Wednesday roundup: McKinley, Jackson cruise to boys basketball sectional wins
HIGH SCHOOL BOYS BASKETBALL
MCKINLEY 53, PAINESVILLE HARVEY 16 Jahlil Graham made four 3-pointers and outscored Harvey by himself as the Bulldogs cruised to an Alliance Division I sectional semifinal win at Memorial Field House.
Graham scored 20 points and Lonzo Henderson added 13 as No. 11 seed McKinley (16-6) won its seventh straight game. The Bulldogs host No. 19 Nordonia on Saturday night in a sectional final.
JACKSON 77, HUDSON 42 JJ Vaughan hit eight 3-pointers for all 24 of his points as the host Polar Bears rolled to a Twinsburg Division I sectional semifinal win.
Vaughan shot 8-of-11 from 3-point range for No. 8 seed Jackson (12-11), a defending district champion. Jackson advances to host No. 36 Perry in a sectional final on Saturday night. Kevin James scored 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the floor for the Bears, while Ben Sullivan added 10 points and five assists.
Up 40-27 at halftime, Jackson ended any doubt by outscoring No. 33 Hudson 27-8 in the third quarter. The Polar Bears shot 58.5% from the floor as a team.
Michael Steel led Hudson with 17 points.
BOARDMAN 59, ALLIANCE 48 Trey DePietro scored 19 points and Ben Alvarico added 18 as the Spartans won a Euclid Division I sectional semifinal at Harry Fails Gymnasium.
The No. 16 seed Spartans (14-8) jumped out to a 17-7 advantage on No. 13 Alliance after one quarter and led 50-34 entering the fourth. Boardman, champion of the All-American Conference, advances to host No. 21 Massillon in a sectional final on Saturday.
Diego Allen led Eastern Buckeye Conference-champion Alliance (16-5) with 14 points.
WARREN HARDING 56, GLENOAK 50 Tyriq Ivory scored a game-high 27 points as the host Raiders won an Alliance Division I sectional semifinal.
GlenOak beat Harding at home 66-37 just eight days ago. This time the Raiders (12-11) jumped out to a 24-14 halftime lead and withstood a Golden Eagles comeback.
Brody Gowen led GlenOak (10-12) with 15 points.
More: Stark County-area high school box scores for Wednesday, Feb. 23 and upcoming schedule
HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS BASKETBALL
WAYNEDALE 40, FAIRLESS 24 The No. 9 seed Falcons lost a Division III district semifinal at Wooster High School to No. 1 seed Waynedale. No details were reported.
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TUSKY VALLEY 56, WEST MUSKINGUM 46 Ashley Merrick scored 15 points and Kadence Stutz added 14 as the Trojans won this East 1 Division III district semifinal at Ridgewood.
Merrick grabbed eight rebounds and Stutz shot 4-for-5 from 3-point range for No. 4 seed Tusky Valley (20-4), which will face No. 1 seed Union Local in Saturday’s 1 p.m. district championship at Buckeye Trail.
Brook Stookey contributed nine points and nine rebounds for Tusky Valley. Locie Levengood had seven assists and Leah Bourquin had five steals.
Brook Pauley led No. 6 West Muskingum (16-8) with 18 points.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Stark County-area high school boys, girls basketball roundup, Feb. 23
