Squads continue working through season
Area basketball teams continue to work their way through the regular season, passing the halfway point of the campaign, with about a month remaining before the sectional tournaments get under way.
WAPAKONETA (1-2 WBL, 8-3 overall)
The Wapakoneta boys had about the same luck as everyone else against Shawnee last Friday, falling 7045 on the road.
That halted the Redskins’ win streak at four, one they will look to restart this week.
Wapakoneta was scheduled to host Kenton on Friday night, but COVID issues with the Wildcats’ program has resulted in that game being postponed. A makeup date has not been announced.
Wapakoneta will be in action on Saturday as part of a “day night” doubleheader with the Lady Redskins. The boys will host Fort Recovery with JV play starting at 6 p.m., while the girls will host Springfield earlier that day.
Fort Recovery is 7-5 overall, with three wins in Midwestern Athletic Conference play. The Indians have wins over Monroe Central (from Indiana) by a score of 65-45, as well as Delphos St. John’s (56-30), Parkway (51-43), Ansonia (46-39), Delphos Jefferson (57-26), New Knoxville (53-40), Mechanicsburg (61-46),
They lost to St. Marys in their season opener (53-45), and have also lost to Crestview (56-43), Tri-village (42-38) and Lincolnview (57-54). The most recent game was against Botkins, last Saturday, which the Trojans won 58-55.
They will take on Marion Local on Friday before visiting Wapakoneta.
Wapakoneta is set to host a pair of games next weekend, taking on Elida on Friday and St. Henry Saturday.
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WAYNESFIELDGOSHEN (1-2 NWCC, 2-7 overall)
Waynesfield-goshen has also seen its schedule adjusted as they had last Saturday’s
game with Vanlue postponed.
On Tuesday, the Tigers lost to Jefferson by a score of 66-50, which followed a 5248 loss to Elgin last Friday.
The Tigers will be back on the court Friday night as they host Riverside in a Northwest Central Conference matchup. The Pirates are 1-2 in league games and 3-8 overall.
Last weekend, Riverside got a win over Temple Christian (6131), then lost to Miami East (68-58).
The other wins were over Bradford (85-67) and Troy Christian (44-41).
Besides the Vikings, the losses have come at the hands of Botkins (72-41), Ridgemont (76-56), New Bremen (74-41), Perry (83-37), Dayton Christian (63-59), Tri-village (82-46), and Ben Logan (58-40).
On Saturday, Waynesfield-goshen will visit Fairlawn of the Shelby County League. The Jets are 3-6 overall and 3-3 in league play. Wins have been against Houston (71-28), Russia (75-48) and Houston for a second time (80-54).
The defeats have come to West Libertysalem (55-53), Jackson Center (58-51), Miami East (71-55), Fort Loramie (55-51), Tri-village (73-61), and in their most recent game on Tuesday, to Anna (72-68).
Next weekend, W-G will travel to Upper Scioto Valley on Friday, then host Cory
Rawson on Saturday. ————
BOTKINS (6-0 SCAL, 11-0 overall)
The Trojans added two more notches to their win total last weekend.
They battled their way past Jackson Center in a low-scoring affair, 29-26 on Friday. As noted above, they defeated Fort Recovery 58-55 on Saturday.
Jackson Center led 11-10 at the half, and 21-18 after three quarters. The Trojans then outscored JC 11-5 in the final period to get the win.
Jacob Pleiman had 11 points, Carter Pleiman had six and Jayden Priddy scored five.
Botkins took a 20-17 lead over Fort Recovery after the first quarter, and was up by three, 34-31, at the half.
Fort Recovery cut the gap to one, 44-43, after three quarters.
The Indians led 5552 with 2 1/2 minutes to go. Jacob Pleiman got a basket and the ensuing free throw with 1:46 left. It stayed tied until the very end when Jameson Meyer hit a three-pointer to put it in the win column.
Priddy finished with 17 poins, Jacob Pleiman had 15 and Meyer scored 12.
The Trojans are ranked fourth in the AP high school poll for Division IV. They received two firstplace votes. They have also added a matchup with Antwerp, currently ranked number one in Division IV, to
the schedule. That game will be Jan. 25.
This weekend, Botkins hits the road. First up is a visit to Anna. The Rockets are 7-4 overall and 4-2 in SCAL play.
They were in action Tuesday, getting a 7268 win over Fairlawn. Other wins have come over New Knoxville (83-41), Fort Loramie (70-52), Houston (8734), Indian Lake (8675), Minster (66-52), Russia (77-73 in OT).
They lost to Botkins early in the season 6743. After a five-game win streak, they lost to Jackson Center (6962), Marion Local (5552) and then last Saturday fell at St. Henry 73-66 in double overtime.
Saturday night will see Botkins head up to Lima to face Bath. The Wildcats are presently third in the WBL behind Shawnee and Ottawa-glandorf, both of whom are ranked in the state AP poll.
Bath is 6-4 overall and 2-1 in league games. They recorded a 50-32 win over Elida on Tuesday night. Prior to that, wins have come over Spencerville (51-46), Libertybenton (65-60), Kenton (75-56), Ada (69-37), and Elida (57-46).
The losses have been to O-G (86-53), St. Henry (55-46), Lima Central Catholic (5652), and LCC (62-55) in the season-opening tournament.
Next weekend brings a rematch with Fort Loramie at home and a visit to New Bremen.
GIRLS WAPAKONETA (1-3 WBL, 4-7 overall)
The Wapakoneta girls will look to break a two-game losing streak as they return to action this evening.
The Lady Redskins suffered defeats to Shawnee (55-35) and New Knoxville (45-19) last week.
Wapakoneta will make its way to Kenton this evening. The Lady Cats are 5-6 overall and 2-2 in WBL action.
They earned a nonleague win over Elgin 60-28 on Tuesday. Earlier wins came over Defiance (53-40), Ada (44-33), Celina (52-44), and Upper Scioto Valley (62-16).
Losses were at the hands of Harding (8238), Bluffton (56-47), Elida (58-48), Riverdale (59-55), Bath (6133), and Big Walnut (71-53).
On Saturday, Wapakoneta will host Springfield. There are four Springfields in Ohio, with the others in Holland near Toledo, and two in the northeast section (Akron and New Middletown).
The Wildcats are 0-4 according to information on Maxpreps.
Wapakoneta will travel to Elida next Thursday.
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WAYNESFIELDGOSHEN (1-1 NWCC, 3-8 overall)
The Waynesfieldgoshen girls have won three of their last four games, including a 56-37 victory over Elgin one week ago for their first league win.
This evening, the Lady Tigers will travel to Riverside in another NWCC game. The Lady Pirates have reported results for five of 12 games, with a mark of 4-1 in those contests.
They faced Urbana last Thursday and Bradford last Saturday, but scores were not available for either of those games.
W-G will then host Temple Christian on Saturday afternoon in a varsity-only contest. The Lady Pioneers lost to Mansfield Christian 60-29 last week, fell to USV 44-43 on Jan. 2, and lost to Perry back at the beginning of the season.
W-G will then travel to Sidney next Tuesday to face Lehman Catholic. The Lady Cavaliers are 2-0 in league contests, but have lost their other six games. Due to the undefeated league mark, they are currently in first place.
Lehman lost to Fairlawn 40-39 on Tuesday in its most recent action.
The wins were over Upper Scioto Valley (44-21) on Dec. 17 and Riverside (41-36) on Dec. 10.
Other losses were to Bethel (45-26), Jackson Center (37-22), Arcanum (67-18), New Bremen (61-22) and Anna (70-33).