BOYS STATE TOURNAMENT North College Hill is heavy favorite

The Trojans take on Archbold in the first Division III semifinal tonight.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Like a cat toying with a cornered mouse, Cincinnati North College Hill used to delay the inevitable.
Coach Jamie Mahaffey, a former standout at Miami (Ohio), says his Trojans team looked at the tapes from last year's state championship run and saw that for some reason it had an aversion to putting games away.
Don't expect such drama later this week when O.J. Mayo, Bill Walker and the rest of the Trojans defend their Division III title at the 84th annual Ohio boys state tournament at Value City Arena.
"Last year we didn't finish teams," Mahaffey said. "We'd play good defense for two or maybe three quarters, then we'd let up. Now we're trying to play through the entire game."
North College Hill (24-1), ranked among the top four teams in the nation by several publications, takes on Archbold (21-4) tonight in the first Division III semifinal. Wheelersburg (23-2) takes on Ohio State signee David Lighty and Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph (20-5) in the nightcap.
Other teenagers carry the hopes of their communities on their backs, but it's a different kind of pressure for North College Hill's players. They go into the tournament with everyone expecting them to win and win big; anything less and they've failed.
"People don't expect you to lose or for the game to even be close," Mahaffey said. "We know people think that, but we have our own goals. We're not trying to impress people; we're only trying to impress ourselves."
Div. IV opens play
The tournament kicks off with the Div. IV semifinals. South Webster (24-2) -- who wouldn't like a team with the nickname Jeeps? -- battles Lockland (23-3), with Columbus Grove (20-5) meeting Windham (22-3).
The bigger schools take over the arena Friday, with Columbus DeSales (19-6) tackling last year's state runner-up Wooster Triway (25-0) and first-team All-Ohioan Linc Rottman in the first Div. II semifinal.
Illustrating the many connections between the state qualifiers, one of DeSales' top players is Alex Kellogg, the son of former NBA and Ohio State star Clark Kellogg, who scored 51 points for Villa Angela-St. Joseph in the 1979 state championship game.
Dayton Dunbar (24-2), a semifinalist a year ago, meets Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary (21-3), LeBron James' alma mater and now the launching pad for Marcus Johnson, who will be at Dayton next year.
"We haven't lost to anybody [in Ohio] and we hope it ends that way," Dunbar coach Peter Pullen said last week after a 77-54 victory over New Albany in the regional finals. The Wolverines' only losses have come to Ridgeway (Tenn.) and Indianapolis Lawrence North -- which features 7-footer Greg Oden and Mike Conley, who will join Dunbar's Daequan Cook and Lighty as members of the "Thad Five" for Ohio State coach Thad Matta next season.
Only loss to Oak Hill
North College Hill's only loss came to an out-of-state school, Oak Hill (Va.) Academy, in a game that was played before more than 16,000 paying customers at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati last month.
Toledo St. John's (21-5) draws defending state champion Canton McKinley (23-2) in the first Div. I game, with Lancaster (25-1) playing Trotwood-Madison (21-5) in the second game.
McKinley is led by 6-8 Raymar Morgan, the Div. I player of the year who has signed to play next season at Michigan State. The Bulldogs' only loss came to North College Hill.