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Olentangy Liberty picks up a huge non-league win on the road at Newark

By Cade Torbert, 02/05/20, 12:00AM EST

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Andrew Wade went for 23 points and 14 rebounds in a huge road win on Tuesday

NEWARK, Ohio -- In their matchup last year, the Olentangy Liberty Patriots came out on top against the Newark Wildcats 68-45.

Tonight it was much of the same, as Olentangy Liberty went on the road to end Newark’s winning streak at eight, defeating the Wildcats by a score of 64-59.

In a battle between potentially two top 10 seeds in the Division I Central District tournament, it failed to disappoint! The Patriots have now won nine of their last 10 games. Junior Andrew Wade led four different Patriots in double figures by contributing 23 points, 12 rebounds and four assists.

At the start of the game, junior Ty Foster got things started for the Patriots with a mid range jumper, followed by a contested three pointer from junior Henry Hinkle. 

The Wildcats struggled to score early in the first quarter as they were held scoreless through the first three minutes. Senior Bobby Crenshaw finally got Newark on the board with a putback layup.

The Patriots ended the first frame on a 12-0 run led by Hinkle with eight first quarter points. Liberty’s flawless offensive execution resulted in a 19-5 first quarter lead.

Foster opened up the second quarter with a fast break layup for Liberty. Then, junior Jaden Winbush rattled off five straight points off the bench for the Wildcats. 

Newark responded by cutting the lead down to 12 going into halftime, thanks in large part to back to back three pointers from junior Drew Ballinger and senior Kadin Robinson. Crenshaw made a blow by baseline driving layup as time expired, however the Wildcats still trailed 32-20 at halftime.

The third quarter got started with a couple of midrange turnaround jumpers by Foster and back to back fast break layups by Wade. 

Like the first quarter, Newark struggled to score early in the third. Junior Jaden Woods broke the second half drought with a layup four minutes into the third quarter.

Senior Tyson Chapman of Liberty and Ballinger of Newark each traded three pointers at the end of the third quarter. Ballingers nine point third quarter helped keep the Wildcats in reach by a score of 45-31 heading to the fourth quarter.

At the beginning of the final frame, Wade and Hinkle each made layups, while Foster made a huge and-one conversion to give the Patriots a 16 point lead with 3:40 left to play.

The Wildcats were not going to go away easily! With less than 2:00 remaining in the game, Newark finally began to see some reward from their intense full court pressure by cutting a 13 point lead to the final margin of 64-59. 

Newark showed no quit but ultimately could not overcome their slow start. The impressive fourth quarters by juniors Elijah Hinton and Ballinger were the main spark in Newark’s fourth quarter comeback. Hinton added nine and Ballinger added eight all in the fourth quarter.

Wade is a versatile forward for the Patriots. His team lead in points (23), rebounds (12) and assists (4). Newark just didn’t have an answer for his relentless activity around the basket. 

Olentangy Liberty’s precision on offense was the difference early in this game. Hinkle’s constant movement with and without the ball demands so much attention that it creates opportunities for others. Newark got physical and aggressive in the second half, which took Hinkle out of his flow tonight.

As tournament time closes in, these two battle tested teams look to defend their district titles from last season. They will find out their route this Sunday at the tournament drawing.

The Olentangy Liberty Patriots (14-5) look to extend their winning streak to three and to avenge an early season loss this Friday in an OCC-Buckeye showdown on the road against a tough Westerville Central Warhawks (13-6) team.

The Newark Wildcats (16-3) look to get back on track and to avenge their mid-season loss this Friday at home against a scrappy Groveport Cruisers (10-10) squad.

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