Enlarge Image

Tom Welsh/ThisWeek

Katie Heath of Olentangy goes up for a shot between a trio of Dublin Scioto defenders earlier this season. The Braves were 18-2 overall and won their third consecutive OCC-Cardinal title at 13-1 before opening Division I tournament play against Westland on Feb. 15 at Olentangy Orange. Buy This Photo

Ronnie Kenley wasn’t pleased about having to transfer from Delaware to Olentangy High School before her senior year, but the sting is subsiding.

After helping the Braves girls basketball team capture its third consecutive OCC-Cardinal Division championship, Kenley smiled broadly as she took her turn cutting down part of the net for the first time in her prep career.

The 6-foot-3 forward played at Groveport as a freshman and at Delaware as a sophomore and junior.

“I was kind of disappointed to be moving again because all of my friends were (at Delaware),” said Kenley, who scored 13 points in an 84-24 win Feb. 7 over Westerville Central that clinched the outright league title. “I’ve (moved) before, but to do it right before your senior year is kind of tough.

“But I knew I was coming into a great (basketball) program. The hardest part was getting to know the new people. I was starting over from scratch.”

After losing to Dublin Scioto 62-61 on Dec. 6, the Braves won 12 consecutive OCC-Cardinal games, including 55-39 over Westerville South in the regular-season finale Feb. 10, to finish with a 13-1 league record.

Rounding out the league standings were Scioto (11-3), Westerville North (9-5), South (8-6), Dublin Jerome (8-6), Olentangy Liberty (5-9), Marysville (2-12) and Westerville Central (0-14).

Olentangy, which advanced to Division II district finals the past two years, opened the Division I district tournament Feb. 15 against Westland. The winner advanced to play Jerome or Delaware in the second round at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21, at Olentangy Orange.

One of those teams will play in a district semifinal March 1 at Orange against Hilliard Bradley, Lancaster or Westerville North.

Olentangy defeated Jerome 52-40 on Dec. 20 and 44-28 on Feb. 3, but hasn’t played Delaware this season. Jerome finished the regular season 11-9 overall and Delaware was 9-11.

“There’s never any easy game in Division I. Jerome is big, long and athletic and we had to fight our butts off to beat them (twice),” said coach John Feasel, whose team is the seventh seed and entered the postseason with an 18-2 overall record.

Kenley said it would be fun, but awkward, to play Delaware.

“It’s tough because I know most of the girls on that team,” Kenley said. “We were close for a couple of years, but we’d have to set that aside for the game. Inside the lines there are no friends except your teammates.”

•Orange coach Mary Anne Grimes believes it’s important for her team to continue to employ the strategy it used to wrap up its second consecutive OCC-Capital title.

The third-seeded Pioneers were 19-1 overall before playing Whetstone in a Division I district tournament first-round game Feb. 14. The winner takes on Walnut Ridge in the second round at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21, at Pickerington Central.

Walnut Ridge finished the regular season 6-12.

If Orange, which lost to eventual state semifinalist Pickerington North 46-39 in a district final last year, reaches a district semifinal March 1 at a site to be determined, it would play eighth-seeded Central Crossing, Marion-Franklin, Newark or Pickerington Central.

“We do better against any competition when we come out of the gates fast,” Grimes said. “When we (start strong) that means we’re focused to play the game. That’s what I like to see.”

During the regular season, the Pioneers trailed only twice going into the second quarter. Orange was outscored 17-7 in the first quarter of a 56-39 loss Dec. 29 to Kettering Fairmont and 9-8 in a 46-39 win Jan. 27 over New Albany.

In clinching an outright league title, the Pioneers took a 27-2 lead after the first quarter in a 100-27 victory Feb. 7 over Franklin Heights.

Orange finished 14-0 in the OCC-Capital after beating Bradley 63-44 on Feb. 10. Following the Pioneers were New Albany (12-2), Bradley (9-5), Delaware (7-7), Big Walnut (7-7), Watkins Memorial (4-10), Mount Vernon (3-11) and Franklin Heights (0-14).

Senior forward Kelsey Lewis said taking an early lead is important, but so is playing hard.

“You never want to start out slow, dig yourself a hole and have to climb your way out of it,” said Lewis, who scored 14 points against Franklin Heights. “Every team is going to keep fighting no matter what. We have to keep working hard regardless of who we are playing. We just have to stay together as a team.”

•As his team prepared to open the Division I district tournament, Liberty coach Ron Florey was trying to find ways to open up the Patriots’ offense.

“Everyone is packing it in and it’s hard for our post players to get space where they can operate,” said Florey, whose team finished the regular season 9-11 overall after defeating Westerville Central 50-32 on Feb. 10. “We need to knock down shots and attack the gaps in the other team’s zone.”

Liberty played Logan in the first round Feb. 15, with the winner facing Canal Winchester or sixth-seeded Gahanna in the second round at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21, at Hilliard Davidson.

Canal Winchester went 5-15 in the regular season. Gahanna was 14-6, with four of its losses coming against top-seeded Reynoldsburg (31-27 on Jan. 6 and 53-50 on Feb. 10) and second-seeded Pickerington North (55-51 on Dec. 22 and 53-43 on Feb. 3).

If the Patriots reach a district semifinal March 1 at Davidson, they’ll play fifth-seeded Dublin Coffman, Marysville or Watkins Memorial.

After a four-game winning streak from Dec. 29 to Jan. 6, the Patriots lost seven of their last nine regular-season games.

“Until we hit outside shots, they’re going to pack it in,” Florey said. “That is what I’d do if I were coaching against us.”