The Newark Wildcats will face off against the Olentangy Braves at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Friday, Newark sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 46-43 win over Lancaster. The Wildcats haven't had any issues with the Golden Gales recently, as the game was their sixth consecutive victory against them.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Olentangy, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Tuesday. They took down Olentangy Berlin 53-35 on Friday. Given the Braves' advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 148th, while the Bears are ranked 329th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Newark better focus on containing Ulysses Ponder and Quentin Page as the pair were huge in Olentangy's win. Ponder posted 12 points along with seven boards and four steals, while Page almost dropped a double-double with nine points and ten rebounds. Those ten rebounds gave Page a new career-high. Cooper Denlinger was another key player, putting up six points.
Newark pushed their record up to 18-4 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. As for Olentangy, their victory ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 13-9.
Newark was able to grind out a solid win over Olentangy in their previous meeting back in February of 2023, winning 77-69. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Olentangy's Jack Huskey, who went 8-for-20 to rack up 24 points. Now that he won't be playing on Wednesday, will it be easier for Newark to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
