They DID play some hoops in the SCL and MAC last week
By Tim Langevin
Despite the winter weather, there was plenty of boys and girls basketball action in the Midwest Athletic Conference and Shelby County League over the weekend. Highlights include a huge boys upset, league races that are heating up, brilliant individual performances and the release of the boys basketball state tournament pairings, including the infamous DIV Boys Sectionals at Piqua High School.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Daniel Ocke, Sidney: The 6′ 5″ junior scored 17 points and hauled down 11 rebounds in a 78-55 loss to Trotwood Friday and followed it up with 23 points and 11 rebounds in a 88-62 victory against Piqua the next night. The small forward upped his scoring average to 14.6 points per game. With the split, Sidney stands at 12-6 overall.
GAME BALL GOES TO
Adam Freytag, Lehman: Freytag pumped in a career high 31 points to guide the Cavaliers past Newton 64-36 Friday evening. In addition, he grabbed 11 rebounds.
Lehman responded with a big win Saturday against (13-3) Bethel by a 64-58 margin to improve to 12-6.
UPSET CITY
St. Henry 49 Coldwater 42
The St. Henry Redskins made up for a disappointing season by virtually knocking Coldwater out of the MAC title picture with a huge upset Friday night. St. Henry jumped out to a 10-7 first quarter lead and never trailed the rest of the way. Victor Fortkamp paced the Redskins with 14 points and Brad Stahl added 13. Coldwater’s Eric Lefeld scored 14 points. St. Henry improves to 3-4 in the conference and 10-6 overall, while Coldwater drops to 5-2 (two games back with two games left) and 13-3 overall.
OTHER BOYS GAMES
Fort Recovery 60 Marion Local 40
The Flyers hung tough the first half tied at 16-16, but then the Indians assembled a 12-1 run to start the third quarter to take the lead for good 38-24 after three quarters. Recovery converted 34-of-42 free throws for the game. Greg Kahlig finished with a 34-point performance, including 20 from the charity stripe in the second half. Brian Heitkamp led Marion Local with 14 points.
Anna 62 Houston 54
The Rockets started fast with a 17-7 first quarter lead and held on the rest of the way for the win Friday. Anna has won 12 straight. Derek Billing was held to nine points, but teammates Wes Hunsucker and Alex Fogt responded with 18 and 15 points, respectively. The Rockets defeated Fairlawn Saturday to capture at least a share of the SCL title for the third straight season.
Fort Loramie 58 Fairlawn 40
The Redskins remain one game behind Anna for a share of the SCL title. Mark Frilling and Justin Hoying each scored 10 points for Loramie. Dustin Oates led Fairlawn with 14 points. FL travels to Lehman Thursday for big non-league matchup.
Russia 35 Jackson Center 26
Russia kept its SCL title hopes alive with a lock-down defensive effort. Tyler Gorbeaux and Nathan Wilson scored nine points a piece for the Raiders. Andy Hoying paced the Tigers with 10 points. Russia stands at 12-4 overall and 8-2 in the league with a huge showdown this Friday at Anna.
GIRLS SCL BASKETBALL ACTION
Anna 42 Russia 25
The Lady Rockets clinched a share of the SCL title with an easy win Thursday. Rebecca Burch scored 15 points and Natalie Billing (Derek’s younger sister) netted 13 for Anna. The Rockets led 6-5 after one quarter, but outscored the Lady Raiders 36-20 the rest of the game.
Fort Loramie 55 Houston 52
Houston tried to play spoiler Thursday night, leading 42-40 after three quarters, but Loramie outscored the Lady Wildcats 15-10 in the final stanza. The Lady Redskins played at Fairlawn last night for a share of the league crown, but no score available at the time of this posting. Janelle Olberding and Clair Ruhenkamp each scored 17 points for Loramie. Houston’s Jaclyn Willoughby was held in check with 12 points, but Danielle Monnier picked up the slack with 22 points.
Jackson Center 46 Botkins 40
The Lady Tigers improved to 10-8 on the season, a far cry from a 3-18 record last season. Taylor Cummons scored 16 to lead JC and Heather DeVelvis scored a career high 15 points. For Botkins, Kristen George had 13 points and Jenna Schmerge added 13 points, along with 15 rebounds.
BOYS SHOWDOWN FRIDAY
Russia at Anna
Houston at Fort Loramie
Delphos St. John’s at Fort Recovery
CONFERENCE RACES
SCL Boys Contenders
Anna, 10-1 Plays Russia Friday
Fort Loramie, 9-2 Plays Houston Friday
Russia, 8-2 Plays Anna Friday; Botkins February 22
SCL Girls Contenders
Anna, 11-1 Done
Fort Loramie, 10-1 Played Fairlawn last night
MAC Boys Contenders
Fort Recovery, 7-0 Plays St. John’s Friday; New Bremen February 26
Delphos St. John’s, 6-0 Plays New Bremen Tuesday; Fort Recovery Friday;
Coldwater February 26
Coldwater, 5-2 Plays Marion Local Friday; St. John’s February 26
New Bremen, 4-2 Plays St. John’s Tuesday; Parkway Friday; Fort Recovery
February 26
MAC Girls Contenders
Marion Local, 8-0 Plays Coldwater Thursday
Delphos St. John’s, 7-1 Plays Fort Recovery Thursday
INDEPENDENTS
Lehman Boys, 12-6
Lehman Girls, 11-7
BOYS TOURNAMENT PAIRINGS
DI at Dayton Arena
Wednesday March 3
Sidney vs. Tecumseh 5:30 pm.
DIII at Dayton Arena
Wednesday February 22
Dayton Christian vs. Versailles 7:00 pm.
DIII at Dayton Arena
Thursday February 25
Anna vs. Tri-County North 5:30 pm.
DIV at Piqua High School
Friday February 26
Fort Loramie vs. Riverside 7:30 pm.
Saturday February 27
Jackson Center vs. Fairlawn 2:00 pm.
Lehman vs Missinawa Valley 7:30 pm.
Tuesday March 2
Houston vs. Ansonia/Mechanicsburg winner 6:00 pm.
Botkins vs FL/Riverside winner 7:30 pm.
Wednesday March 3
Russia vs. JC/Fairlawn winner 6:00 pm.
DIV at Coldwater High School
Wednesday March 3
New Knoxville vs. Waynesfield 6:15 pm.
Marion Local vs. Minster 8:00 pm.
Friday March 5
Fort Recovery vs. NK/Waynesfield winner 6:15 pm.
New Bremen vs. ML/Minster winner 8:00 pm.
DIV at Van Wert High School
Friday March 5
Delphos St. John’s vs. Fort Jennings/Lincolnview winner 6:15 pm.
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