Boys Basketball: Olentangy Berlin defeats Thomas Worthington for first league victory

Jason Inbody made five 3-pointers and scored 21 points Jan. 14 to lead Olentangy Berlin to its first league win, 52-42 over Thomas Worthington.
Jason Inbody made five 3-pointers and scored 21 points Jan. 14 to lead Olentangy Berlin to its first league win, 52-42 over Thomas Worthington.

Jason Inbody scored 21 points with five 3-pointers and made all four of his free throws in the fourth quarter as Olentangy Berlin defeated visiting Thomas Worthington 52-42 on Jan. 14 for its first league victory.

The Bears, a fourth-year program, had lost their first 42 league contests.

“We did what we needed to do to finish it,” said coach Donovon Barrett, whose team improved to 4-7 overall and 1-4 in the OCC-Cardinal Division. “We dug in our heels a little more and made winning plays in the last minute and a half. We got important rebounds. In the past we would miss the front end of 1-and-1s, and tonight we made both.”

The Bears previously lost a pair of league games in overtime after surrendering fourth-quarter leads. This time, they led 37-30 entering the fourth and increased their lead.

Berlin lost to Olentangy 58-49 on Dec. 3 and to Marysville 63-62 on Jan. 7 in those overtime contests.

“We had to be specific on what we meant by making winning plays,” Barrett said. “We have been in overtime several times, and we have learned from it. We have good, coachable kids, and they want to do it. They really want to do it.”

Mathios Abenet added 11 points for Berlin.

Melvin Omameh scored 11 points and Joey Zalewski added 10 for the Cardinals, who dropped to 4-6 overall and 2-3 in the OCC-Cardinal.

shennen@thisweeknews.com

@ThisWeekHennen

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Boys Basketball: Olentangy Berlin earns first OCC-Cardinal victory