Pickerington Central has enjoyed a four-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will take on the Olentangy Liberty Patriots at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Pickerington Central knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past six matches -- so hopefully Olentangy Liberty likes a good challenge.
Pickerington Central extended their postseason success on Saturday against Teays Valley. They breezed by the Vikings at home to the tune of 61-27. Pickerington Central has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 16 games by 23 points or more this season.
Meanwhile, Olentangy Liberty had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 27.6 points), and they went ahead and made it six on Saturday. They walked away with a 60-53 victory over Canal Winchester. Given Olentangy Liberty's advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 22nd, while Canal Winchester is ranked 94th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Olentangy Liberty's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Claire Mikola led the charge by scoring 15 points along with seven assists. Mikola has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last three times she's played. Another player making a difference was Emma Karagheuzoff, who scored 14 points.
Pickerington Central's victory was their eighth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 23-3. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 70.1 points per game. As for Olentangy Liberty, they are on a roll lately: they've won 15 of their last 16 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 21-5 record this season.
Everything came up roses for Pickerington Central against Olentangy Liberty in their previous matchup back in March of 2019 as the team secured a 56-21 win. In that game, Pickerington Central amassed a halftime lead of 39-10, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Tuesday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
