Tigers Even Record Against Panthers

The Tigers came into Thursday's game riding a 2 game winning streak, including a solid 87-41 win over nearby rival Mississinawa Valley. That win put the team at 9-10, just 1 win away from a .500 overall record and making them 5-5 in the CCC conference standings. So that gave the team plenty of incentive coming into the game. Finally it was senior night at Twin Valley South, so that gave them a chance to play the role of spoilers for the night. Ansonia Seniors Stefani Garret, Jailyn Thwaits, and Ashton Bradham also received a rose courtesy of host TVS before the game.

Scoring for Ansonia: Garret 6, Werts 12, Thwaits 7, Henderson 20, Stammen 12.

TVS Scoring: Crews 17, Shafer 16, Hutchings 6, Robertson 4, Johnson 4

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Trojans Use Basics to Best Blazers

All coaches have those nights where the shots aren't dropping and the team is struggling on offense. It is a long season, and it is hard to for a team to stay spot on night after night. And when you don't have offense, you need to have a strong defense and do the little things right such as boxing out and getting rebounds. On some nights it is the team that executes the basic fundamentals of basketball that ends up with the victory. That was the case with the Arcanum Trojans as they did not do anything fancy, just did the little things right against the Trail Blazers.

Normally Arcanum is a team that shoots well from the outside. But the Trojans only sunk 2 – 3 pointers on the night. Mackenzie Sharritts got one in the 1^st quarter and Brittany Kinney got hers in the last quarter. Arcanum got most of their points on the night from Stevie Johnting and Gracie Garno knifing through the Trail zone to the basket for layups. On the other hand, a small Trail team shot well in the 1^st half from the perimeter. They scored well enough to keep the game tight for most of the game. At halftime it was 22-18 in favor of Arcanum.  

Scoring for Arcanum: Kaitlyn Zell 2, Kayla O'Daniel 1,Stevie Johnting 18, Gracie Garno 9, McKenzie Sharritts 3, Madi O'Daniel 2.

Scoring for Trail: P. Laird 12, M. Laird 5, E. Byrd 6, Abner 2,  J. Byrd  7.

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Panthers Defeat Eagles in Overtime

Twin Valley South  14  17  15  19  9  75

Middleton Christ    30   7   15  14  5  71

The Panthers fought back from a 16 point deficit in the first quarter and a 10 point deficit in the middle of the 4th quarter to take the Eagles into overtime, where they finished the win. Mylan Crews led the Panthers with 25 points and 7 steals, Kelsie Shafer put in 18 points and brought down 12 rebounds and Madison Johnson gave the Panthers 13 points with three from behind the three point line. The Eagles were led by Bellard with 29 points and Arrington with 22 points. 

Scoring for TVS: Crews 25, Shafer 18, Johnson 13, Hutchings 8, Bowers 5, Vorhis 2, Bingham 2, Robertson 2 (Record 3-9)

Scoring for MC: Bellard 29, Arington 22, Long 13, Crawford 4, Kim 2, Veal 1 (Record 6-6)

Young Jets Bomb Panthers

The Franklin Monroe Jets girls team starts 3 freshman, a sophomore, and a junior. A starting 5 that in age would appear better suited to a Junior Varsity roster. But the young team played well beyond their years as they put on a show with an intense defense that smothered Twin Valley South and an offense that moved the ball well and shot lights out from the field to thrash an older and more experienced Twin Valley South team 57-16.

Scoring for Franklin Monroe: Belle Cable 9, Brianna Conley 20, Kennedy Morris 2, Chloe Peters 10, Tara Goubeaux 2, Kinsey Goins 8, Audrey Cable 6.

Scoring for TVS: Emily Hutchings 5, Mylan Crews 3, Evelyn Woodgeard 3, Madison Johnson 2, Kelsie Shafer 2, Maegan Carson 1.

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Wave Sinks Pirates in Overtime

“We have not played in 19 days– and it sure looked like a team that hadn't played in 19 days tonight.” stated Greenvilles coach. The team had some major rust to shake off as they returned to action in their first game of this new year. West Carrollton has only won a single game, but when they saw that they had a chance against Greenville after the first quarter, they redoubled their efforts to take a chance at the opportunity. To their credit the Wave awoke from their slumber and made a major team effort to get the win in the last seconds of the game.

Greenville Scoring: Karsyn Shafer 9, Cassie Cromwell 15, Saki Nakamura 8, Morgan Gilbert 8, Jada Garland 8, Kaylee Jackson 7.

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North Wins Nail Biter Over Bradford

Tuesday Bradford Lady Railroaders traveled to Tri-County North for a conference game. With the season winding down, teams are jockeying for position in the league. So this ended up being a hard fought game that was not decided until the last minute of play. The Railroaders stalled at the end and could not finish despite having the lead all through the second half until the last minute.

The Panthers opened a 11-5 lead in the 1^st quarter. Bradford was using a zone defense and they were not rebounding well, giving North some 2^nd chance shots – and also were giving them open looks. They did not close out well. The coach later shared that the team had been working on zone defense, but when he saw the results, he called it off at the end of the quarter and went back to a man to man defense. This made a huge difference as Bradford quickly made up ground.

Panther Aubrey Stupp lead the 4th quarter surge scoring 9 of her 20 points down the stretch.

Scoring for Bradford: Chelsea Gill 2, Olivia Hart 9, Baily Wysong 2, Mercedes Smith 2, Mandi Bates 16, Brook Fair 5, Ally Booker 4, Bianca Keener 7.

Scoring for North: Harris 2, Stinson 6, Rupp 7, Lipinski 2, Poling 11, Stupp 20.

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Patriots Defense is Stellar Against Blue Devils

Tri-Village's coach Gray was not satisfied with his teams defensive performance against Covington last week. The team was able to eek out a 2 point win, but they had to play a heroic 4^th quarter, overcoming a deficit for that victory. So he spoke to the team about playing better help side defense – not being pinned to a girl on defense. The adjustments he made paid dividends for the Patriots, but the hapless Brookville Blue Devils were the on the receiving end of a renewed Patriot defense. The Blue Devils never were able to establish themselves offensively and they could not withstand the Patriot onslaught on offense as they would eventually fall 81-29.

>> Complete story at the Greenville Daily Advocate <<

Trojans Have Hot Hand in Second Half

The day long series of games between Dixie and Arcanum basketball teams concluded with the varsity boys game. The two schools had been battling all day and there was a little league pride on the line as well with Dixie representing the SWBL and Arcanum representing the CCC. It may have been been the cold night or something with the first weekend of games after the holidays, but the game started slowly but grew hot in the second half.

Arcanum has had a slow start to their regular season. But things have taken off for them with the New Year. One of their resolutions had to have been to get that first win – which they did on Friday night with a victory over Ansonia. The team wanted to keep that momentum against a Dixie team that had just lost to Madison the night before, and needed to get back that winning track. They were 3 and 1 to start the season, but were riding a 6 game losing streak.

Arcanum gained second half momentum thanks in part to the shooting of Carter Grey and Wade Meeks. The final score was 45-30.  

This story in it's entirety will published at the Greenville Daily Advocate.

Arcanum Routs Dixie

Arcanum and Dixie had a day of basketball this past Saturday with all of the boys team and all of the girls teams playing each other. This event was hosted by Dixie high school. It is a good deal for the girls programs who don't often get featured on a Saturday night and so they get to play in front of a crowd. It does tax the host schools staff and volunteers who have to put in the time to make sure that all are accommodated.

On the girls side, the Trojans dominated. The JV game was a lopsided affair where Arcanum took the lead and did not look back. They only allowed 1 point by the host Dixie team at halftime. Arcanum meanwhile scored 30 points and would tack on another 21 by games end. Dixie's reserve did get into double figures, but would only score 11.

In the varsity game the Trojans would win, but Dixie put up a better fight. The Trojans had a more skilled team, but their greater depth really helped them out in the second half where they just wore out the Hounds. Dixie had a good second quarter to close the gap the with the Trojans, but their momentum withered in the last half. It was 26-15 at that point, and it looked like Dixie could keep it close. But the Trojans came out strong and ended up with a resounding win 60-25. Scoring another 34 points while allowing just 10.

Story in its entirety at the Greenville Daily Advocate

Arcanum Sweeps 503

The Arcanum Lady Trojans ended 2016 on a winning note with back to back league wins against both the North and South Panther teams – since both teams are also on 503, Arcanum was able to rule the rural route after the 2^nd victory. They had an overwhelming win against Tri-County North 77-25. But after a holiday layoff and just a single practice to prepare for South they had to work a little harder to get that second win on the road. South proved to be a small, but scrappy team. Arcanum did break the game open in the last half of the 3^rd quarter and got some separation and pulled ahead for a 57-34 win.

Arcanum  15  14  15  13  57

TVS          7  12   7    8  34

Arcanum Scoring: Stevie Johnting 21, Madi O'Daniel 12, Gracie Garno 5, Brittany Kinney 5, McKenzie Sharritts 5, Macey Hartman 4, Kayla O'Daniel 3, Camille Pohl 2, Siculan 2

TVS Scoring: Mylan Crews 14, Kelsie Shafer 8, Abby Robertson 4, Alyssa Clark 4, Abby Bingham 2, Taylor Bowers 2.

Comments: The Panthers stayed within 10 of a tough Arcanum team in the first-half, before the Trojans ran away with the game at the end of the 4th. Stevie Johnting led the Trojans with 21 points and Mylan Crews led the Panthers with 14.

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South Loses Close One on the Road

Stivers  10  7  9  12  38

TVS      12  6  5  14  37

Stivers Scoring: Emily Fletcher 15, Korryn Millerton 12, Niasia Matlock 5, Maya Randolph 3, Courtney Taylor 2

TVS Scoring: Mylan Crews 16, Emily Hutchings 10, Kelsie Shafer 5, Sydney Vorhis 2, Madison Johnson 2, Abby Robertson 2 (TVS Record 2-6)

Trail Over South

National Trail  13  3  22  9   47

TVS                2  8   6   5   21

National Trail Scoring: J Byrd 14, P Laird 10, M Laird 9, E Byrd 6, K Patrum 4, D Werner 2, H Baker 2, 

Twin Valley South Scoring: Mylan Crews 4, Madison Johnson 4, Evelyn Woodgeard 4, Abby Robertson 3, Kelsie Shafer 2, Alyssa Clark 2, Shelby Denlinger 2

Dixe Inside Game Too Much for South

After sparring for the first part of the game, Dixie started working the ball inside and grew a lead.  Defensively the Greyhounds generated turnovers in the 2nd quarter and that fed into a run where Dixie held South scoreless for the entire 2nd quarter and scored 11.  Both teams used some zone and man to man during the night. And South did try to press late to attempt a comeback. But they were not able to make a serious challenge.

At halftime it was 21-6 Dixie.  South did not score until about midway through the 3rd quarter.  So Dixie's defense held them scoreless for about a quarter and a half.  At the end of 3 quarters it was 29-13 Dixie and by games end it was 39-28 when South made a late run to close the scoring gap.

The biggest difference for Dixie in the game was denying South any open shots inside and South was cold shooting from the perimeter. Faith Russell had a good night for Dixie in the post.  Meanwhile Dixie was able to work the ball inside or drive to the hoop and score from close to the basket on offense.

Dixie Scoring: Creamer 10, Russell 10, Ruppert 9, Harlow 6, Kilbarger 2, Landis 2

TVS Scoring: Crews 13, Shafer 12, Hutchings 2, Johnson 1