WINONA LAKE – Lakeland Christian Academy will put a very young boys basketball team on the floor when it opens the season Tuesday at Caston. The Cougars will have three freshmen, five sophomores and five juniors in the program this season. Zero seniors.

Hope Fancil scored 10 points, and Melissa Goss scored seven points and pulled down 12 rebounds in Lakeland Christian’s 39-24 loss to visiting Lakewood Park Thursday night.

Whitko senior and Xavier signee Aly Reiff set a school record with seven made three-point shots, finishing with 27 points in the top-ranked (2A) Lady Wildcats’ 83-23 rout of Peru in the Three Rivers Conference girls basketball opener for both teams.

Lakeland Christian Academy was held scoreless in the first quarter and never fully recovered in a 42-24 loss at North Miami Saturday night. Heather Plastow had 11 points for the Lady Cougars, and Brady Gross gathered nine rebounds in the game.

Senior Aly Reiff had 16 points, Brianna Cumberland scored 13 points and Hanna Yohe scored 12 in Whitko’s 59-55 road win over Columbia City Friday night.

Lakeland Christian Academy presented its fall sports awards this week.

Eight different Lakeland Christian Academy players scored in the visiting Lady Cougars’ 37-3 season-opening rout of Cornerstone Christian College Prep in girls basketball Tuesday night.

WINONA LAKE – A .500 record might not sound like a big deal, but for the Lakeland Christian Academy Lady Cougar basketball team it represents the best year percentage-wise since the school joined the IHSAA full-time for the 2007-08 season.

Manchester’s volleyball team missed a sweep, but still took a 25-23, 25-22, 21-25, 25-18 win over Oak Hill in the opening round of the 2A Rochester Sectional Thursday night.

Wawasee’s boys and girls cross country teams both advanced to semistate with fifth-place finishes in the Elkhart Central Regional at Ox Bow Park Saturday.

Lady Trojans Fall At Plymouth PLYMOUTH – Nichole Sechrist had nine kills, and Courtney Jennings had seven kills in Triton’s 25-13, 25-20, 25-16 loss at Plymouth to close out the Lady Trojans’ regular season volleyball schedule Thursday evening.

Heather Plastow had a team-high 23 digs, and Kyla Kohler had 14 digs and a team-high 11 kills for Lakeland Christian Academy in its 25-13, 25-13, 18-25, 25-15 loss to the Southside Michiana Athletic Club Tuesday evening.

Lakeland Christian Academy's season came to an end Saturday night with an 8-1 loss to Northern Indiana Soccer Conference opponent Argos in the 1A Argos Sectional championship match Saturday.

Pairings for the 45th annual IHSAA state volleyball tournament were announced this morning. Warsaw hosts a seven-team Class 4A sectional, and will take on Elkhart Memorial in the first round on Oct. 20. The winner will take on the Goshen/Concord winner in the second semifinal on Oct. 22, with the championship match at 7 p.m. that evening. On the other side of the bracket, Elkhart Central takes on Penn on Oct. 18, with the winner playing Northridge in the first semifinal.

Junior Noel Blum scored four goals, and freshman Parker Stewart scored twice for Lakeland Christian Academy in its first-ever soccer sectional victory, a 9-0 rout of Culver Community in the semifinals of the 1A Argos Sectional Thursday night. The Cougars held the Cavaliers without a shot on goal in the game while scoring six goals of their own in the first half to take the drama out of the match. Parker scored both of his goals in the opening 40 minutes, and Blum had a hat trick before intermission. Sophomore Landon Twombly had the sixth goal for LCA in the first half.

Carsyn Howard and Elizabeth Anguilm had two goals each in Manchester’s 7-0 girls soccer win over fellow Three Rivers Conference member Maconaquah in the 1A Blackford Sectional Tuesday.

Tippecanoe Valley earned its second victory in a row, 21-7 over visiting Rochester in Three Rivers Conference play Friday.

Warsaw’s girls finished eighth in the elite race, and Zeb Hernandez was fourth overall in the boys elite race at the Culver  Academies Invitational Saturday. The Tiger boys team finished 13th in its race.

Pairings for the upcoming boys and grils soccer sectional tournaments have been annouced by the IHSAA. In the boys 2A Plymouth Sectional, Warsaw will play Culver Academies at 6 p.m. Oct. 3. The winner plays Plymouth at 7:15 p.m. Oct. 5 in the semifinals. Wawasee gets a bye to the semis, and will take on NorthWood at 5 p.m. Oct. 5. The sectional championship game will be at 6 p.m. Oct. 8. Whitko opens against host Fort Wayne Blackhawk in the four-team 1A sectional at 7 p.m. Oct. 5. Manchester opens that sectional against Woodlan at 5 p.m., with the winners playing at 7 p.m. Oct. 8

On Senior Night for Lakeland Christian Academy’s varsity soccer team, it was a freshman that put on quite a show. In a 9-1 win over the visiting Tippecanoe Valley Vikings Thursday evening, LCA freshman Parker Stewart scored three goals in a seven-minute span. His effort helped the Cougars improve to 7-4-1 on the season, while Valley fell to 4-8. After junior Garrett McCoomb put the Cougars up 1-0 in the 13th minute of play, Stewart earned his hat trick with goals in the 18th, 22nd and 25th minutes.

The fourth-ranked Warsaw Lady Tigers completed an undefeated Northern Lakes Conference season with wins over Concord (24-33) and host NorthWood (18-45) Tuesday evening.

Whitko’s volleyball team won the Wawasee Invitational Saturday, beating Bethany Christian, the Mishawaka Christian Athletic Club and Garrett in pool play, and Columbia City for the title. Top performers for the Wildcats were Kaity Reed with 58 kills and eight blocks, Kristina Slater with 46 digs and six aces, and Haley Yohe with 99 assists. The Lady Wildcats didn't drop a set in the tournament. Wawasee results for the tourney were not available as of press time.

After trailing at halftime, Tippecanoe Valley got two second-half goals from senior Tom Solano to beat Peru 2-1 in Three Rivers Conference soccer Thursday night. Solano’s first goal came at the 44-minute mark off an assist from junior Alyssa Brito. Sophomore Harrison Vining found Solano five minutes later for the game-winner.

Warsaw’s girls cross country team took seven of the top eight places, and the boys squad had six of the first eight finishers in a sweep of Goshen Tuesday. The Lady Tigers won 20-43, and the boys score was 17-43. Mallory Hooks was second in the girls race, followed by Lauren Orr, Allison Miller, Tsige Berelsman, Charlene Orr, Amanda Hermann and Anna Craig taking the 3-8 spots, respectively.

Manchester’s girls golf team got top-10 finishes from all five of its players to win the Three Rivers Conference Tournament Saturday at Norwood Golf Club in Huntington. Kelsey Eichenauer was third with a 90, Lydia Little finished fifth with a 94, Madyson Ulrey was seventh with a 96 and Karly Eichenauer was eighth with a 97. Samantha Kissel was tied for 10th at 100.