The Olentangy boys basketball team used a flurry of three-pointers to stick around through a half, but visiting Delaware Hayes used a 12-0 start to the third quarter to pull away en route to a 81-58 non-league win Friday night in Lewis Center.

In a matchup of two of the area’s hottest teams — both entered having won five straight — the Pacers (12-1), thanks in part to seven first-quarter points from Landon Vanderwarker, grabbed the early momentum.

Down 22-17 heading into the second, though, the Braves (7-4) found their touch from deep. After Hayes’ Drew Banaszak scored in transition with a nice finish at the rim, then found Vanderwarker for an easy deuce underneath, Olentangy’s Carter Hire drilled a corner three to pull his team within four, 26-22, with 5:36 left in the second.

Vanderwarker, who was a force all night long, answered inside for the Pacers a few possessions later, but the Braves again had an answer of their own, this time in the form of a three from Ulysses Ponder.

The back-and-fourth battle continued … at least for the rest of the first half. Vanderwarker hit a three after Jay Agrawal scored in transition to tie it at 31, and after an Agrawal three tied things again, a Vanderwarker dunk in the final seconds of the half made it a 36-34 game at the break.

Things changed in a hurry in the second half, though, as Hayes used its big run out of the break to power a 29-15 quarter that all but sealed the deal.

Jesse Burris opened the third with a three-point play and, after Vanderwarker scored on back-to-back trips, Carter Piatt-Brown cashed in on another three-point play the hard way, slicing to the rim, fighting through contact and making the hoop and the ensuing free throw to balloon the lead to 46-34 less than three minutes into the quarter.

Olentangy stayed within striking distance as two Hire triples and another from Agrawal accounted for nine quick points, but Hayes ended the quarter a lot like it started it.

After Vanderwarker and Piatt-Brown scored on consecutive possessions, Chase Griggs scored off a Garrett Brown steal before hitting a three at the buzzer to give his team a 64-49 lead heading into the final eight minutes of action — a quarter the Pacers won 16-9 to smooth out the scoring summary.

Buckeye Valley 54, Grandview Heights 51

The Barons outscored the host Bobcats 13-10 in the fourth quarter to turn a tie game after three into a league win Tuesday night in Grandview.

Marcus Hemphill had a big night, pouring in 24 points to go with a team-high seven rebounds and three assists.

Logan Kroeger also had a nice night, hitting three triples en route to a nine-point performance.

Also: Big Walnut 76, Thomas Worthington 43.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Buckeye Valley made sure hoops were hard to come by, using a suffocating defensive effort to roll to a 43-17 non-league win over rival Delaware Hayes Tuesday night in Delaware.

It was still anyone’s game after one, with the Barons up six, 16-10. The Pacers managed just seven points the rest of the game, though. BV used a 10-2 second quarter, 9-3 third and 8-2 fourth to smooth out the scoring summary.

Ella Hazelrigg led the Barons with 11 points while Carlie Osborne and Hazely Wagner added nine and eight, respectively.

Adrionna Brown led the Pacers with 12 points in the setback.