Newark boys edge Olentangy Berlin, pass first road test of season

On Dec 7, 2022

DELAWARE ― It’s a well-known fact. Newark’s boys basketball team has always spent a lot of time working on taking charges in practice.

It’s also true that this season’s edition Wildcats isn’t one of their biggest teams in recent memory. So rebounding is another point of emphasis.

Both “little things” came into play late in the first road test of the season Tuesday, against a tall and talented Olentangy Berlin team that seemingly couldn’t miss in the second half. And Newark executed them both, overcoming torrid 11-of-15 shooting (73 percent) by the Bears over the final two quarters for an exciting 52-49 victory.

Newark (4-1) turned in an outstanding 55 percent effort of its own (19-of-34), and needed it after Berlin (2-1) stormed back from a 12-point deficit late in the third quarter to take a 49-48 lead on a basket and two free throws by Jason Inbody, a 6-foot-5 post, and two more foul shots from 6-1 southpaw guard Noah Gamble with 29 seconds to play. That was after the Wildcats had gone up 48-43, on Grant Burkholder’s driving lefthanded layup and a 3 from the left corner by sophomore sharpshooter Braylon Morris.

Burkholder’s driving shot for the lead was off the mark, but 5-11 senior Drew Oberholtzer snagged the rebound, was fouled as he went back up and calmly sank two foul shots with 16.7 seconds for a 50-49 edge. Junior Ethan Stare then took a charge at the other end, Burkholder tacked on two free throws with 6.6 seconds, and Matthias Abenet’s NBA 3 was well off the mark at the buzzer.

“I knew it was probably our last possession, everyone went up for the ball, and I was able to catch it and put it back up,” Oberholtzer said. “Coach said that was an 18-win team, so we had to be tougher than them, and Drew had the grit to go get that ball,” said Stare.

Stare said all the work in practice taking charges paid off.

“Shove your chest out, make the noise, and hit the floor,” he said. “I was a little nervous, because I was called for a block earlier. I knew their best player (Derek Goodman) had the ball, and I was able to get to the gap.”

Oberholtzer said Stare does a lot of work for Newark that doesn’t show up in the stats. “He always has our back, on both offense and defense,” he said.

Patient offense and strong half-court defense led to a predictably low-scoring first half. But the Wildcats seemingly took command with a 12-0 second-quarter run for a 20-11 lead. Morris and Burkholder drained 3s and Steele Meister hit a turnaround jumper just ahead of the halftime buzzer as Berlin failed to connect on any of its four second-quarter shots.

Meister then took over in the third quarter, scoring nine points including a 3-pointer that kept Newark up 34-22. But the Bears, with every starter ranging between 6-1 and 6-5, got a 3-point play by Inbody and 3-pointer from Abenet as they sliced the deficit to 36-30 and carried the momentum over into the final eight minutes.

“We played good defense the first half, but in the second half, they got into a little bit of a rhythm,” Oberholtzer said.

“We knew they were very skilled,” coach Jeff Quackenbush said. “Our defense bothered them in the first half, but they became more comfortable the second half. They started posting up our smaller guards, and they made us pay for mistakes out of traps and missing some rotations. But we play three sophomores, and we’re going to continue to fix that.”

Scoring on a variety of drives and floaters, Burkholder again led the Wildcats with 17 points, hitting 7-of-12 from the floor. Meister turned in a stellar all-around effort, going 6-of-11 from the field, scoring 15 points, snaring eight rebounds, and also coming up with three assists and three steals. Morris was 3-of-5 on 3s for nine points as Newark was was an excellent 6-of-10 from long range and 8-of-9 at the line.

“Steele was so much more comfortable tonight, than he had been all season,” Quackenbush said. “We switched up our offense for him a little bit. He was driving to the basket, when everyone in the gym knew he was driving to the basket. That’s the way he has to play.”

Gamble scored 17 for Berlin and made 7-of-7 free throws, as the Bears finished 16-of-30 from the floor for 53 percent including 5-of-11 on 3s and an outstanding 12-of-14 at the stripe for 85 percent. Inbody had all nine of his points in the second half and Goodman made a trio of 3-pointers.