Delaware Hayes’ Jeremiah Russell glides through a handful of Big Walnut defenders toward the hoop during the first half of Friday’s OCC-Capital Division showdown in Sunbury.
Ben Stroup | The Gazette
The Big Walnut boys basketball team put together a strong second quarter on both ends of the floor, climbing out of an early hole to tie things by the break, but visiting Delaware Hayes answered with an even better second half to pull away for a key 50-44 OCC-Capital Division win Friday night in Sunbury.
Down 21-16 after a back-and-fourth first, the Golden Eagles strung together some second-quarter stops to get back to even.
Brody Hatfield hit a pair of free throws and Graham Federer connected on a lay-in to pull Big Walnut (10-4, 5-2) within three, 23-20 with 3:17 left in the half. After Chase Griggs hit a three-pointer for Hayes (13-1, 7-1), Hatfield hit one of his own, Trent Minor split a pair of free throws and Owen Pollock scored inside to even things up just before halftime.
The second quarter was a change of pace for the Pacers, who scored just five points after pouring in 21 in the opening quarter. Griggs and Landon Vanderwarker, who had just four first-half points, were the only two Hayes players to score in the period.
That changed in the second half, though, as Vanderwarker got on track, scoring 10 of his game-best 14 points in the final two quarters of action. He hit a turnaround jumper from close range to open the second-half scoring and, after BW’s Conor Watters hit a triple to give his team a 29-28 lead with 6:50 left in the third, Vanderwarker scored again from in close before Jesse Burris and Carter Piatt-Brown scored to give Hayes a little breathing room.
Burris, fouled driving toward the hoop in the final seconds of the third, hit both of the ensuing free throws to give his team a 39-31 lead heading into the fourth.
Hatfield and Eli Stumpf scored to pull the Eagles within four early in the fourth, and Minor and Hatfield took turns banking in buckets to make it 42-41 with less than four minutes to go, but Griggs quieted the crowd with a hoop before the Pacers sealed the deal at the free-throw line.
Jeremiah Russell, who had 10 points, shot 3-for-4 from the charity stripe in the final frame. Jake Lowman, meanwhile, was 2-for-2 and Vanderwarker closed 4-for-6 from the line in the fourth.
The Pacers made 13 of their 20 free throws for the game. The Eagles, meanwhile, made six less (7-for-10), which turned out to be the final margin of the game.
Hatfield finished with a team-best 13 points for Big Walnut while Minor and Federer closed with 10 and nine, respectively.
