New Albany 52, Pickerington North 48
Eagles win their 7th straight and pick up a pivotal OCC-Ohio win
NEW ALBANY, OH - In a back-and-forth battle that saw five lead changes in the fourth quarter alone, a clutch three and strong free throw shooting down the stretch allowed the home team New Albany hold off a hungry Pickerington North as the Eagles picked up their seventh straight win via a 52-48 victory over the Panthers.
While senior Miles Jackson and junior Marco Mattucci combined for 34 points, Eagles junior Caden Kistner made the shot of the game, a three pointer just under two and half minutes on the clock, that gave the Eagles a two-point advantage and a lead they would hold until the final buzzer. Kistner would later add two free throws at the 31 second mark, as he scored all of his five crucial points to help the Eagles secure the win.
Kistner’s clutch scoring along with some dynamic playmaking from Jackson and Mattucci not only extended the Eagles winning streak, but puts them in a current three-way tie with North and Gahanna on top of the OCC-Ohio division and in a position to repeat for the league championship.
The Eagles not only fought back to hold the final lead, but they were able to withstand an impressive 30-point effort from Pickerington North’s supremely talented senior guard, Arness Lawson, a Duquesne signee.
“[The Panthers] are really good, well prepared and I thought they were ready to go, I give them a lot of credit,” New Albany head coach Tim Casey, now in his second season with the Eagles, said after the game. “Lawson is a freak. He’s a handful. I thought we did a reasonable job on him and he still had 30 points, but I thought our guys stepped up.”
