Dublin Scioto boys basketball coach Tony Bisutti knew he was onto something early this season when his most experienced players embraced an approach centering on full-court pressure and a mix of half-court defenses.

In an Ohio Capital Conference Capital Division game last night, the visiting Irish gave up just one basket in the third quarter and allowed a season-low point total in blitzing division co-leader New Albany 52-20.

Including its latest display of defensive execution, Scioto (12-0, 5-0) is giving up just 37.5 points per game and is the only one of two central Ohio Division I teams still undefeated.

"I'm sure there might have been nights when we matched that (effort), but that was pretty good," Bisutti said. "I think we had them frustrated. I think we stayed fresh, not only from the physical aspect of wearing on people but from the mental aspect.

"The big thing for us has been the buy-in we've had from the veteran guys, because some of them might not get as much playing time as they'd like."

Senior Kevin Lolli scored all nine of his points during a first quarter in which the Irish built an 18-7 lead. With backups in for most of the second quarter, Scioto increased its lead to 24-10 by halftime.

The Irish then kept the Eagles scoreless for the first 6:39 of the third quarter and took a 38-12 lead into the fourth. Senior Austin O'Connell, who is the team's tallest regular at 6 feet 4, scored seven of his 16 points in the third quarter and then had five more in the fourth as the Irish lead continued to grow.

Kelly Winter and Michael Eubank each had eight points.

"It's because we've all got speed," O'Connell said of his team's success on defense. "We've got five quick guys, and everybody is pulling their own weight. It's not any kind of special zone that we run, we just keep pressing the whole time. Because of the defense we play, everybody gets to play a lot because you're going to get tired."

New Albany committed 20 turnovers, including eight during the third quarter.

Alex Emrich scored 10 points to lead the Eagles (10-2, 4-1), who have played the past four games without their leading scorer, 6-7 senior post player Andrew Martin, who has a chipped bone in an ankle.

"We're not going to make any excuses," coach Sam Davis said. "We played with a fear of failure tonight. You've got to credit their defense. They're in your face the whole time, and we just were not good defensively."