The Olentangy Liberty girls basketball team, fresh off its OCC-Central Division championship, opened the postseason the same way it closed the regular season — with a dominant win over visiting Hilliard Davidson.

Gigi Bower hit six three-pointers on the way to a game-high 20 points and Addison Marston chipped in 15 points of her own to lead the third-seeded Patriots to a convincing 70-22 win over the visiting and 37th-seeded Wildcats in the first round of the Division I district tournament Wednesday night in Powell.

Davidson, which lost both regular-season meetings against Liberty, looked determined to avoid dropping a third as Kiersten Cashell cashed in a on a deep three-pointer to give her team a 6-4 lead a couple minutes into the action.

From there, though, it was all Patriots.

Liberty scored the next nine points, getting a three from Emma Karagheuzoff and a putback bucket from Marston. Maria Stack made it 15-6, scoring on a nice back cut and equally nice find from Karagheuzoff with just under three minutes left in the first quarter and, well, the Patriots were just getting warmed up.

The run swelled to 19-2 by the end of the first quarter as Bower hit back-to-back threes, the second of which beat the first-quarter buzzer.

Marston opened the second quarter with a bucket inside and, after Davidson’s Anna Wile hit three free throws at the other end, Stack scored to balloon the lead to 32-11 with 6:13 left in the half.

A couple Bower corner threes bumped the lead up to 38-11 before Liberty scored the final seven points of the half, including a buzzer-beating three from Brooke Wagner to take a 46-11 halftime lead.

The Patriots won the third quarter 15-9 and the fourth 9-2 to seal the deal.

Next up, Liberty will host 31st-seeded Columbus Centennial Saturday at 1 p.m.

Westerville South 83, Delaware Hayes 16

The fifth-seeded Wildcats sealed the deal early, outscoring the visiting and 42nd-seeded Pacers 68-9 in the first half on the way to a lopsided win in a Division I sectional semifinal Wednesday night in Westerville.

Leila Jones and Tamara Ortiz sparked South in the early going. Jones had nine points and Ortiz had 10 as part of a 33-5 first quarter. Ortiz finished with a game-best 21 points when all was said and done while Jones had 13 in the win.

Adrionna Brown led Hayes with eight points while Samantha Toney chipped in five.

Also: Canal Winchester 33, Olentangy Orange 29.

From Tuesday

Delaware Christian picked up its first tournament win in three years, cruising past visiting Granville Christian 42-23 in the first round of the Division IV district tournament Tuesday night in Delaware.

The seventh-seeded Eagles jumped out to a 14-3 lead by the end of the first quarter and never looked back.

Addy Beard led the charge with 23 points, five rebounds, four steals and an assist. Audra Leadbetter was also solid, finishing with eight points and five boards, while Ellie Tiede collected a team-best 12 rebounds to go with seven assists.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Ohio Wesleyan entered the half with a 37-26 lead, but host DePauw won the second half 38-25 to rally for a 64-62 North Coast Athletic Conference win Wednesday night in Greencastle, Indiana.

Turnovers played a big role as the Tigers (17-8, 9-7 NCAC), who turned the ball over just twice the entire game, scored 14 points off 12 Bishop (15-9, 10-5 NCAC) turnovers.

Elijah Hales led a group of four DePauw players in double figures, closing with 15 points in the win. Camden Brown and Grant Niego had 14 and 12, respectively, while Nolan Niego finished with 11.

OWU’s Grant Spicer led all scorers with 24 points while Henry Hinkle added 16 in the setback.