Anika Craft calmly sank a pair of free throws with less than four seconds left, the first evening things up and the second putting her team ahead for good as the Buckeye Valley girls basketball team outlasted host Grandview Heights 32-31 in league play Friday night.
The Barons opened up a 13-6 advantage by the end of the first quarter, but the Bobcats were quick to respond. They answered with a 9-5 second and 7-5 third to pull within a point heading into the final eight minutes of action.
That’s when Craft and Paige Garrett took over. Craft scored all four of her points in the fourth quarter while Garrett netted four of her team-best 11. The duo combined for eight of BV’s nine fourth-quarter points.
Dani Grether was also solid in the win, finishing with seven points while Chelsea Edington added five.
Delaware Hayes 65, Hilliard Darby 36
The Pacers shot a lot of free throws in Friday’s league win over the host Panthers.
Hayes — led by the trio of Chloe Jeffers, Alyssa Griner and Alexis Amabile — hit a lot, too. Jeffers finished with a game-best 18 points while Griner and Amabile had 15 apiece. The three combined to go 21-for-27 at the line, with Jeffers connecting on eight of 10 to lead the way. Overall, Hayes finished 24-for-34 at the charity stripe.
The Pacers led most of the way before pouring it on late, outscoring the Panthers 20-8 in the fourth quarter to seal the deal.
Big Walnut 43, Canal Winchester 35
The Golden Eagles outscored the visiting Indians in each of the first three quarters on the way to a league win Friday night in Sunbury.
Avery Schone led the charge with 19 points while Abby Facemyer finished with a double-double — 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Also: Olentangy Liberty 67, Olentangy Orange 21; Westerville South 65, Olentangy 41; Dublin Scioto 44, Olentangy Berlin 37
BOYS BASKETBALL
Henry Hinkle and Cam Barcus combined for 26 points, 13 apiece, to lead the Olentangy Liberty boys basketball team to a 57-51 win over host Olentangy Orange in the league opener Friday night in Lewis Center.
The game was tight most of the way through, with Liberty building its cushion with a 12-6 first quarter. The teams played even for the other three.
Kal Jayaraman and Andrew Wade added 11 points apiece for the Patriots while Andre Irvin had 19 and Ryan Cutler finished with 11 for the Pioneers.
Big Walnut 59, Canal Winchester 53
Jared Kreager poured in 22 points, sinking eight of his nine free throws along the way to lead the Golden Eagles to an OCC-Capital win over the host Indians Friday night in Canal Winchester.
Big Walnut started strong, racing out to a 16-7 lead by the end of the first quarter. Canal got to within one by the break, 24-23, and the game was tied at 39 after three before BW used a 20-14 fourth to smooth out the scoring summary.
Kegan Hienton backed Kreager with 15 points in the win.
Westerville South 65, Olentangy 58
Josiah Seymour had 14 points and Austin Brown and Jake Elmore added 11 each, but it wasn’t quite enough as the Braves dropped Friday’s league opener in Westerville.
The Wildcats’ Peter Pedrozo led all scorers with 20 points.
Dublin Scioto 41, Olentangy Berlin 22
Points were at a premium for the Bears, who, despite a solid defensive effort, fell to the visiting Irish Friday night in Delaware.
Scioto led 7-3 after the first quarter before creating some separation with a 19-9 second.
Austin Corley and Bryce Reed led Berlin in the setback, finishing with six points apiece.
Also: KIPP Columbus at Buckeye Valley, susp.
WRESTLING
Olentangy Liberty 43, Vandalia Butler 33; Delaware Hayes 42, Marysville 30
