Pickerington Central's Berry Wallace enjoying a successful senior season, hopes to add state title

When Berry Wallace finds herself in a challenging situation against a tough opponent in an important basketball game, she isn’t bothered by the extra pressure.

Instead, the Pickerington Central senior tends to thrive in those moments.

“I just have it in me that I love those big moments where the game is on the line and my team needs someone to make a play to help win a game,” said Wallace, who is an University of Illinois signee and five-star recruit. “I feel the pressure of those moments, but I enjoy it and it drives me to do my best because I want to be a person who my teammates can count on to perform well when they need someone the most.”

Wallace has come through for the Tigers on a consistent basis all season, as she’s averaging a team-high 17.1 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, two steals and one block.

The 6-foot-1 wing player has made 59 percent of her field goals, 42 percent of her 3-point shots and 89 percent of her free throws to lead Central to a 19-3 overall record against a very competitive schedule.

Wallace, who was named the Ohio Capital Conference Buckeye Division Player of the Year, also powered the Tigers to an outright league title with a perfect 10-0 OCC-Buckeye mark.

“Berry’s been outstanding all season against very strong competition,” said Central coach Chris Wallace, who also is Berry’s father. “Berry’s a clutch player who steps up and has her best games when it matters the most. She’s come through for us again and again all year.”

Indeed, Wallace has fared well while going head-to-head against some of the best high school players in the nation this season.

In Central’s 40-27 victory over Chapel Hill (N.C.) on Dec. 28, Wallace limited 6-4 senior forward Laynie Smith to only six points, after the Illinois volleyball recruit had been averaging 18 points per contest this season.

During the Tigers’ 55-45 loss to Denville (N.J.) Morris Catholic, Wallace helped limit 6-3 Duke recruit Toby Fournier to 10 points and six rebounds, after the 6-3 Canadian-dunking sensation averaged 25.5 points and 15.5 boards in her previous two games.

And in Central’s 56-43 win over Charlotte (N.C.) Catholic on Dec. 30, Wallace scored a game-high 30 points while being guarded by 6-5 senior University of North Carolina recruit Blanca Thomas.

“Berry’s smart and she prides herself on being versatile, offensively and defensively,” said Chris, who was named the OCC-Buckeye Coach of the Year for a second consecutive season. “Berry’s having some of her better defensive games against tall, athletic opponents and she can play multiple position offensively. She can post up and put you in the rim if you put a smaller or weaker player on her, and she’s mobile enough and shoots well enough from the outside to play out on the perimeter as well.”

Senior point guard Jaden Tucker said Wallace also has developed into an outstanding verbal leader.

“Berry’s a vocal leader, who tells you what you need to hear, whether positive or negative in a comfortable way,” Tucker said. “When you make a mistake, she tries to uplift you. When we’re nervous before big games, she and (junior point guard) Rylee Bess will randomly sing Rihanna songs to make us laugh.

“She’s also very competitive and she sets the tone in practice. It doesn’t matter who you are, she going to get a bucket. She makes all of us work hard, because we never know what she’s going to do in the post. She can spin, pump fake, or go right or left. She can step out and shoot it, too.”

After leading her United Family 3SSB travel basketball team in scoring last year, Berry was able to show off her elite skills on an even larger stage when she was one of 20 players from the United States selected to participate in the Adidas Eurocamp.

After training together in New York in early June, Berry and her teammates flew to Rome, Italy, to do some sightseeing before continuing their training and then playing two games against European teams in Treviso, Italy from June 9-11.

“That was the first time I’ve been out of the country and I got to go without my parents, so it was insane,” Berry said. “We got to work out with the European girls in the mornings and hang out with them in the players’ lounge, and they were super nice and genuine, and they love basketball just like us.

“I got to play with and against some of the best girls from (our) country and from Europe, and I built some amazing friendships along the way. It was just a great experience.”

Wallace played so well for Central, United Family 3SSB and while overseas that she was ranked the 20th-best senior in the nation by ESPN in the fall. And in late January, Wallace was one of just 24 players from across the nation selected to compete in the McDonald’s All-American girls basketball game, which will be held April 2 in Houston.

“Berry proved herself against the best players in our nation and turned some heads with how well she played in Europe, and that just helped her national spotlight become bigger,” Chris Wallace said. “She’s continued to play her best basketball on the biggest stages under the most pressure.”

After making a verbal commitment to Illinois on April 29 of last year, Berry signed her national letter of intent in November.

“I had received a lot of scholarship offers so it was a hard decision, but God made it pretty clear to me that Illinois was the right fit for me after I had taken all of my official visits, and once I knew, I knew,” Berry said. “My faith is a huge part of my life. I’m really involved in my church and youth ministries, and I enjoy serving as a group leader for kids at Bible studies and at church camps.”

Berry has developed her basketball skills and mental toughness while being coached and trained by her father since she began playing the sport as a first grader.

Chris Wallace was an elite athlete in his own right.

As a senior at Marion Harding, Chris was first-team all-league in football and the Ohio Heartland Conference Player of the Year in both basketball and baseball.

Chris, who was inducted into the Marion Harding Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004, played three seasons of baseball at Wright State University (1995-97) before pitching for five seasons in the New York Yankees organization.

“I was a closer in hot-fire situations as a professional pitcher, and I think Berry has (inherited) that mental toughness from me,” Chris said.

The 1994 Harding graduate then coached baseball at Gahanna Christian, Ohio Dominican University and Pickerington North, before becoming an assistant basketball coach at Pickerington Central, where he and head coach Johnathan Hedgepeth led the Tigers to a Division I state title in 2018 and a state runner-up finish in 2019.

Meanwhile, Chris also trained and coached Berry, along with each of her five siblings, throughout their childhood.

His oldest child, Bailey, ran cross country and track, before graduating from Pickerington North in 2014. Bexley started at center for Central’s 2018 state championship squad before graduating a year later, and then playing basketball for two seasons at Penn State and then two seasons at Kent State.

Garner competed in football, basketball and track and field at Central before graduating in 2021 and going on to play football at Northwestern. With Garner in the lineup, Central’s football team captured state titles in 2017 and 2019, and its track and field squad won state championships in 2018 and 2019.

“All of my siblings have different personalities, but I love how we’ve been able to bond through sports,” Berry said. “They have been a big influence and have pushed me to do my best in different ways. Especially Garner because he was such a great high school athlete, and he was the best at everything when our family played games, while still remaining a nice person.

“I tried to pick up on what Garner was doing, because I wanted to be like him. He would wake up early to train with my dad, so I would do the same thing.”

Brooklyn graduated from Central in 2023, and Blossom is a sophomore starting forward for the Tigers, who already has received a handful of college basketball scholarship offers.

“Blossom and I share a room and we’ve played on the same team the past two years, so we’re together all the time,” Berry said. “It’s cool because she pushes me to get better and she makes the game more fun.

“My stepbrother, Isaiah Wallace, plays lacrosse instead of basketball, but we’re in the same grade at Central, so we’re also very close.”

Berry’s stepbrother, Evan Matthews, also won back-to-back state titles in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles to lead Central’s track and field squad to state championships in 2018 and 2019. Matthews, who played football at Central as well, was named the 2019 Gatorade Ohio Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

“Berry doesn’t necessarily have the best natural abilities of any of my kids, but she wants it the most and has the best follow-through,” coach Wallace said. “I had an intentional approach with the way I trained her over the years. We put in a lot of work to improve her hand-eye coordination and footwork when she was really young, and made sure she stayed active, whether it was bowling, playing basketball, lacrosse, soccer, tennis or volleyball.

“She’s always taken her passing, shooting and ball-handling all seriously, and she’s developed into a balanced person who is a very well-rounded player, who can do it all.”

During her freshman year at Central, Berry took her athleticism to another level by working with former Ohio State basketball player Asia Doss and former Ohio State track athlete Aaliyah Barnes to improve her speed and explosiveness. Berry also trained with Dublin Coffman assistant boys basketball coach Tyrel Jackson to improve her ball-handling skills.

“My dad has taught me the fundamentals, including my shooting form, and Tyrel helped me develop all these moves to make the game more fun as I developed my own style,” Berry said. “The biggest thing my dad taught me, though, is my basketball intelligence, including how to make the right plays and reads. He also taught me a lot about basketball strategies.”

Berry burst into Central’s starting lineup as a freshman, averaging 11.1 points and 8.5 rebounds.

As a sophomore, Berry averaged 14.6 points and 9.2 rebounds to be named first-team all-league and all-district, and second-team all-state. And last season, Berry averaged 15.1 points and 8.6 rebounds to earn first-team all-league, all-district and all-state honors.

During her junior season, Berry helped lead Central to its first regional title in four years, before racking up a game-high 23 points and 12 rebounds in the Tigers’ 58-53 loss to Olmsted Falls in a Division I state semifinal.

“No one would have thought that Berry was going to develop into a McDonald’s all-American back when she was in the seventh grade or even the ninth grade, but she just stayed focused on putting the work in to get better,” coach Wallace said. “She was incredible in the state tournament, playing on the biggest stage that she had ever played on at that point, and continued to turn heads during AAU season and while playing in Europe.”

Berry, who is Central’s senior class president and a four-year member of the National Honor Society, is hoping she will continue to excel academically and athletically at Illinois.

“I’m just looking to make an impact at Illinois,” Berry said. “I’m not sure what kind of degree I’m going to pursue yet, but I’m interested in coaching basketball or playing professionally after I graduate from college.”

Right now, Berry is savoring the experience of her final high school basketball season, and she’s hoping she can end her prep career on a high note as Central is aiming for its ninth consecutive district championship and second consecutive regional title.

The top-seeded Tigers will open Division I district tournament play on Wednesday, Feb. 21, by playing host to 47th-seeded Westland.

“I just want to enjoy this because it’s my last year playing for my dad, and getting to play with my sister, and all of my teammates, who I’ve been close friends with for many years,” Berry said. “Every time we have a team break, we all say ‘family’ because we feel like one big family.

“As a senior, I just want to do everything I can to help our team win state to add to our legacy of success here at Pickerington Central.”