The Delaware Hayes boys basketball team didn’t have to search far and wide to find motivation for this season. The Pacers just had to look back to how last season ended.

Delaware has learned some valuable lessons from last winter’s postseason run, including a 54-39 loss to Olentangy Orange in a Division I district final. With the return of senior star Jesse Burris and the addition of junior standout Landon Vanderwarker, the Pacers — now a year old and a year wiser — appear poised to take the next step.

“We got to a district final last year and got beat by a really good Orange team,” coach Adam Vincenzo said. “We used that as a little motivation in this offseason. With what we’re bringing back, we’re really excited. We don’t really set goals. We just want to be the best version of us every day. As long as we do what we need to do, we’re going to live with the results.”

Delaware went 20-5 last season, but fell a win short of its first district championship since 1986.

Burris, an Ohio University commit, averaged team highs of 18.1 points and 8.8 rebounds. He was named OCC-Capital Player of the Year, first-team all-district and second-team all-state.

“We were a little short of our goals last season,” Burris said. “We want to win that district (title). It was a good experience to get to that game and the teams we played to get there showed us what we needed to work on, so we’re ready to come back.”

The 6-foot-7 Vanderwarker averaged 22.8 points, 11.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.7 steals for Division IV regional runner-up Northside Christian. He was first-team all-state and Player of the Year in the district and Mid-Ohio Christian Athletic League.

Vanderwarker lives in the Delaware City School District.

“Adding somebody like Landon to what we already had coming back adds to our anticipation, adds to the excitement, adds to the buzz,” Vincenzo said. “More importantly, Landon fits perfectly within our culture, who our guys are. It’s been a perfect transition, so we’re excited to have that weapon to add to our arsenal as well.”

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Orange won its first district title last season and finished 24-4, its run ending with a 57-53 loss to eventual state runner-up Pickerington Central in a regional final. The Pioneers should feature senior Dylan Joy (guard), junior Devin Brown (guard/wing) and sophomore Levi Davis (guard).

Orange must replace three key contributors who are now playing in college. Elias Lewis (17.2 points, Walsh) was first-team all-district and second-team all-state, Jordan Edwards (10.4 points, Ashland) was honorable mention all-state and all-district and Mikey McCollum (13.5 points, Hillsdale) was honorable mention all-district.

Regional semifinalist Westerville South (21-6) should be led by junior guard Kruz McClure, who was second-team all-district and special mention all-state last season.

Central must replace 2023 Mr. Basketball Devin Royal, who averaged 19.2 points and is now playing at Ohio State.

“(The Central District is) as deep as ever,” Vincenzo said. “Something that shifted for us a little bit and we’re good with it, we’ve embraced it, is usually we’re the hunter and we have a chip on our shoulder. We haven’t lost the chip, but we do understand that we might have a little bit more of a target on our back this season, and that’s new for us.”

In Division II, Ready started 28-0 last season before a 60-50 state semifinal loss to eventual champion Akron Buchtel. Hit hard by graduation, the Silver Knights are led by senior guards Micah Germany and Josh Paul and junior wing Kayden Schaffer.

Lost to graduation were Charlie Russell (17.3 points), Luke Ruth (13.1 points) and Kaleb Schaffer (15.3 points). Ruth was first-team all-state, and Russell and Schaffer were third-team all-state. Ruth is playing at Ohio Dominican, Schaffer is at Walsh and Russell is playing baseball at Air Force.

In Division III, Africentric (22-6) and Harvest Prep (21-7) reached state semifinals a season ago.

Africentric returns senior guard Cortez Freeman, who was second-team all-district and honorable mention all-state last season. The Nubians lost now-Xavier freshman Dailyn Swain, who averaged 18.6 points and was Division III district and state Player of the Year. 

Key players for Harvest Prep include senior guard Adonus Abrams, junior guard Brandon Roddy and sophomore wing Ephraim Campbell.

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