LEWIS CENTER, Ohio -- Olentangy came into Monday's game on a three-game win streak and looked to continue that against Westerville Central, who had struggled of late losing their last two matchups. Olentangy jumped out to an early lead, but the Warhawks' big second half propelled them to the 59-51 victory on the road.

It was all Braves early as senior Harrison Ronnebaum made a driving layup and corner three to extend the lead to 14-6 and force Westerville Central into a timeout.

Olentangy was looking to take a double digit lead into the second quarter leading 16-6, but Westerville Central forward Jacob Harris hit a right handed hook shot in the paint as time expired to try and give the Warhawks some momentum. 

Ronnebaum would have something to say about that when he started off the second quarter with a three to stretch the lead to 19-8. Westerville Central began to switch up defense and get more ball pressure, causing Olentangy into some turnovers that allowed them to cut the lead to four going into the locker room down 27-23 at half.

The first play of the second half set the tone for the rest of the game for the Warkharks as they ran a back screen lob play for Harris who caught the pass behind his head and SLAMMED it down. This play, while only worth two points, was a momentum changer and put the Braves on their heels for the rest of the half. 

Scoring was hard to come by in the second half for Olentangy, however junior forward Gavin Grover made some timely shots to keep the Braves within striking distance. Grover finished with a game high 20 points and even showed his range with a late three point stepback in the fourth quarter.

Westerville Central outscored the Braves in the second half 36-24 and a major factor in their success in the second half was shot selection. The first half they seemed to settle for more outside shots and contested jumpers, but in the second half they attacked the basket, which in turn gave them more open shots from the perimeter.

In the fourth quarter, Ronnebaum hit another one of his three 3’s to cut the lead to 47-42 with three minutes remaining, but Westerville Central answered with a three pointer of their own from Nick Patton to put the lead back at eight and seemingly out of reach for the Braves.

Westerville Central did a great job continuing to attack the rim off the dribble and through back-cuts within their offense. This paired with excellent ball security down the stretch allowed the Warhawks to pull away with a 59-51 victory and improve to 3-3 on the season.

Isaiah Brown led the charge to help put the game away with 10 points in the final quarter and finished the game with a team high 13 points. Westerville Central showcased a balanced attack the whole game with seven players finishing the game with six or more points.

Westerville Central is done until after Christmas when they will take on cross-town rival Westerville South on December 28t. Olentangy will look to bounce back as they head to the Defiance Grube Family Holiday Classic to face Defiance this Thursday.

Let's take a look at five keys to Central's victory.

• Selflessness- Westerville Central did a great job of finding the open man in this game and finished with 15 assists as a team. Majority of these came from back-cuts and finding the open man cutting through the lane and finishing it off around the rim.
• Ball Security- Turnovers told the story of the game tonight. The Warhawks only had five turnovers the whole game whereas Olentangy had 11, most of which seemed to come down the stretch in the fourth quarter. It is hard to hold onto the ball sometimes when a team is in desperation mode trying to foul or cause turnovers, but Westerville Central having no turnovers in the 4th quarter was a big reason for their success.
• Momentum- As mentioned above, the first play of the second half proved the momentum for the Warhawks for the rest of the game. In the first half Westerville Central seemed to lack that spark, but it was surely provided by Jacob Harris on his alley-oop!
• Second Half Adjustments- Westerville Central was settling too much in the first half for outside shots that weren’t falling, but in the second half their mentality flipped and they began attacking the basket. On defense the Warhawks seemed to play with some more intensity and also switched in a zone that gave Olentangy troubles figuring out for a few possessions, allowing them to stretch their third quarter lead.
• Spacing on Offense- In the second half Westerville Central ran more of a 5-out offense instead of a player in the post. This opened up the middle of the floor for people to cut into the paint for a catch and lay-in and also made some of the bigs for Olentangy have to guard more athletic wings. Isaiah Brown for the Warhawks did a great job specifically in the fourth quarter being more athletic and attacking his man off the dribble to finish at the rim.

MVP: Isaiah Brown (13 points, 5 rebounds)

Top Scorer: Gavin Grover (20 points)

Hustle Player of the Game: Devin Martin (8 points, 5 assists)