Henry Hinkle and Ty Foster made plays all night, including when it mattered most as the Olentangy Liberty boys basketball team held on for a 64-60 OCC-Central Division win over visiting Hilliard Davidson Friday night in Powell.
The Patriots (6-2, 1-2), who led by a slim 28-27 margin at halftime, looked like they were going to run away with things midway through the third quarter. Foster scored inside and outside, following up a driving layin with a deep triple, Cooper Davis scored, Cam Barcus hit a three of his own and Hinkle calmly cashed in on a pair of free throws as Liberty used a 12-2 run to balloon their one-point lead into a double-digit cushion.
Hinkle hit back-to-back threes, pushing the lead to 46-32 with 3:14 left in the third, but the Wildcats (3-3, 1-2) hung around thanks in large part to Jayden Nervis, who connected from deep three times in the quarter.
Still within striking distance, down 51-40 heading into the fourth, Davidson used a 7-0 run to tighten things up even more, trailing 51-47 with 5:38 left.
Davis stopped the bleeding with a pair of free throws, but Jayden Humphrey hit a three and Nervis scored on a strong drive to the hoop to clip Liberty’s lead to one, 57-56 with 1:11 left.
Then, Foster and Hinkle stepped up one last time … when their team needed them most. Foster, who finished with 20 points in the win, hit a huge three-pointer from the right corner with just under a minute left.
Jared Frey scored quickly for Davidson to close the gap to two, but, forced to foul, the Wildcats sent Hinkle to the line with eight seconds left. Hinkle took care of the rest, scoring points 20 and 21 from the stripe to cement the win.
Davis backed Hinkle and Foster with nine points while Andrew Wade and Barcus chipped in seven apiece.
Nervis had 20 for the Wildcats while Frey and Humphrey finished in double figures with 12 and 11, respectively.
Franklin Heights 63, Olentangy Berlin 53
The host Golden Falcons got it done down the stretch, outscoring the visiting Bears 23-12 in the fourth quarter to notch a Senior Night win Friday in Columbus.
Austin Corley had a game-best 21 points for Berlin while Tommy McGeehan led four Franklin Heights players in double figures with 14 points in the win.
Olentangy 55, Dublin Jerome 48
Matt Kennedy finished with a team-best 15 points and Luke Elmore added 13 to lead the Braves past the visiting Celtics Friday night in Lewis Center.
Olentangy was hot early, jumping out to a 30-18 lead by halftime. Things got tight toward the end — the Celtics trimmed the deficit to four points with 1:23 left — but the Braves scored five of the game’s final seven points to seal the deal.
The Braves shot it well in the win, canning six threes as a team with a 13-for-16 effort from the free throw line.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Another night, another big game from Alexis Amabile … and another Delaware Hayes win.
Amabile poured in a game-best 22 points thanks in part to four three-pointers as the Pacers won their fifth game in a row, improving to 6-2 overall and 3-2 in league play with Friday night’s 42-37 win over visiting Canal Winchester.
The game was close throughout. The Pacers won three of the four quarters, but by no more than two points. They outscored the Indians 12-11 in the second to take a one-point lead into halftime before outscoring them 10-8 in each of the final two quarters.
Myah Byers backed Amabile with eight points in the win while Porter Barickman added seven.
Olentangy Liberty 59, Hilliard Davidson 35
The Patriots used a big first quarter to build a lead and an even bigger second to add to it on the way to a lopsided league win over the host Wildcats Friday night in Hilliard.
Liberty outscored Davidson 19-6 in the first and 22-9 in the second to build a commanding lead by the break.
Gigi Bower, Caitlin Splain and Jordan Rich all scored in double figures for the Patriots, finishing with 15, 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Tree of Life 49, Delaware Christian 25
The Trojans outscored the visiting Eagles 17-4 in the second quarter and 12-6 in the third to cruise to a MOCAL win Friday night in Columbus.
Katie Neuhart had a double-double in the setback, leading DCS with 19 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks.
Hilliard Bradley 60, Olentangy Orange 37
Chloe Callahan poured in a game-best 22 points on the strength of six three-pointers to lead the Jaguars past the host Pioneers in OCC-Central action Friday night in Lewis Center.
Kayla Delmore led Orange with 11 points in the loss while Reese Miller chipped in eight.
Also: Dublin Jerome 46, Olentangy 30
