“To get (Mr. Basketball) as a junior is really unbelievable,” O’Connor said. “I couldn’t ask for a better season.”
The 44th annual All-Clark County Boys Basketball team was comprised of O’Connor, Catholic Central seniors Ashton Young and Ian Galluch and junior Tyler Galluch, Shawnee juniors Zion Crowe and R.J. Griffin, Emmanuel Christian’s Justus Channels, Greenon’s Jaden Journell, Northeastern’s Cole Allen, Kenton Ridge’s Aiden Hannon, Springfield’s Micha’ Johnson and Southeastern’s Evan Henry. Catholic Central coach John Detling was named All-Clark County Coach of the Year.
The Arrows finished the season 15-9, earning their first winning record since 2016. Tecumseh also advanced to a district semifinal game for the first time since 2015. O’Connor thanked the coaching staff and everyone from Tecumseh who helped him over the years.
“(Coach Kyle Leathley) really gave me the freedom to play how I really wanted to,” O’Connor said. “The big thing for me was getting better each and every day and getting better as a team. In the past, we hadn’t been winning per se. We were 15-9 this year, which is the best record we’ve had in awhile. I was really proud of that.”
O’Connor recently moved to Centerville and will likely suit up for the Elks for his senior season. Centerville finished 29-1 this season, falling to Pickerington Central in the state championship game. They’ll return a strong nucleus, including Ohio Mr. Basketball and Indiana commit Gabe Cupps.
O’Connor’s recruiting will likely pick up this summer. He’s already received an offer from Division I South Carolina Upstate and is receiving interest from several Mid-American Conference schools, including Ohio University, Akron and Toledo.
“Hopefully in the summer some more coaches will see me play,” O’Connor said.
Detling was named coach of the year for the first time after guiding Catholic Central to a 24-3 record, including an Ohio Heritage Conference South Division title and a Division III district championship. He thanked the players for all of their hard work over the past three seasons.
“Over the summer, I put them in so many summer leagues and shootouts to get them ready for the season,” Detling said. “We played a very tough out-of-conference schedule to get them ready for the tournament. I thought they did a phenomenal job, even at UD Arena, it never felt like they were scared on the big stage. It’s amazing. It’s hard to believe it’s over.”
The Irish beat Jackson Center to win their third district title in five years, but fell to Botkins in a D-IV regional semifinal game at Trent Arena.
“Obviously, you don’t want to lose, but everything we talked about in the summer — conference champs, getting to districts, getting to 20 wins — we definitely accomplished all of that,” Detling said. “Wrapping up the season obviously was hard. More than anything, I felt like everything we set out to do, we did accomplish.”
Detling coached the Irish senior class for the past six seasons, including serving as their seven and eighth grade coach. Eight of the program’s 10 players were seniors.
“They’ve never had any coach but me,” Detling said.
Detling took over the program three years ago, winning six games. The class won 17 games as juniors and followed up this winter with 24 wins, including advancing to the regional semifinals for the first time since they were freshmen.
“To be there and contribute, what an accomplishment by the senior class,” Detling said.
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