 87-49 victory.

The players have been low-key in assessing their standing. After their closest call this season, a 69-67 victory over defending Division I champion Canton McKinley in Ohio State's Value City Arena, Mayo wouldn't offer an opinion on whether the Trojans are best in Ohio.

"The main thing was to get the win," Mayo said.

A big test, and big crowd, will come Feb. 18 when they play perennial national powerhouse Oak Hill Academy of Virginia at the U.S. Bank Arena here. A sellout crowd of more than 16,000 is likely.

USA Today's rankings have Oak Hill and North College Hill as Nos. 1-2 nationally.

"We know it's out there," Mahaffey said. "But if you start focusing on stuff like that, we told the kids, then you're like the Indianapolis Colts. They were supposed to be the team to beat (in the NFL), and they're gone."

The school's athletic director, Joe Nickel, says much of his time is taken up fielding requests for tickets. In the third season for Mayo and Walker, the school beefed up its schedule and arranged with its league, the small-school Miami Valley Conference, to not play a full league schedule this year or compete for the league title.

As it was with James' team, there is no shortage of schools and venues that want to take on the Trojans and their fan-pleasing show of powerful dunks, alley-oop plays and fast breaks. Nickel even called Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary officials for advice on scheduling.

"That was a difficult issue," Nickel said. "We were looking to find competition that would help us get better. Our league stepped in and helped us. It's still a learning process."

Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary athletic director Grant Innocenzi agreed that it's a challenge to balance demand to see the team against what's best for the students. He said the players wanted to face a national schedule, and unlike the NBA-bound James, most wouldn't get another chance to play on some of the nation's storied basketball courts.

"We thought this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for most of these kids," Innocenzi said. "How many kids can say they played at (UCLA's) Pauley Pavilion, the Palestra (Philadelphia) or Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum?"

Ohio athletics officials have taken steps to keep "national schedules" in check, limiting high school teams each year to one out-of-state trip other than to bordering states. North College Hill's trip was to southern California, where the Trojans defeated teams from North Hollywood and Compton in December.

State high school athletic governing bodies set their own rules on out-of-state games, and interstate matchups are then sanctioned by the Indianapolis-based National Federation of High School Associations.

"You certainly see that a lot of places like to attract those great teams and great players, with the opportunity to match them up," said John Gillis, assistant director of the federation.

With the proliferation of high school basketball Web sites, prep games being carried nationally on ESPN, and star players such as James and Mayo who were nationally known before they could drive a car, some wonder whether the interest in marquee matchups will lead to a national tournament like the NCAA college basketball championships.

Gillis said he thinks the consensus of state-level administrators is that playing in statewide, end-of-season tournaments "should be the peak of the high school experience, that a national tournament would really not serve any educational purpose."

But he added: "You never know."

Jack Keefer, head coach of Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis for three decades, agrees with limits on travel.

"We've been invited to play everywhere, from Hawaii to New York to Orlando," said Keefer, whose unbeaten team is led by 7-foot-tall center Greg Oden and guard Mike Conley, both bound for Ohio State. While Keefer's team will travel to Chicago for a Feb. 11 game against Glenbrook North of Illinois, he said: "The bottom line is I just want us to be a high school team and to play the local teams."

Nickel said the schedule limits help make sure hometown fans get opportunities to see the team, a major source of civic pride in North College Hill's suburban community of some 10,000 people besides being a godsend financially for the school. A basketball program that annually brought in less than $10,000 a year now often reaps that in one game. The high school will be able to build an all-weather track, and the athletic program should be financially comfortable for years after this team is gone, Nickel said.

But as good as the Trojans may be, Innocenzi knows his pick in a match with James' high school team.

"We would beat 'em," Innocenzi said. "Believe me."

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

link

1/30/06

Boys' basketball roundup

Mayo puts on a record show

ENQUIRER STAFF REPORTS

O.J. Mayo scored 40 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and handed out seven assists to lead North College Hill to a 95-88 victory over Woodrow Wilson of West Virginia at the Charleston Convention Center Saturday night.

Mayo's 40 points gave him 1,850 in his career, breaking the school record of 1,847 formerly held by Leon Murray.

Bill Walker added 23 points and 12 rebounds, and Keenan Ellis chipped in with 15 points and 12 rebounds for NCH.

The Trojans, who are ranked second in the nation by USA Today, are off until Saturday, when they face Summit Country Day.
NCH (16-0) - Glover 2 0 4, Davis 3 1 7, Walker 11 1 23, Butler 1 2 4, Mayo 14 11 40, Leary 1 0 2, Ellis 6 3 15. Totals: 38 18 95.
Woodrow Wilson - Deweese 10 1 29, Thompson 8 4 23, Manns 1 6 9, Walton 8 1 17, Coleman 2 2 6, Parkwo 2 0 4. Totals: 19 (12) 14 88.

[bucknut11]

NCH remains at #3 in SI.com's rankings...

North College Hill (Cincinnati) (16-0)
The Trojans continue to put on a show of Barnum and Bailey proportions as they outlasted Beckley Woodrow Wilson (W.Va.) in a 95-88 shootout before a crowd of 6,210 -- which included pro football star Randy Moss -- at the Charleston (W.Va.) Civic Center. Junior guard O.J. Mayo totaled 40 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. He broke the school's career scoring record (1,847 points) late in the game. He was presented the game ball and had his picture taken with his mother. Then he delighted the big crowd by heaving the ball 20 rows up into the bleachers. Junior forward Bill Walker had 23 points and 12 rebounds, while junior center Keenan Ellis had 15 points and 12 rebounds. Mayo and Walker, who are natives of Huntington, W.Va., combined to ram home 11 of their team's 14 dunks. Chase DeWese scored 29 points, drilling 8-of-11 3s, for the losers. The Trojans' winning streak now stands at 37.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

link

2/3/06

Oak Hill-NCH nears sellout

BY TOM GROESCHEN | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Tickets are about gone for the Feb. 18 boys' basketball game matching Oak Hill Academy (Va.) and North College Hill, who are rated Nos. 1-2 nationally by USA Today.

Jim Moehring, US Bank Arena Vice President for Business Development and Programming, said only about 1,500 tickets remain for the game, all $15 reserved upper-deck seats.

The arena seats 16,200 for basketball.

To order, visit Ticketmaster.com under Cincinnati Scholastic Play by Play.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Cincy

2/5/06

NORTH COLLEGE HILL 86, SUMMIT COUNTRY DAY 54

O.J. Mayo had 27 points as North College Hill remained unbeaten.

Former Summit Country Day stars Dexter Bailey, Dan Fleming and Walt McBride had their jerseys retired during ceremonies.

North College Hill (14-0) - Glover 5 0 11, Davis 5 0 11, Butler 5 0 10, Parks 1 0 3, Mayo 11 4 27, Leary 2 5 9, McPhearson 2 1 5, Ellis 5 0 10.
Summit Country Day (11-4) - Koepfer 5 0 14, Buckingham 0 4 4, D. Madden 0 1 1, Shannon 2 0 4, Berry 0 1 1, P. Madden 5 8 19, Wilson 1 2 4, Cosgrove 2 1 7. Totals: 15 17 54.
NCH24173015-86SCD1118169-54
3-pointers: NCH 4 (Mayo, Parks, Davis, Glover); SCD 7 (Koepfer 4, Cosgrove 2, P. Madden).

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Cincy

2/11/06

NCH 85, CHCA 45

CHCA (12-7) - Richardson 1 1 3, Hall 2 2 4, Browne 1 0 3, Peterson 3 2 9, Barnhart 2 0 6, Scovanner 1 2 4, Coyer 0 2 2, Riewald 0 2 2, Shacksfield 5 2 12. Totals: 15 11 45.

North College Hill(18-0) - Glover 1 1 3, Horne 1 0 2, Davis 7 2 17, Butler 7 1 16, Walker 10 3 24, Leary 2 2 8, Green 0 2 2, McPherson 2 0 4, Parks 2 2 6, Ellis 1 1 3. Totals: 33 14 85.

CHCA1115712-45North College Hill22193014-85
3-pointers:C 4 (Barnhart 2, Brown, Peterson); N 5 (Leary 2, Davis, Butler, Walker).