Pacer rally falls short at Tip-Off Classic

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Nate Griggs scored 13 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter, sparking an 11-4 game-ending run, but it wasn’t quite enough as the Delaware Hayes boys basketball team fell to Independence 68-65 in Friday night’s Grove City Tip-Off Classic.

The Pacers (0-1) were solid down the stretch, but couldn’t make up for an early misstep or two.

“I have to do a better job of getting our boys to understand how important every possession is on both ends,” Hayes coach Jordan Blackburn said. “Basketball is just doing little things right in continued succession. Tonight, we didn’t do enough things the right way.

“Give Independence credit … they have a lot of quickness and shot the three much better than we had seen on film.”

The 76ers (1-0) made 11 of their 20 three-point attempts when all was said and done. The Pacers, meanwhile, made their mark at the charity stripe, connecting on 20 of their 21 attempts at the line.

Terin Kinsway led Hayes with a double-double (19 points and 17 rebounds). Griggs finished with six assists to go with his points while Jwan Lyles had 10 points, Paul Frentsos finished with eight and Addison Harvey chipped in seven.

Olentangy Orange 55, New Albany 41

Three players scored in double figures as the Pioneers posted a solid non-league win to open the season Friday night in New Albany.

Matt McCollum hit a couple three-pointers on the way to a game-high 18 points. Luke Ballinger, who also hit a pair of triples, finished with 14 points while Jalen Bethel chipped in 11 in the win.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Olentangy Liberty picked up its second straight win to start the season Friday, topping visiting Dublin Jerome 51-30.

Emma Humenay drilled six three-pointers en route to an 18-point performance while Teegan Pifher had 16 points in the win.

The Patriots got it done on the defensive end, too, especially late. They outscored the Celtics 10-0 in the fourth quarter.

River Valley 60, Buckeye Valley 49

The Barons put together a nice opening half, up 30-26 at the break, but were outscored 34-19 in the second half as visiting River Valley handed them an MOAC loss in Friday’s home opener.

“I just think we ran out of gas a little bit at the end,” BV coach Travis Stout said. “That played into some of our mistakes. Both teams played hard, it was a good game, but mistakes hurt us at the end.”

The Vikings’ Alexis Stevens finished with a game-best 27 points while Dani Grether had 16 points off the bench for the Barons. Hannah Cowen also scored in double figures, closing with 10 points in the setback.

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By Ben Stroup

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