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Squires Can’t Finish Come Back; Whitko Takes TRC?Game

Host Manchester entered the fourth quarter trailing Three Rivers Conference rival Whitko 46-30 courtesy of a 32-8 run from 6:30 in the second quarter until the end of the third period.

Rattled by cold outside shooting and an aggressive 2-3 zone by the visiting Wildcats, the hosts had eight minutes to muster a come-back. A 20-9 fourth quarter run wasn’t enough to overtake Whitko. The Wildcats clinched a 55-50 win to improve their record to 9-12 overall and 6-3 in the TRC. Manchester fell to 9-12 and 4-5 in conference play.
The Sound Of Silence

I am going to bare my soul a little today.

I was broadcasting last weekend, and I experienced something that had not happened for several years — I “locked up.”
Double-Doubles, Semistate Stars Highlight IBCA Honorees

What a week it was around the state, with several boys making statements throughout the week, and the girls standing out on Saturday at their respective Semistate sites for Indiana Basketball Coaches Association player of the week honorees. In nine combined games last week, the boys’ honorees posted five double-doubles and one triple-double, while on the girls’ side, six of the eight state finalists have a feline flavor, as Lions, Panthers, Tigers, and Wildcats are ready to take over Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Saturday.
Trojans Pull Away In Middle Quarters To Win

Plus gymnastics and middle school basketball results
No. 17 Wildcats Bounce Grace From League Tourney

Grace College’s women’s basketball team suffered a 78-58 defeat to No. 17 Indiana Wesleyan on Tuesday. The Lady Lancers fell in the quarterfinals of the Crossroads League Tournament, ending their hopes of an NAIA tournament berth.
Whitko Comeback Bid Falls Short In Loss To ‘Busco

Despite battling tough Saturday night, Churubusco overpowered Whitko boys basketball 79-61 on senior night. It is the fourth loss in five games for the Wildcats.
Tigers Have No Answer For Carmel

Coach Doug Ogle, admittedly frustrated, said he didn’t have an answer for the way his Warsaw boys basketball team played Saturday night.

Likewise, on the court the Tigers didn’t have an answer for Class 4A defending state champion Carmel.

In Warsaw’s final home game of the season - with its four senior players and its senior cheerleaders honored between the JV and varsity contests - the Carmel Greyhounds scored the first seven points, led 31-7 at halftime and cruised to a 63-35 win.
Lancer Men End Regular Season With Victory

Lady Lancers stumble in second half; Eight events win national titles at NCCAAs
MU Women's Hoops Falls to Earlham in Senior Day Thriller

Late Rally for Spartans Falls Short on Senior Day
Manchester’s Stroud Eighth At State Finals

Dylan Stroud got a chance to stand on the awards podium at the 82nd annual IHSAA State Finals at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, which concluded its two-day run Saturday.
Knight Wins Twice; Tigers Take 13th Straight Swimming Sectional Title

Warsaw won its 13th consecutive boys sectional title Saturday, scoring 459 points to easily outdistance runner-up Columbia City’s 326.

Tippecanoe Valley was fifth, and Manchester finished 11th.
IHSAA Sectional Brackets
Valley Comes From Behind For OT Win Over Trojans

Despite trailing for the first three quarter of the game, the Tippecanoe Valley boys basketball team defeated Triton 51-48 in overtime in non-conference action Friday night.

The comeback victory was spearheaded by freshman Paul Leasure, who scored 28 points on 10-13 shooting, including 4-5 from three-point range.

The first quarter was a tight defensive battle, with Triton up 9-6 at the end of the quarter.
TRC?Leader Wabash Blows By Wildcats

Before Friday night’s game at the Whitko High School gymnasium, the Wildcats sat in third place, just two games behind their opponent and Three Rivers Conference boys basketball leader Wabash. With one TRC matchup remaining on the schedule, Whitko had a chance to slingshot their way up the standings and a possible share of the title.
Manchester’s Stroud Rallies To Remain Alive At State Wrestling Tournament

Dylan Stroud had never trailed and had only been taken down a handful of times during the 2019-20 high school wrestling season.

The Manchester sophomore 126-pounder found himself trailing 4-2 at the end of the first period Friday in the first round of the 82nd annual IHSAA State Finals wrestling tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

“I’m so used to it because I wrestle Coach (Byron Sweet) all the time,” says Stroud, referring to Squires practice. “He usually kicks my butt.”

So even though Stroud found himself behind Friday, he did not panic and moved to 40-0.
Locals Make All-TRC?Girls Basketball Team

Two Tippecanoe Valley Vikings and one Manchester Squire were named to the All-Three Rivers Conference girls basketball team earlier this week.

Valley senior Jillian Walls and junior Sidney Wagner were named to the team, along with Manchester junior Emma Garriott. Honorable mention went to Valley’s Emma Craig, Manchester’s Mackenzie Day and Whitko’s Elizabeth Miller.
Local Sports Recaps For Feb. 21

Slow Start Dooms Wawasee In Loss At East Noble; LCA Concludes Regular Season With Home Loss To O-D; Braves Trim Squires plus recaps from Thursday in gymnastics and middle school sports
Grace Men's Tennis Defeats Judson

Grace College’s men’s tennis team extended its winning streak to four on Friday.

The Lancers (13-4) defeated Judson 6-1 to continue a perfect spring season.
Squire Trackster Signs With Trine
Manchester Football?Coach Miller Steps Down

Wildcats break century mark in win, LCA drops final conference game of the season, middle school girls hoops recaps
Lancers Ranked No. 13 In NAIA

Lady Lancers receiving NAIA votes
Cold Spells Undo Lady Lancers In League Road Loss

Grace College’s women’s basketball team was unable to produce a fluid offensive game, resulting in a 79-69 defeat at No. 17 Indiana Wesleyan on Wednesday.

The Lady Lancers were ice cold to start three of the four quarters, and the Wildcats (22-7, 13-4 Crossroads League) grabbed the lead and hung on late.
Visiting Anderson Downs Lady Spartans

Spartan MBB Falls To Ravens In HCAC Play
Recognition And Thanks – Not Abuse – Needed For H.S. Officials

While the behavior of parents and other fans at high school games is still a work in progress, there is some good news on the officiating front.

Last fall, we reported on a growing shortage of officials nationwide – even reaching a crisis stage in some areas as games were being cancelled. Through a nationwide recruitment effort, progress is being made in attracting more people to the high school officiating avocation.
Panthers Roll Over Tippecanoe Valley In Non-Conference Tilt

After being tied at 16 at the intermission, visiting NorthWood outscored Tippecanoe Valley 27-7 in the third quarter en route to a 61-40 win in a non-conference boys basketball game Tuesday night.
Squires Fall In Final Appearance At Weeks Gym

Donald S. Weeks Gymnasium has not been very kind to the Manchester High School boys basketball team in recent memory. Their tenants, Columbia City, have not been nice either.

The Squires have not beaten the host Eagles on their court since Dec. 20, 1997. With Tuesday night marking their final time playing at Weeks Gym, Manchester wanted to end that streak with a big win.
Martin, Lakeland Christian Get ‘Choppy’ Victory

Lakeland Christian Academy’s performance was kind of like Seth Martin’s dunk, provided it was a dunk.

Both were a bit choppy, both left some doubt along the way, but ultimately, both were successfully executed.
It’s Been A Strange Year For College Basketball In Indiana

I was driving to my basketball game at Wabash Saturday afternoon, and I was surfing around the dial listening to college basketball broadcasts.

I was specifically anxious to hear the final 10 minutes of the Butler-Georgetown game at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Zebras Nip Trojans At The Buzzer

Plus middle school basketball results
Grace fades in second half to No. 3 IWU

Grace’s men’s basketball team could not pick up a second straight upset, falling 110-96 at No. 3 Indiana Wesleyan on Tuesday.

Just one game remains in the regular season. The No. 23 Lancers will end the season on Saturday at home in the regular season finale.
Stuckman, Stroud Lead Wrestling State Qualifiers

Four area wrestlers earned a place in the 2020 IHSAA State Finals with their semistate performances Saturday.

At East Chicago, Wawasee senior Garrett Stuckman (16-0) went 4-0 with a pin in the finals.
LCA junior High GBB wins tourney
Lancers post 11 NAIA qualifiers at league championships

Grace’s track and field team tackled the 2020 Crossroads League Indoor Track and Field Championships over the weekend, taking place Friday and Saturday at Indiana Wesleyan.
Spartans Rewrite Record Book at 2020 HCAC Championships

Indoor Track and Field Wraps up Competition at DePauw; Spartans Topped by Transy; Wrestling Battles Regional Foes at Mid-States
Grace muscles past No. 15 USF

Grace College’s men’s basketball team notched a statement win over No. 15 St. Francis on Saturday.

The Lancers’ 82-68 victory caps off a season sweep of the Cougars (19-9, 8-8 Crossroads League). Grace also successfully defended its spot in the conference standings, remaining alone in third place.
Drake breaks career scoring record for Grace

Grace women’s basketball team fell to No. 10 St. Francis 62-56 on Saturday afternoon.

The Lady Lancers (18-10, 9-7 Crossroads League) had a 32-26 lead at the half, but after the intermission were unable to hold the No. 10 Cougars at bay.

The highlight of the afternoon happened just minutes into the second quarter. Vironnica Drake scored to pass Juaneice Jackson (1,893 points) to become the all-time leading scorer in Grace women’s basketball history. The senior scored 15 points, giving her a career total of 1,898 points.
Tigers Top Plymouth For Much-Needed Victory

It wasn’t for the Northern Lakes Conference Championship, like Warsaw’s boys basketball matchup with Plymouth has been so many times over the years, but it turned out to be a much-needed win for the host Tigers.

Wrapping up the league schedule with a 49-36 win over the Pilgrims Friday night, Warsaw snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 11-6 overall and 4-3 in the NLC.
Tippecanoe Valley Takes TRC Win Over North Miami

With Three Rivers Conference play winding down for the Tippecanoe Valley boys basketball team, they looked to end that slate on a high note. While it may have been a disappointing season in the TRC for the Vikings, things were also lackluster for the visiting North Miami Warriors — who have dealt with a coaching change recently.
Buzzer-Beater Gives Wawasee Win Over Goshen

Wawasee, supported by a strong performance from senior Austin Miller, fended off a late surge from Goshen to defeat the RedHawks 49-47 in a Northern Lake Conference boys basketball clash Friday night.
Briner Sisters Double AOW?Winners
Beginning next season, changes to the conditions and procedure for restarting play with a dropped ball will take effect in high school soccer.
Lancers Complete Day One Of Crossroads Championships

Grace’s track and field team started the 2020 Crossroads League Indoor Track and Field Championship on Friday at Indiana Wesleyan.

On Friday’s opening day of competition, Grace set multiple school records and had one All-League event.
Spartan Wrestlers Edge Trine

The Manchester University wrestling team won a hard-fought 27-23 dual against Trine in the team’s home finale on Thursday evening in Stauffer-Wolfe Arena.
Grace Picks Up Road Win At SAU

Grace’s women’s basketball team picked up a critical late-season win on the road, beating Spring Arbor 71-65 on Wednesday.

Kyannah Stull led all players with 24 points, and Vironnica Drake stuffed the stat sheet with 23 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists.

With 18 wins this season, the Lady Lancers (18-9, 9-6 Crossroads League) already have the fourth-most wins for a season in program history. Grace is well within reach of the all-time record of 20 victories.
Manchester Hoops Falls To Bluffton

Men’s Hoops Falls
Football Leadership Groups Meet To Maintain Sport’s Popularity

The enduring popularity of football in the United States was celebrated in the past year at all levels of the sport.

The National Federation of High Schools celebrated its 100th year of service in all areas of high school sports, including the writing of football playing rules, although the first-known games date to the 1870s.
Buzzer Beater Sinks No. 23 Grace

A last-second shot by Spring Arbor sunk Grace’s men’s basketball team by a score of 82-81 on Tuesday.

The Lancers (17-10, 9-6 Crossroads League) and Cougars put on an efficient offensive performance. Each side shot over 50 percent from the floor and 43 percent on 3-pointers, and the teams had single-digit turnovers apiece.
Area Results from Tuesday
Watching Promising Athletic Careers Go Up In Smoke

Over the roughly five years that I have been writing for the Times-Union, you all have been very open to giving me ideas of new columns, and I have appreciated that very much.

Most of them were good ideas, and many of them I ended up turning into a column. Some of those ideas were too obscure to write into the space I had, and others were just offered out of their own personal agenda (like “you should write about how X coach at X school should be fired”).

But I cannot put this one off — not anymore.
2020 Preview: Grace Softball ‘Trusting The Process’

Grace College’s softball team is days away from kicking off the 2020 campaign.

The Lady Lancers, led by second-year head coach Sarah Harman, are aiming to turn the corner this spring.

Grace struggled to finish close games last year, losing 16 contests by one or two runs. Harman maintained that a change in mentality could make a big difference on the diamond in 2020.
NAIA Honors Drake As Player Of Week

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A day after being honored as the Player of the Week for the NCCAA and Crossroads League, Vironnica Drake added one more award on Tuesday.
Double-Doubles Abound For IBCA/Subway Players Of The Week

Last week, the girls’ IHSAA basketball state tournament got underway, with more than 400 teams participating in the Sectional round of tournament play. There were some really nice performances by the ladies, but sprinkled in were some standout showings by the gentlemen as well.

Central Noble sophomore Connor Essegian, Western Boone senior Cortez Stoudemire, Scottsburg senior Nicholas Sebastiao, South Bend Washington sophomore Mila Reynolds, Franklin Central senior Rachel Loobie, and Greenwood Christian junior Isabella Reed were selected as recipients for the week of Feb. 3-Feb. 8 in the recognition program coordinated by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association.
Drake Named NCCAA, CL Player Of Week

Johnson earns first award; Crossroads League Athletes of the Week
Area High School Results for Feb. 8

Wildcats Win Overtime Non-Conference Thriller Over Lakewood Park; Cougars Get 4th Win; Trojans Fall In OT; Braves Hold Off Vikings; local girls swimming sectional results
No. 6 Penn Nips Warsaw In Sectional Final

Choked up by emotion, third-year Warsaw girls basketball coach Lenny Krebs couldn’t have been any more accurate with his description of Saturday night’s 45-44 loss to No. 6 Penn in the championship game of Class 4A Sectional 4 at the Tiger Den.
Zebras Trip Lady Squires In Title Game

Emma Garriott’s strong performance was not enough Saturday night, as Manchester suffered a narrow, 39-33 defeat to Rochester in the Class 2A Lewis Cass girls basketball sectional title game.

Garriott, responsible for succeeding in the role of both creator and scorer, managed to break the full-court press on several occasions. Her insistence on driving towards the basket before attempting a layup or dishing off a pass to a teammate caused mayhem for the Zebra defense all night.

“She’s like a one-man fast break and press-break,” said head coach Josh Troyer with a chuckle. “She’s one that had trouble last game against them. I thought mentally she just wasn’t in it.”
Five Area Grapplers Earn Regional Championships