The Buckeye Valley boys basketball team started its second trip through the MSL-Ohio schedule the same way as the first — and every league game in between — with a win.
Owen Osborne ran the show, finishing with 18 points, four assists and just one turnover, Mason Kurtz poured in 14 key points, Troy Scowden had 12 and Connor Hardman added 11 as the balanced Barons improved to 7-0 in league play with a hard-fought 60-54 win over visiting Worthington Christian Tuesday night in Delaware.
Things didn’t look great for BV early as Worthington Christian jumped out to an early 8-2 lead thanks in part to hoops from Jonah Lewis and Correll Amsbaugh. The Barons answered in a hurry, though, getting back-to-back three-pointers from Hardman and Osborne.
Worthington Christian led 16-11 after one and, after Osborne hit his second three of the game to close the gap a bit, the Warriors used an 8-0 spurt to bump their edge to 26-18 late in the opening half.
Brendon Stalf got Buckeye Valley back on track with a three out of a timeout, though, and Osborne scored off his own steal shortly after to slice the deficit to 30-27 at halftime.
BV maintained the momentum in the second half, too, using a 20-7 third to take control.
The Warriors closed the gap a bit down the stretch, but couldn’t catch the Barons, who have at least a three-game lead on everyone else in the division with just five league games remaining.
Delaware Hayes 61, Westerville North 54
The Warriors handed the Pacers what is still their worst loss of the year when they met for the first time this season back in December in Westerville.
The rematch in Delaware, though, was a completely different story as Hayes used a 24-11 fourth quarter to rally past North for a key league win on Tuesday night.
Jesse Burris, who had a game-high 21 points, scored 12 in the fourth quarter while Jake Lowman scored six of his nine in the final eight minutes of action. Anthony Wilson and Ryan Potter also had big games for the Pacers, finishing with 15 and 10 points, respectively.
Micah Young and Caleb Iheukwu had 13 points apiece for the Warriors.
Marysville 41, Olentangy Liberty 40
After capping last week with thrilling wins over Dublin Coffman and Newark, the Patriots found themselves in another thriller … this time against the visiting Monarchs Tuesday night in Powell.
Unlike the other two, though, Liberty couldn’t come up with the answers down the stretch as Marysville rallied for the come-from-behind win.
The Patriots’ Cooper Davis hit a couple three-pointers on the way to a 17-point night, but was held scoreless in the fourth quarter — a period the Monarchs won 14-6 to eke out the win.
James Hummel and Trey Majidzadeh backed Davis with six points apiece while Jason Moore led Marysville with 15 points in the win.
Also: Westerville South 75, Big Walnut 46; Olentangy Orange 62, New Albany 38.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Delaware Hayes didn’t get off to the best start in the world, managing just five first-quarter points, but finished with a flourish en route to a solid 43-37 OCC-Capital Division win over host Westerville North Tuesday night.
The Pacers trailed 5-15 after the first quarter, 15-21 at the break and 25-31 through three, but used an 18-6 fourth quarter to flip the script.
Jeffers, who finished with a team-best 17 points, scored eight in the fourth and final period. Fellow co-captain Sophia Midura saved her best for last, too, scoring six of her 10 in the fourth.
Samantha Toney also had a nice game, finishing with nine points, while the Warriors’ Emoni Finch led all scorers with 19 in the setback.
Delaware Christian 50, Liberty Christian 10
DCS started fast and never looked back, rolling to a lopsided MOCAL win Tuesday night against visiting Liberty Christian.
Delaware Christian’s Katie Neuhart led all scorers with 22 points in the win. Addy Beard and Ellie Tiede finished in double figures, too, closing with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Bexley 49, Olentangy Berlin 42
The Bears battled, outscoring the visiting Lions in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to get the non-league win Tuesday night in Delaware.
Abbie Bell led Berlin with 12 points while Bexley’s Sophia Sheridan led all scorers with 15.
Westerville South 53, Big Walnut 48
The Golden Eagles led by four at the break, but the visiting Wildcats used a 17-9 third quarter to take control on the way to a league win Tuesday night in Sunbury.
Abbey Coleman led BW with 13 points while Tamara Ortiz had a game-best 19 for South.
