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SALINEVILLE -- The Columbiana boys basketball left no doubts Wednesday.
The Clippers scored the first 15 points to beat Southern Local, 81-51, and claim a share of its third straight Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference title.
Columbiana finishes the regular season at 16-6 overall and 12-2 in the EOAC, tied with Lisbon for the top spot.
The Clippers have won four of the last seven EOAC titles and own 24 league championships in school history.
Columbiana showed its balance with five players scoring in double figures and made 14 three-pointers.
Freshman Zander Oliver, making his second varsity start, scored a personal-high 15 points with four rebounds and four steals
Carter Johnson collected 14 points. Hunter Davanzo totaled 13 points, eight rebounds and six steals. Senator Johnson added 13 points and six rebounds and Avery Young had 12 points. Cooper Brown contributed four assists and six blocks.
Southern finishes the regular season at 3-19 after a 1-14 start. The Indians were 0-14 in the EOAC and has lost 15 league games in a row.
Southern led by freshman Jack Pitts with 13 points and Jacob McCurdy with 12. Mason Pitts added nine points and Landen Heffner eight.
Senator Johnson ignited Columbiana's quick start as he scored off an offensive rebound, passed to Hunter Davanzo for a layup and had a dunk off a Davanzo steal and assist that gave the Clippers a 9-0 lead only 3 1/2 minutes into the game.
Oliver and Carter Johnson followed with three-pointers to boost the lead to 15-0 before Jack Pitts scored a layup for Southern's first points to beat the first-quarter buzzer.
A Brown layup pushed the Clippers' lead to 22-2 with 6:41 left in the second quarter.
The Clippers led 43-16 at halftime and 64-32 after three quarters.
Columbiana also won the junior varsity game, 23-18. Carter Griffith scored eight points and Matthew Garver six for the Clippers. Ben Paxson had seven points for the Indians.
C: 15-28-21-17--81
S: 2-14-16-19--51
COLUMBIANA SCORING: Senator Johnson 5-2-13, Zander Oliver 5-2-15, Trey Snyder 1-0-3, Carter Johnson 5-0-14, Hunter Davanzo 5-3-13, Cooper Brown 2-0-4, Avery Young 4-0-12, Liam McElwain 2-0-5, Deron Winnale 1-0-2, Jacob Parks 0-0-0, Brennan Murphy 0-0-0, Matthew Garver 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 30-59, 7-18: 81.
SOUTHERN SCORING: Landen Heffner 4-0-8, Jacob McCurdy 4-2-12, Zac Mayfield 1-0-3, Mason Pitts 4-0-9, Trevor Groff 1-0-2, Jack Pitts 5-0-13, Aiden Davis 0-0-0, Ben Paxson 1-0-2, Kim Charid-Guliman 1-0-2, Jensen Allender 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 21, 2-5: 51.
Three-point goals: Columbiana 14-28 (C. Johnson 4, Young 4, Oliver 3, S. Johnson, Snyder, McElwain), Southern 7 (J. Pitts 3, McCurdy 2, Mayfield, M. Pitts).