For many high school girls basketball teams, clinching a league championship is cause for a big celebration.

When Reynoldsburg clinched at least a share of the OCC-Ohio Division title Feb. 3 with a 53-31 win at Lancaster, the players’ celebration was subdued. That’s because the Raiders have bigger goals and aspirations in mind this season.

Reynoldsburg was 18-0 overall and 12-0 in the OCC-Ohio before playing Groveport on Feb. 7, two games ahead of second-place Pickerington North. A win over Groveport or a win in the regular-season finale Friday, Feb. 10, at home against Gahanna would give the Raiders the league title outright.

Reynoldsburg beat Gahanna 31-27 on Jan. 6.

“An OCC title feels good. It’s nice to know we’re the best in the league,” junior point guard Yamonie Jenkins said. “But we’ll keep pushing to get more and not be satisfied with just an OCC title.”

“To get a league title we definitely feel blessed,” senior Adesuwa Aideyman said. “To have the team that we do, with the chemistry we have, with the way we play so hard, I’m happy to be OCC champs and to be OCC champs again.”

The win over Lancaster was the 30th in a row in OCC-Ohio play for Reynoldsburg, which also won the league title last season. Wins over Groveport and Gahanna would give the Raiders two consecutive undefeated league seasons in one of the top leagues in the state.

In 2010, Reynoldsburg, Gahanna and Pickerington North won the three Division I district championships. Last season, the Raiders and North won district titles.

Prior to last season, Reynoldsburg hadn’t won a league title since 2003, Jack Purtell’s first season as coach.

“Two in a row, that’s pretty great,” Purtell said. “It’s not that easy in the league we’re in and we had a lot of years finishing second to Dublin Coffman when they were ranked in the state and had great teams.”

After playing Gahanna, Reynoldsburg will focus on the Division I district tournament. The Raiders are seeded first of 43 teams and will play Groveport in the first round at 7:45 p.m. Feb. 16 at Olentangy Orange. The winner plays Franklin Heights in the second round at 6 p.m. Feb. 22 at Orange.

Groveport is seeded 40th and Franklin Heights is seeded 41st.

“The No. 1 seed is an honor,” Purtell said. “It means there is a lot of respect for our program and what we’ve accomplished this year and the last two years. We also know that the No. 1 seed means nothing once the tournament starts. Remember, we were the sixth seed two years ago when we went to the final four.”

The Raiders, who beat Groveport 76-32 on Jan. 3 but have yet to play Franklin Heights this season, know they must play well to make another postseason run.

“We have an opportunity to show people what we’re made of,” junior Shiloh Murphy said. “We still can pick up our defense, talk more on defense and improve our free-throw shooting. We know we have to keep playing as a team, like we have all year.”

“Our defense is excellent, but we can get better by getting loose balls and also get rebounding from the whole team, not just the (post players),” Aideyman said. “If we can do that, we’ll be really good.”

Reynoldsburg won a regional title in 2010 before losing to eventual state champion Canton McKinley 42-39 in overtime in a state semifinal. The Raiders lost to Liberty Township Lakota East 46-44 in a regional semifinal last season.

“For me, it’s nice because when I got here, I didn’t know what I was getting into,” said Murphy, who moved to Reynoldsburg from Zanesville before her sophomore year. “Winning (the league) title lets us know we’re accomplishing some of our goals. Now we can get back to practice because we want to get back to (the state tournament).”

“We always say we want to be at our best when it counts the most,” Purtell said.