Don’t look now, but the Buckeye Valley boys basketball team has won 10 games in a row.
The most recent, a solid 62-53 MSL-Ohio win over visiting Grandview Heights Tuesday night in Delaware, gave the Barons (10-1, 5-0) a two game lead alone atop the standings … and they did it as a team.
Playing without leading scorer Dylan Thompson for the second straight game, Buckeye Valley spread the wealth in the win. Troy Scowden led the charge with 17 points and eight rebounds while Owen Osborne and Connor Hardman finished with 14 apiece. Brad Koehler was also steady, chipping in 10 points of his own while Mason Kurtz added seven.
Grandview (9-3, 2-3) trailed 25-20 at halftime, but scored the first six points of the third quarter — hoops from Ian Roediger, Tristin Pierce and Tre Holliman — to take a 26-25 edge early in the second half.
The Barons all but put the game away over the course of the rest of the quarter, though, outscoring the Bobcats 17-6 to take a 42-32 advantage into the final eight minutes of action.
After Grandview’s 6-0 run, Osborne answered with a deep three to settle his team down before Koehler collected an offensive board and scored a put-back bucket, Scowden polished off a three-point play the hard way and Hardman drilled a corner three to push the lead to double digits.
Pierce scored early in the fourth to give his team some life, but Scowden and Kurtz netted back-to-back hoops to extend the lead to 53-39 midway through the fourth.
The Barons cruised from there.
Danny Claypool led Grandview with 15 points in the setback.
Olentangy Liberty 54, Thomas Worthington 48
The Patriots jumped out to a 31-17 lead by the break and hung on for a non-league win over the visiting Cardinals Tuesday night in Powell.
Cooper Davis, who had 14 first-half points, finished with a game-best 20 to lead Liberty while Shaheem Nieves had 15 for Thomas.
Canal Winchester 70, Delaware Hayes 57
Jesse Burris hung 30 on the visiting Indians, but it wasn’t enough as Canal Winchester used a hot start and solid finish to secure a league win over the host Pacers Tuesday night in Delaware.
Canal won the first quarter 15-7 before Hayes cut it to three, 46-43, by the end of three. The Indians pulled away in the fourth, though, winning the final period 24-14 to account for the final margin.
Jake Lowman backed Burris with 13 points while Derrick James had 22 to lead the Indians.
Newark 51, Olentangy Berlin 45
Grant Burkholder poured in a game-high 17 points and Steele Meister added 14 to lead the Wildcats to a win over the visiting Bears Tuesday night in Newark.
Berlin got a team-best 10 points from Jason Harris while Jason Inbody and Derek Goodman finished with six each.
Also: Olentangy Orange 54, Dublin Jerome 41; Big Walnut 52, Dublin Scioto 47; Westerville Central 64, Olentangy 55.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Chloe Jeffers, Sophia Midura and Sara Dudley all finished in double figures to lead Delaware Hayes to a 42-37 OCC-Capital Division win over the host Indians Tuesday night in Canal Winchester.
With the teams tied at the end of one, the Pacers made their move in the second quarter. They outscored the Indians 13-7 in the quarter and maintained the lead the rest of the way.
Jeffers finished with 16 points in the win while Midura and Dudley added 12 and 10, respectively.
Olentangy Liberty 70, Thomas Worthington 33
The Patriots improved to 10-2 overall with a dominant win over the host Cardinals Tuesday night.
Gigi Bower led all scorers with 24 points in the win.
Newark 54, Olentangy Berlin 41
The Bears fell into a 21-9 hole and couldn’t climb out as the visiting Wildcats notched a win Tuesday night in Delaware.
Maddie Vejstcky led Newark with 17 points while Deanara Mbouge had 13 points to pace Berlin.
Also: Dublin Scioto 41, Big Walnut 27; Dublin Jerome 47, Olentangy Orange 37.
