Xenia girls solid at GWOC
BEAVERCREEK — Junior Kailee Palecek made the Greater Western Ohio Conference preseason all-tournament team with a 611 series, and the Xenia High School girls bowling team moved from 10th place to sixth place, after an 1,182 six-game Baker series that included a final game 235, at Saturday’s Dec. 9 tournament at Beaver-Vu Lanes. The Buccaneer girls lost to Fairmont in the first round of the team tournament bracket in five games. Fairmont finished in the top-8 in the state last year.
Xenia’s girls finished first among Greater Western Ohio Conference South-division schools, and sixth out of of 20 teams overall.
The Xenia boys finished second in South, and 12th overall. Junior Cameron McPherson narrowly missed the all tourney squad with a team-best 649 series.
Rams earn first win
JAMESTOWN — Mason Schneider scored a team-best 19 points and Gabe Caudill tossed in 13 to lead Greeneview’s boys high school basketball team to a 58-45 win over Southeastern on Friday, Dec. 8. The win was the first of the season for the Rams (1-1, 1-0 in the Ohio Heritage Conference). Southeastern is now 0-2. Greeneview outscored Southeastern 21-3 in the second quarter to take a 31-15 halftime lead.
East Clinton nips Greeneview
LEES CREEK — The visiting Rams trailed East Clinton by four points at the half, then outscored the Astros 34-32 in the second half, but couldn’t overcome the game-high 31-point output by East Clinton’s J.T. McCarren, in a 56-54 loss on Dec. 9. Mason Schneider was Greeneview’s top scorer with 20 points, and Rams teammate Collin Wilson also got into double figures with 11.
Bellbrook defeats Franklin
BELLBROOK — The Bellbrook High School girls basketball team defeated Franklin, Dec. 9 by a score of 66-36. Quickly grabbing the lead early, the Golden Eagles rolled to a 19-5 lead after one quarter. Five Eagles scored in double figures. The balanced attack was led by junior Maren Freudenschuss with 13 points, senior Cassidy Hofacker, junior Olivia Greathouse, and sophomore Kayla Paul each with 12, and senior Bekah Vine tossed in 11. Franklin junior Layne Ferrell, the Southwestern Buckeye League’s leading scorer, was held to 13 points. The Golden Eagles now play their next six games on the road before returning home after the first of the new year to play Chaminade Julienne. They then immediately have three more away games, in what promises to be an extremely strong challenge.
Ladies nab eighth straight victory
SALEM, W.Va. — The Central State Lady Marauders extended their winning streak to eight games with a lopsided 94-52 victory over Salem University Dec. 10. With the win, the Lady Marauders improve to 9-2 overall. Salem falls to 3-7 ledger on the year.
CSU opened the game on a 16-3 run. CSU forced SU into 29 giveaways resulting in a 42-3 edge in points scored off of turnovers. CSU also outrebounded SU, 48-32 and outscored their opponent, 18-5, in second-chance points.
CSU’s Jaeda Davis converted 8 of 15 shots to finish with a game-high 21 points. Sierra Harley tallied 20 points, six assists and six rebounds. Takyra Gilbert finished with 19 points, four rebounds and three assists. Brooke Spaulding added 12 points off the bench as the Lady Marauders avenged last month’s loss to Salem. The 42-point win is the largest victory margin for CSU this season.
CSU plays on the road Saturday, Dec. 16 at Clark Atlanta University, in Atlanta.
Raider men defeat Kent State
FAIRBORN — The Wright State men’s basketball team defeated Kent State, Dec. 9 at the Wright State Nutter Center 63-54. WSU is now 6-4 while KSU drops to 5-5.
In the first half, Kent State jumped out to a 5-0 lead,but the Raiders bounced right back on three free throws by senior Grant Benzinger and a rebound basket from freshman Loudon Love. The lead bounced back and forth, but the Raiders held the hand for more than 13 minutes. The Raiders shot 38 percent while forcing 10 Kent State turnovers.
The second half started off with hustle and a dunk by Love. WSU played seven players with four finishing in double-figure points: Benzinger 13, Parker Ernsthausen and Jaylon Hall 11 each, and Everett Winchester 10. The Raiders shot 38.5 percent from the field (20-52), but lost the rebounding battle, 36-31.
Wright State next travels to Toledo for a game at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16.
KWC halts CU streak
CEDARVILLE — Defending Great Midwest Athletic Conference champion Kentucky Wesleyan held on to snap Cedarville’s six-game winning streak with a 75-71 men’s basketball victory Dec. 9 in the Callan Athletic Center.
The Yellow Jackets (6-3 overall and 1-1, G-MAC) nearly erased a nine-point deficit in the final 40 seconds. Grant Zawadzki’s two free throws cut the difference to 73-66 and Patrick Bain followed with a three-pointer nine seconds later. Following a Panther free throw, Kwenton Scott’s lay in made it 74-71 with 20 seconds to go.
Kentucky Wesleyan turned it over, but Joey Morlan’s three-ball rimmed out with 2.5 seconds remaining. The visitors iced the outcome at the free throw line to improve to 6-5 and 3-1 G-MAC. Bain pumped in a season-high 27 points to lead all scorers. Zawadzki finished with 12 points and Conner TenHove chipped in 10.
The Jackets play again 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 13 at Hillsdale (Mich.) College.
CU powers past Panthers
CEDARVILLE — The WBCA Division II No. 24 Lady Jackets blitzed Kentucky Wesleyan for three quarters en route to an 80-62 Great Midwest Athletic Conference result Dec. 9 at the Callan Athletic Center. Cedarville has won six straight in improving its record to 7-1 overall and 2-0 G-MAC.
The home team shot 57.5 percent from the field through the first 30 minutes including an 11-for-20 showing beyond the three-point line. The Jackets enjoyed a 45-25 halftime lead and a 31-point bulge late in the third quarter. The Panthers outscored CU 24-13 in the final frame. Regina Hochstetler dropped in four long balls and totaled a game-high 20 points to go along with three assists. Kaitlyn Holm produced 19 points, eight rebounds, and four steals while freshman Stevie Johnting came off the bench with a season-high 15 points.
The Yellow Jackets hit the road to play again at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 13 at Hillsdale (Mich.).
Flyin’ to the Hoop
DAYTON — Xenia High will be among the area and national teams participating in the annual Flyin’ to the Hoop Invitational basketball showcase event.
The Buccaneers are scheduled to play Olentangy Liberty at 1:15 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 13 at James S. Trent Arena, in Kettering.
Ticket information and a complete listing of the scheduled games can be found at flyintothehoop.com.
