The Winter sports season has been underway for a little while here in the Cincinnati area.  One of the first basketball games I photographed this season was Colerain at Mason High School.  The Freshmen, JV and Varsity teams played on a Saturday the first weekend in December.  Below are a few of my favorites from all the games.  You can view all the images from the games by clicking the Game Images link above.

Corralling a rebound.

Some tough defense on a post up.

Loose ball that ended up being a jump ball.

Diving after another loose ball.

Just getting her fingers on the ball to block the shot.

The coach tries to light a fire in the player.

She responds with a block shot.

Tough post play.

Trying to keep her balance to stay in-bounds.

The last high school basketball game of the season I photographed was Westerville South vs Lakota East.  The game was played at the Columbus Fairgrounds which ended up not being as great of venue as I was hoping.  The staff was great but the building setup was not that fan friendly.  Ice hockey is played there and the boards were still up which separated the court from the fans.  With both teams having a great fan base there for the game it was disappointing they could not be any closer to the court.  That is just my opinion and I know OHSAA does its best finding locations for these tournament games.  The game itself was a game of halves.  Lakota East won the first half but Westerville South came back and outplayed them in the second half.  Westerville got the win ending the Lakota East season.  All the images are available through the Game Images link above, here are a few of my favorites:

Taking the court.

Taking a tough shot.

Going for the steal.

Dodging the defense to make a shot.

Realizing their season was ending.

A little too close on defense.

The Princeton vs Lakota East tournament basketball game was the last high school tournament game scheduled for the day at the University of Dayton Arena.  There were some close games played earlier in the day that pushed the start of the game back almost an hour later than scheduled.  Tip was approximately 9:40pm.  It seemed like a long day to me waiting for the start of the game so I can only imagine what the players were going through.  This was the third match-up for these GMC teams this year.  It was a closely contested game with lots of physical battles all over the floor.  Tons of emotions from the players, coaches and fans.  All the images are available through the Game Images link above, here are a few of my favorites.

Pregame speech.

Sticking a leg out which caused a blocking foul.

The Lakota East fans in the background during a free throw.

Under and up.

Defense trying to swarm around one player.

A fan hoping for the jump ball call.

Highly contested layup.

Which did not end up well for one player.

Managing to jump over the player trying to get to the loose ball.

Bloodied but still playing.

Love the range of expressions from the players, the coach, the AD on the left hiding his face and the lady on the right in the back who could care less.

Celebrating the win with the student fans.

Coach and player celebrate.

Last Friday night I was at Otterbein University for the Lakota East vs Pickerington North tournament basketball game.  I will admit that I got a little lost trying to find the Rike Center.  In my defense it was dark and I could not read any signs.  My fault for thinking I would just see it on campus but since it is behind the football stadium that was not the case.  Luckily I left enough time in case I got lost but still got there a little later than I planned.  Still managed to watch about 15 minutes of warm-ups.  I was impressed by the number of players on Pickerington that were tall and strong.  The game was definitely going to be a challenge for Lakota East since they are more known for their speed than strength.  Pickerington won the game to move on and the best season in Lakota East womens basketball came to an end.  Click the Game Images link above to see all the images, here are a few of my favorites:

The Lakota East team.

A battle just to control the opening tip.

Almost everyone stopped playing expecting a whistle but the player continued and scored.

A rare uncontested shot.

Everyone trying to help the ref make the call.

Another high school tournament basketball game at the Cintas Center.  This game pitted Withrow against Mason High School.  While watching warm-ups I realized just how much length the Withrow team possessed.  Not only were they tall, they had long arms.  It was definitely apparent during the game that those long arms were going to cause Mason a problem.  They were quick to the ball and caused multiple traps.  Mason tried to get back into the game after getting behind quickly at the start but Withrow got the win to advance.  All image are available through the Game Images link above, here are a few of my favorites.

A rare uncontested shot early in the game.

Just getting the block.

The Withrow coach was very animated at the start of the game while motivating his team, causing his shirt to come out.

How I wish I would have been at the other end of the court for this dunk.

Double team.

Another trap.

Tough defense.

He dunked again with his back to me.

Trying to come away with the loose ball.