New coach and new philosophy have Worthington Christian boys basketball back on track

The Warriors were 18-4 this season and co-champions of the Mid-State League-Ohio Division

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Two years removed from one of the greatest seasons in program history, the Worthington Christian boys basketball team is back near the top again in central Ohio with the Division III district tournament set to tip off.

The Warriors' 18-4 overall record that included winning a share of their league championship wasn’t necessarily expected, despite the success the program often has enjoyed since the early 1980s.

The Warriors were coming off a 12-11 finish last season and entered this year with a new coach for the first time in more than two decades and just two seniors, but a 15-game midseason winning streak and what they believe is a renewed chemistry has them flying high again.

“I wouldn’t say we’re surprised,” junior forward Sam Johnson said. “I bet a lot of other people were surprised, but when we started the season, I knew what we had and what we could do with it. It was a matter of what we could with what we had.”

Worthington Christian closed the Mid-State League-Ohio Division schedule with a 50-45 loss to Columbus Academy on February 10th, but the teams wound up as co-champions at 10-2.

The Warriors then lost 79-36 to Ready on February 14th, but they closed the regular season with a 55-41 win over Briggs on February 17th.

The second seed for the district tournament, Worthington Christian opens the postseason February 22nd at home against 23rd-seeded West Jefferson and would play 24th-seeded Cardington on February 25th with a win in that game.

Last season, Worthington Christian’s season ended with a 55-31 loss to Ready in a district semifinal, but the Silver Knights have since moved up to Division II and were the No. 1 ranked team in the final state poll.

“We dropped a couple games late in the season, so we’re going to take these first two tournament games to kind of get back into it,” junior guard Jonah Lewis said. “We (defeated) Briggs the other day and that was a big game for us because we’re just getting our rhythm back so that we’ll be ready for those harder games later in the tournament.

“We kind of just want to put (this year’s loss to Ready) in the past. We kind of got embarrassed a little bit but learned from our mistakes in that game.”

Worthington Christian earned a Division IV state runner-up finish in 1994, won the program’s only state title in 1999 and was a state semifinalist in 2000.

Kevin Weakley, who was a starter for the 1994 team and went on to become a Division III All-American for Otterbein, became the program’s coach in 2000 and filled that role for 22 seasons.  Under Weakley, the Warriors were Division III state runners-up in 2008 as well as in 2021 and went 383-161.

He stepped down as boys basketball coach last September and a month later resigned as the school’s athletic director, a role he also had filled since 2006-07.

Steve Betulius is now serving as interim athletics director and James Storey is the program’s interim head coach.

Storey had served as the program’s seventh-grade coach for 10 years and previously coached many of the program’s current varsity players, including Johnson, who has emerged as the team’s leader in points per game (19.5) and rebounds (10.0).

“I coached the majority of them when they were in seventh grade, so it’s been really cool to come back and coach them again,” Storey said. “I’ve kept up with them at the school and it’s been cool to jump back in with these guys and see what they can do.

“Sam was really good when he in seventh grade and he’s been really good this year. He’s had a great season and was recently voted the MSL-Ohio Player of the Year, so we know what we’ll get from him game in and game out.”

Johnson is the only key player who was a regular in 2020-21 when D.J. Moore led the way as a junior and then graduated early to enroll at Liberty, where he spent one season before enrolling last month at Indiana Wesleyan. Moore left the program as its No. 5 all-time scorer with 1,323 career points.

Last season, Johnson averaged 14.4 points and Lewis averaged 12.3.

“It’s been a new philosophy and style of coaching,” Johnson said. “We had to adjust early and get used to it, and it’s been nice having to adapt to their style of teaching. You always had to see someone you love leave, but (Weakley) told us when he was leaving to go and have a great season and go out and be great. It’s been an adjustment and something you have to embrace. It’s been a learning process.”

Although Storey is in his first season as a varsity head coach, two former members of the program have been serving as assistants.

Lawrence Funderburke, who played for the Warriors his first two prep seasons in the mid-1980s and went on to play for Ohio State as well as professionally for 11 years, has joined the staff.

Also back at Worthington Christian is Rick Burby, who was the head boys coach from 1983-85 and coached for several seasons at the college level.

“(Funderburke) played here in high school and had a stellar career, and he wanted to help this year when he realized we needed help,” Storey said. “He’s done a great job and coach Rick Burby has had such an extensive coaching career. We’re super blessed with the coaches wanting to jump in and help out. We’ve had a good run this year.”

The only seniors are forwards Correll Amsbaugh and Gibby Wilson, who each have stepped into bigger roles after contributing last season.

Wilson transferred to the school as a junior after previously attending Jonathan Alder while Amsbaugh has been at the school since seventh grade, and both were key wide receivers last fall as the football team went 8-4.

Sophomore Logan Woloshan has shared point guard duties with Lewis. Sophomore Michael Redd II, a 6-foot-5 forward whose father played for Ohio State and in the NBA for 12 seasons, has been a key contributor off the bench. Sophomore Ethan Blank, a 6-3 wing player, also has been in the rotation.

If the Warriors advance to a district championship game March 2nd, their potential opponents would include fourth-seeded Northridge and fifth-seeded Harvest Prep.

Worthington Christian defeated Harvest Prep in a district final in 2021.

“We’re kind of versatile,” Lewis said. “We have guys like Sam that can shoot the 3 and also get to the rim. Logan has been getting better at getting to the rim. We’ll be looking at that to take us into the tournament.

“It was kind of difficult early on just to get everyone together, but we have this family concept now. Now as we’re getting closer to the end of the season, we’re one team and if one of us fails, we all fail.”