For the first time all season, the Big Walnut girls basketball team struggled to put the ball in the hoop on the way to a 46-28 loss to host Worthington Kilbourne Tuesday night.

The Golden Eagles, who dropped to 4-1 with the setback, couldn’t crack the Wolves’ defense early. They fell behind 33-13 by halftime with Abby Brown, the team’s leading scorer, collecting all but three of those points.

Big Walnut looked more like itself in the third quarter, outscoring Kilbourne 6-0 thanks to a pair of free throws by Maddy Stumpf, a transition hoop from Jordan Walters and a layin by Brown. The Eagles still trailed 33-19 heading into the fourth, though, and after scoring the first five points of the fourth thanks to a Brown triple and put-back bucket from Annie Thomas, saw their comeback fizzle down the stretch.

The 11-0 run sliced the Big Walnut deficit to nine, 33-24 with 6:16 to play, but Kilbourne closed the game on a 13-4 run to seal the deal.

Brown led the Eagles with a game-best 15 points while Lauren Scott had 13 to pace the Wolves.

Also: Newark 81, Olentangy Berlin 21.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Buckeye Valley got it done with defense down the stretch, limiting host Watterson to 14 second-half points to notch a solid 47-43 non-league win Tuesday night.

The Barons, who improved to 5-0 with the win, trailed 29-22 at halftime before swiping the momentum away from the Eagles down the stretch. Mason Kurtz hit two huge three-pointers in the fourth while Jack Rotondo scored seven of his nine points in the final quarter to help BV cement the win.

Owen Osborne also had nine points in the win while Kurtz finished with eight.

Westerville South 70, Delaware Hayes 44

The Pacers hung with the visiting Wildcats early, trailing by a bucket after the first quarter, but were outscored 21-9 in the second en route to a non-league loss Tuesday night in Delaware.

Ryan Smudz and Hezekiah Russell hit two threes apiece, leading Hayes with 14 and 10 points, respectively. Jesse Burris was also steady in the setback, chipping in eight points, six of which came in the first quarter.

Jaiden Guice poured in a game-high 28 points for South.

Newark 46, Olentangy Berlin 41

The Bears outscored the visiting Wildcats 18-7 in the fourth quarter, but saw their comeback bid come up just a bit short Tuesday night in Delaware.

Aiden Loeffler and Adrian Stone led Berlin with nine points apiece while Austin Corley and Jason Inbody finished with eight each.

Also: Olentangy Liberty 67, Thomas Worthington 61; Olentangy Orange 77, Dublin Jerome 52.