For Dublin Scioto High School basketball coach Tony Bisutti, it's no surprise that his team's offense isn't exactly lighting up the scoreboard with big numbers.

He knows with a green backcourt, that won't come overnight.

"We're struggling from the perimeter and we're trying to find it," he said.

"We're trying to find somebody, but we just haven't had anybody who can consistently do it."

The Irish were 1-2 overall before a game Tuesday at Independence and are 1-1 in the OCC-Cardinal Division after consecutive losses that featured an offense that scored no better than 40 points.

Scioto, which plays host Friday to Whetstone, took its first league loss last Friday to visiting Grove City 40-38 after falling to Hard Road-rival Worthington Kilbourne 37-32 on Dec. 13.

"Both of those games were low-scoring games, but our defense really stepped up," post player Clark Crum said.

"We just have to work on our offense. They're young guys, juniors who haven't played before. I just think the more games we play, the better we're going to play."

Kelly Winter and Ben Ashwill have been getting the most minutes in the back-court positions. Winter was the eighth or ninth player off the bench last season, and Ashwill was a starter for the junior varsity.

The guards combined for six points last Friday and scored seven points between them against the Wolves.

"We just need to hit some shots because they're not falling right now," Winter said. "Right now, I don't think our confidence is there. It's rough when you go out there and go 0-for-whatever. That doesn't help at all."

The lack of perimeter scoring has put the 6-foot-7 Crum in a tight spot. Opponents love to play a zone defense against the Irish.

Still, Crum has managed to score double-digits in the first three games. He finished with 16 points against both Grove City and Kilbourne.

"When someone's playing a zone against us, which almost everybody does, our guys try to wait and try to get it inside more," he said. "They need to drive the gaps more and penetrate the zone, and we've been working on that in practice."

The Irish were deficient in effort against Grove City.

After trailing by as many as nine points in the third quarter, Scioto made it a two-point game at 31-29 by the start of the final eight minutes. Crum's basket gave his team a 38-37 lead with about two minutes to play.

Zac Clark's layup gave the Greyhounds a 39-38 lead, and Nate Helton made a free throw with 55 seconds left.

Scioto had a chance to tie it in the final seconds, but shot by Austin O'Connell shot rimmed out.

"There were several times in that game where we could've wilted and they stretched out their lead," Bisutti said.

"That shot at the end was a decent look for the amount of time that was left on the clock. We tried to get the best we could get."

*The girls team improved its record in the OCC-Cardinal to 3-0 after a 67-46 victory last Friday at Grove City. Forward Crystal Murdaugh score 13 of her 25 points in the second half, and Maria Call, who returned from an ankle injury, had 11.

"Maria does so many little things well at both ends of the floor, and no doubt that is a big thing," said coach Todd Hardesty, whose team travels today to Olentangy Liberty. "But I don't know if we can measure the growth this team went through without her. Kids had to step up and they did."

Scioto was 6-0 overall before a game last Wednesday at Independence, matching last season's start.

The Irish outscored the Greyhounds 34-15 in the second and third quarters and won the rebounding battle 50-24.