Olentangy’s Reid Apke hit a clutch three-pointer to tie things at 49 with less than a minute left, but Jesse Burris scored inside with six seconds left to lead the Delaware Hayes boys basketball team to a thrilling 51-49 non-league win Wednesday night in Lewis Center.
The Braves (2-5) had the hot hand from three-point land early on, getting two triples from Jack Huskey, another from Harrison Ronnebaum and one more from Austin Sizemore on the way to an 18-10 edge by the end of the first quarter.
Huskey scored the first two hoops of the second as Olentangy pushed its cushion to 22-10, but the Pacers (7-2) used five straight points from Burris — a three and two free throws — to get back into things.
Jake Lowman and Anthony Wilson scored back-to-back buckets to get Hayes even closer, 24-19 with 3:01 left in the half. The Braves’ Ethan Smith and Pacers’ Hezekiah Russell traded hoops and, after Lowman connected on a three-pointer, Huskey converted a driving lay-in in traffic to close the half with Olentangy up 28-24.
The Braves bumped their lead back to seven, 39-32 by the end of three, but the Pacers won the fourth 19-10 to complete the comeback.
Hayes used a 12-2 start to the fourth, including key buckets from Wilson and Burris, to surge in front. A Lowman steal led to a Wilson hoop in transition to put the Pacers on top with 3:47 left.
Austin Sizemore scored three points the old-fashioned way to tie the score at 44, but Burris answered inside before Wilson split a pair at the line to put Hayes up 47-44 with 2:13 left.
The Pacers maintained the three-point spread until the final minute, when Apke cashed in from deep before Hayes sealed the deal on its final possession. The Braves got the ball with six seconds left, but, after Hayes used a foul to give with two seconds to go, Olentangy’s last second heave came up short.
Burris poured in 19 points, 10 in the fourth quarter, to lead all scorers. Wilson wasn’t far behind with 14 while Lowman closed with nine.
Huskey finished with a team-best 18 points for the Braves, but all but four of those came in the first half. Sizemore and Ronnebaum had eight apiece and Smith closed with six.
Buckeye Valley 63, Ashland 61
The Arrows jumped out to a 22-13 lead by the end of the first quarter, but the Barons hung around until taking a late lead on the way to a solid non-league win Wednesday afternoon at Mount Vernon Nazarene University.
Owen Osborne was huge in the fourth quarter, scoring 12 of his 19 points in the final eight minutes of action.
BV hit 11 threes in the win, including six from Dylan Thompson, who had two in the second quarter and three in the third to help his team stay within striking distance. Thompson finished with 22 points in the win.
Olentangy Orange 51, St. Charles 50
Aidan King hit a clutch three to put the Pioneers up a point and the the visiting Cardinals missed a pair of free throws in the final seconds as Orange held on for a non-league win Wednesday night in Lewis Center.
Also: Olentangy Berlin 60, Franklin Heights 27; Thomas Worthington 50, Big Walnut 44.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Ella Hazelrigg poured in a game-best 15 points and Kayla Helms added another 12 as Buckeye Valley cruised to a dominant 51-22 non-league win over visiting Graham Local Wednesday night in Delaware.
After a big 19-point second quarter put BV up 27-17 at the break, the Barons used a 15-1 third to put the game away.
