It was a tale of two halves.
Olentangy Liberty rallied from a 10 point halftime deficit and pulled away late at the free throw line to earn a 55-43 win over the Irish on Tuesday
night.
With the Irish trailing only 41-39, the Patriots went into the bonus with 3:54 to go in the game. They hit 12 consecutive free throws down the stretch
and finished 19-20 at the line in the second half.
On a night when both teams shot less than 40 percent from the field, Liberty enjoyed an 11 rebound advantage. The extra possessions helped them get to the
free throw line where they hit 21-25 for the game. The Irish made 9-17 free throw attempts.
Early on it looked like the Irish were poised for a win. Trailing 8-3 midway through the first quarter, they went on a 9-0 run to take a 12-8 lead.
After a Liberty bucket, the Irish scored the last 8 points of the half to establish a 20-10 lead.
Joshua Ashwill led the Irish at the break with 8 points, including a 30 foot bank shot trey just before the halftime buzzer. Raneal Ewing chipped in
6 first half points, while Antonio Bisutti was the leading rebounder with 4.
A 14-4 run to start the third quarter allowed the Patriots to tie the score at 24 when A.J. Motika hit a pair of free throws with 2:24 to go. The teams
traded the lead back and forth until Gabe McGlone fed Ryan Duncan for a short jumper with 11 seconds to go. The Irish led 32-31 at the end of three
quarters.
Andy Yazrombek gave the Patriots a 36-35 lead they would never relinquish on a bank shot jumper from around 10 feet with just over 6 minutes to go in the
game.
Motika led the Patriots with 14 points. Archer contributed 13 points and a game high 8 rebounds. Yazrombek had 9 points and 8 rebounds.
Ewing led the Irish with 14 points, followed by Bisutti and Ashwill with 9 apiece. Also scoring for the Irish were Duncan (7) and McGlone (4). Bisutti
had a team high 7 rebounds.
The Irish fall to 6-11 overall and 3-9 in the Ohio Capital Conference Cardinal Division. They are next in action at home on Friday night vs. Dublin Jerome.
Box Score
DS: Ewing 5-4-14, Bisutti 3-2-9, Ashwill 2-3-9, Duncan 3-0-7, McGlone 3-0-7. 3-point goals: Ashwill 2, Bisutti, Duncan, McGlone. Totals: 15-9-43.
OLIB: Motika 2-9-14, Archer 3-6-13, Yazrombek 3-2-9, Bischoff 2-2-7, Longhino 2-1-5, Radkiewicz 1-1-3, Pollnar 1-0-2, Cheesman 1-0-2. 3-point goals:
Archer, Bischoff, Motika, Yazrombek. Totals: 15-21-55.
The Irish JVs put themselves in a position to win late in the fourth quarter, but fell 47-40 to Liberty.
Trailing the entire game, due in part to more than 20 turnovers, the Irish closed to a one point deficit at 38-37 trey on a Chase Sult trey with 4:23 to
go.
A traditional 3 point play by the Patriots and a transition lay-up following an Irish turnover stretched the lead to 43-37. Ryan Gibson nailed a trey to
cut the lead to 43-40 and the Irish had a chance to cut the lead to one with 1:48 to go, but Dominic Madison's jumper rimmed out.
Liberty scored on the following possession and held on for the win.
The Irish were an impressive 13-14 at the free throw line.
Gibson led all scorers with 17 points. Sult added 8 for the Irish, all in the second half. Also scoring: Madison (6), Travis Yates (4), Braxton Wallace (4)
and Aaron Strausbaugh (2).
The Irish JVs are 9-8 overall and 6-6 in league play heading into Friday?s match-up with Jerome.
Liberty executed a cross court, back side screen to perfection on an inbounds play to take a 37-36 lead as the clock wound down and held on for a win over
the Irish freshmen.
Scioto rallied from a 34-28 fourth quarter deficit to take a 36-35 lead on Matt Messick?s trey with 29 seconds left.
Spencer Talentino got the rally started with a steal and feed to Darius McDonald for a layup.
Andrew McKinley drained a baseline trey on a feed from Messick to cut the lead to 34-33.
Both teams turned the ball over and missed free throw opportunities, but Liberty was able to split a pair of free throws with 39 seconds to go to extend
the lead to 35-33.
After Messick?s trey, Liberty called time. The Irish got a stop with 11.9 seconds to go on a blocked shot and rebound, but stepped out of bounds to give
the ball back to the Patriots. A deflection on the inbounds took about two seconds off the clock and set-up Liberty?s final play following a time out. The
Irish were able to rush down court as the clock wound down, but a last second shot fell short.
Both teams struggled with turnovers and at the free throw line. Liberty did a nice job hitting the glass in the second half, scoring three baskets on put
backs in the third quarter. Marshall Davis scored a game high 10 points off the bench for the Patriots and no other player scored more than 4 points.
Seven different Irish players hit the scoring column, led by McKinley with 8 points. Zac Brown and Jack Flood chipped in 7 points apiece. Also scoring were
McDonald (4), Messick (4), Kalib Wallace (4) and Talentino (2).
The Irish fall to 6-11 overall and 4-8 in OCC Cardinal Division play.