Basketball Game Preview: Big Walnut Golden Eagles vs. Olentangy Braves

Big Walnut hasn't had much luck against Olentangy recently, but that could start to change on Saturday. Having just played yesterday, the Big Walnut Golden Eagles will get right back to it and host the Olentangy Braves at 7:30 p.m.

On Friday, Big Walnut lost to Hayes at home by a 70-53 margin. While losing is never fun, the Golden Eagles can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 129th, while the Pacers are ranked 36th).

Meanwhile, Olentangy won against Lancaster on Saturday with 69 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Monday. Olentangy came out on top against Poinciana by a score of 69-56. The victory was familiar territory for the Braves who have now won three matches in a row.

Big Walnut better focus on containing Ty Walburn and Carter Hire as the pair were huge in Olentangy's win. Walburn went 6 for 8 from beyond the arc on his way to 18 points and five assists, while Hire went 5 of 11 on his way to 18 points. Walburn is trending in the right direction considering he's improved his point production for four straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Ulysses Ponder, who posted six points in addition to seven steals and six assists.

Olentangy was working as a unit and finished the game with 20 assists. That's the most assists they've posted since back in January of 2024.

Olentangy's win bumped their record up to 7-2. As for Big Walnut, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-3.

Big Walnut might still be hurting after the 66-41 loss they got from Olentangy in their previous meeting back in February of 2022. Thankfully for Big Walnut, Andrew Boyle (who went 5 of 12 on his way to 15 points along with eight boards and five assists) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.