By Ben Stroup
The Olentangy Orange boys basketball team used a solid second quarter and steady efforts from Colin Shepherd and Evan Lewis, both with 16 points, to slip past host Westerville Central 57-53 in non-league action Tuesday night.
Tied at 12 after one, the Pioneers (11-2) gave themselves a bit of a cushion with a 15-10 second-quarter surge. The Warhawks (5-7) sliced into their deficit with a 14-13 third, but couldn’t complete the comeback.
Grant Gossard hit a pair of free throws after Central missed a go-ahead three in the final 20 seconds to smooth out the scoring summary.
Orange gets back to OCC-Capital Division play when it hosts New Albany Friday in Lewis Center.
Worthington Kilbourne 41, Hayes 39
The Pacers used an 11-0 run bridging the third and fourth quarters to get in position to win, but missed a three-pointer at the buzzer to drop Tuesday’s OCC-Capital Division showdown against visiting Worthington Kilbourne.
“I think the kids played hard all night, I can’t fault the effort, but we just need to do a better job playing with poise down the stretch,” Hayes coach Jordan Blackburn said.
The Pacers (5-8) got the looks they wanted, but missed 21 shots in the paint, including several in the final quarter. Overall, they shot 4-for-25 in the paint.
Freshman Terin Kinsway was a bright spot, finishing with 10 points and 14 rebounds in the loss.
Hayes will look to get even with Kilbourne when the teams meet again Friday in Worthington.
Hilliard Davidson 70, Olentangy 64
The Braves used a huge third quarter to take a lead into the fourth, but the visiting Wildcats finished the game on a 29-19 run to wrap up a non-league win Tuesday in Lewis Center.
Carter Kinnaird and Derrick Wyche finished in double figures for Olentangy, closing with 16 and 12 points, respectively.
Next up, the Braves (5-5) travel to Big Walnut to take on the Golden Eagles Friday in Sunbury.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
After dropping its first game of the season Saturday at Olentangy, the Olentangy Liberty girls basketball team got back to its winning ways, using a solid start and steady finish to handle visiting Westerville Central 47-40 Tuesday in Powell.
The Patriots (14-1) outscored the Warhawks 14-9 in the first and 10-6 in the fourth after the visitors outscored them by a combined two points in the middle two quarters.
Dublin Jerome 54, Orange 46
Orange hung right with visiting Dublin Jerome, but the Celtics closed the game on a 16-9 run to notch a non-league win Tuesday in Lewis Center.
Schae Lilley led the Pioneers (6-7), who trailed 38-37 heading into the final frame, with 15 points.
Also: Marion Harding 57, Big Walnut 53.
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Follow Ben Stroup on Twitter @delgazette_ben.
