Zack Wieging made a pair of free throws to even things at 49 early in the fourth quarter, but the visiting Olentangy Orange boys basketball team doubled up host Olentangy down the stretch, outscoring the Braves 28-14 the rest of the way to notch a 77-63 non-league win Saturday afternoon in Lewis Center.
The Pioneers scored 11 straight points after Wieging’s free throws, taking a 60-49 lead on a bucket by Aidan King. Most of the damage during the course of the run came from the free throw line as Andre Irvin, Mikey McCollum and King combined to go a perfect 6-for-6.
Ethan Smith hit a three to stop the bleeding, making it a 60-52 game, but the Braves never got closer than the eight-point spread the rest of the way.
Irvin finished with a game-high 27 points for Orange. He made 12 of his 15 free throws and hit a team-best three triples. As a team, the Pioneers made 32 of their 43 attempts from the charity stripe and seven three-pointers.
Jason Foster backed Irvin with 13 points while Johnny Stearns had 12.
Ethan Smith, who finished 8-for-9 at the line and hit a pair of three-pointers, led Olentangy with 20 points. Tavian James and Wieging had 11 points apiece while Matt Kennedy finished with 10 in the setback.
Worthington Christian 47, Buckeye Valley 39
The Barons played even with the first-place Warriors through three quarters, and found themselves locked in a tie with four minutes to play, but host Worthington Christian pulled away late to maintain its place atop the MSL-Ohio standings Saturday night in Delaware.
Worthington Christian outscored BV 15-4 from the free throw line with Tyler Kindberg and Drew Faieta each going 2-for-2 in the fourth quarter.
Kindberg led all scorers with 14 points while DJ Moore finished with 12.
Troy Scowden led the Barons with 12 points while Dylan Thompson finished with 11 in the setback.
Marysville 47, Delaware Hayes 36
The Pacers were slow to start both halves as the visiting Monarchs outscored them 16-9 in the first quarter and 12-5 in the third en route to a non-league win Saturday in Delaware.
Jake Lowman led Hayes with 14 points while Jack Christian had 14 for Marysville.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Amaris Lowery poured in 20 of her game-high 32 points in the fourth quarter, including a 12-for-12 effort at the free throw line, to help host Dublin Jerome pull away for a 60-48 non-league win over Delaware Hayes Saturday night in Dublin.
Chloe Jeffers had a team-leading 19 points while Alexis Amabile added 16 to lead the Pacers.
Watterson 41, Olentangy Liberty 35
The Patriots couldn’t shake off a slow start Saturday, falling to the visiting Eagles in non-league action in Powell.
Liberty scored just seven points in the first quarter and five in the second before playing even with Watterson in the second half.
Jordan Rich had a team-best 12 points in the setback while the Eagles’ Danielle Grim led all scorers with 17.
