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Devin Royal's scoring, Sonny Styles' playmaking carry Pickerington Central past Upper Arlington

Royal racks up 24 points and nine rebounds, while Styles had six of his seven assists in the fourth quarter.
Sonny Styles Gabe Haferman

By Aaron Blankenship | Photos and video by Gabe Haferman

Pickerington Central coach Eric Krueger personally challenged Devin Royal to put his team on his shoulders when the Tigers faced Upper Arlington in a Division I regional semifinal Wednesday night.

The 6-foot-7 junior forward proved himself equal to the task as he racked up 24 points and nine rebounds to power Central to a 53-40 victory in front of a sold-out crowd at Ohio Dominican University.

With the win, the Tigers improved to 23-2 overall. Central will face Gahanna Lincoln in a regional final at 7 p.m. Saturday at Ohio Dominican. The Tigers beat the Lions 58-53 on Jan. 8.

“I felt like Devin could’ve played better in our district final, so I challenged him to be the best player in the state in this game, like I know he can be,” Krueger said. “Devin was in attack mode, and when he’s in that mode, his sense of urgency is palpable and carries over to the rest of the team, and that’s what happened tonight.”

Facing a UA team that doesn’t have any players taller than 6-4, Royal used his height advantage to nab five offensive rebounds and score three put-back baskets.

Royal made 10 of his 16 field-goal attempts, including 4-for-5 for eight points in the fourth quarter.

“(Royal) was the big difference in this game,” said UA coach Tim Casey, whose squad finished 21-5. “He was a man amongst boys tonight. We didn’t do a good job of keeping him off the boards, and he really hurt us with his rebounding and scoring in the paint.

“We didn’t take charges the way we prepared to, and we just couldn’t get big stops. Unfortunately, this is the worst game we’ve played down the stretch of our season.”

Royal benefited greatly from the play of Sonny Styles, who often drove to the basket before dishing inside to Royal for an easy basket.

Styles, a 6-foot-5 Ohio State football recruit, lofted the ball to Royal for an alley-oop dunk in the third quarter. 

Styles had six of his seven assists in the fourth quarter to help the Tigers outscore the Golden Bears 20-14 over the final eight minutes of the game.

In the fourth quarter, Styles had assists on baskets by Royal on three consecutive possessions, including a dunk that put Central ahead 39-30 with 5 minutes, 20 seconds remaining.

“Sonny and I have been playing together since the fifth grade, so we have great chemistry,” Royal said. “I just had to move more to get open and then Sonny got me the ball so I could finish. I was aggressive going after rebounds, too, because that’s a big part of my game.”

Juwan Turner scored seven points and Markell Johnson-Nichols came off the bench to score all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter. 

Johnson-Nichols made two 3-pointers and converted a layup after stealing the ball to make in 49-36 with 2:29 left to ice the game.

“I was looking to give my team a boost in the fourth quarter, and when I made those 3s, I gave our team a lot of energy,” Johnson-Nichols said.

Krueger was thrilled with his squad’s defensive effort after the Tigers held UA to 15-of-33 shooting from the field.

Quinn Corna scored a team-high 19 points on 8-for-14 shooting, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer that put UA ahead 12-11 at the end of the first quarter. 

Corna also made a deep 3-pointer late in the second quarter to pull UA within 22-20 at halftime.

But Nick Heath, who entered averaging 17 points per game, scored just six points on 2-for-10 shooting, while Drew Graves also scored six for the Golden Bears.

“We couldn’t give Upper Arlington any space because they have a lot of guys who can shoot the lights out,” Krueger said. “We forced them to take tough shots and we got rebounds. When we play like this, we’re an elite defensive team.”

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