Jason Morrow:
Future150 National Editor/ Midwest Recruiting. Covering high and middle school basketball. OH,IN and IL.
NEWARK, OH (Future150) -- With a packed house making as much noise as they could, Gahanna's Jenisys Battle stepped to the free-throw line with :3.7 seconds left and a chance to give the Lions a second-straight Ohio Capital Conference win.
The senior did just that, hitting both free throws to put away a hard-fought 59-55 victory for Gahanna over Ohio division-rival Newark on Friday night. Six of his eight points came in the second half, all of them at the charity stripe. The Lions survived, but struggled containing Ohio U-signee Jordan Dartis, who torched the nets to the tune of seven threes and 26 points on the evening.
Dartis hit from nearly everywhere on the floor, knocking down four of his seven in the opening half, including a fadeaway at the end of the second quarter that cut the Gahanna lead to just two at 26-24.
The Wildcats somehow found a way to keep it close in the first two quarters, giving Gahanna fits by jumping into passing lanes and forcing the Lions into numerous turnovers. Syracuse-commit Matt Moyer played only sparingly in the game's opening, as he was called for two player-control fouls within the first 2:11 of the game.
Luckily for Moyer, the duo of juniors Warren Yates and Nick Ward would control the game for Gahanna in the early going in his absence. Ward had yet another dominant night in the paint, finishing with 17 points, ten rebounds and five blocks, while Yates had 17 as well, pulling down four rebounds.
Newark would finally retake the lead just into the fourth quarter at 42-40 as Kaysey Brokaw-Henderson hit his only triple of the game at the 6:01 mark.
They held the lead for the next few possessions but with 4:45 left missed a grand oppourtunity to go up by four as Dartis had a layup rim out in transition. Moyer would make his presence felt on the next two possessions, ending each of them with baskets.
Dartis would not let the Wildcats go quietly, though. His two late threes twice brought the game back to within a possession, but the free-throw shooting of Gahanna was cruical all night; finishing 21/26 from the charity stripe.
Gahanna moves to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in OCC-Ohio play while Newark drops to 2-2, 1-1 in conference play.
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