Spartan Women Fall

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

With a defensive plan that quieted Elkhart Central’s two stars and an offensive attack that screamed balance, the host Tigers knocked off the Blue Blazers 46-35 in Friday’s Class 4A Warsaw Sectional girls basketball semifinals. The Tigers (16-7), with their 12th victory in their last 14 games, earned a spot opposite No. 6-ranked Penn (24-2) in Saturday’s 6 p.m. championship. The Kingsmen, 49-19 winners over Goshen in Friday’s second semi, downed host Warsaw 41-28 in late November.

Manchester girls basketball will face Rochester in the Class 2A Lewis Cass Sectional final on Saturday after defeating Wabash 41-26 in the semifinals. On the back of their strongest performance behind the arc this season against Lewis Cass, the trend continued Friday night. Kiera Hatfield ignited the offense with nine points from 3-point range. She finished the evening’s affairs with 13 points, three rebounds, and three steals. The Squires scored five threes in total against the Apaches push-starting a 10-2 second quarter run.

Drawing a bye with Southwood, Lakeland Christian entered Friday night’s contest with a chance to play for a sectional championship. The Cougars faced a tall task in facing against a TRC opponent.

In their Thursday night game against Elkhart Memorial, the Warsaw Tigers boys basketball team was defeated 59-46. The team is now 2-5 in their last seven games with five games remaining before sectionals.

Slow starts have been hurting the Lakeland Christian Academy boys basketball team lately, and Thursday night wasn’t much different in its 57-28 non-conference loss to visiting Lakewood Park Christian.

It’s not that Wawasee played so poorly. It was that Northridge played so well. The Raiders beat the Warriors 73-36 Thursday at the Middlebury Madhouse and clinched the 2019-20 Northern Lakes Conference boys basketball championship outright.

Grace College’s baseball team shocked the Crossroads League last season. The Lancers, under interim coach Ryan Roth, shook up the postseason CL Tournament with a memorable run. Grace upset three straight teams to advance to the championship game, and the team was one game away from reaching NAIA Nationals for the first time in team history. Now Roth, serving as the head coach after the interim tag was removed, is excited to see where the Lancers can grow in 2020.

After averaging better than 30 points and getting double-doubles in back-to-back Three Rivers Conference games, Whitko junior point guard Brett Sickafoose has been named the Times-Union Athlete of the Week for the period ending Feb. 1.

Grace’s men’s basketball team landed at No. 23 in the latest edition of the NAIA Top 25 Coaches’ Poll Thursday.

Trojans Win Trench-Burner Over Dragons In Non-Conference Play; Area Postponements

In an effort to eliminate a potential timing advantage gained by the defensive team in high school football, the play clock will be set to 40 seconds – effective with the 2020 season – when an official’s time-out is taken for an injury to a defensive player or a defensive player has an equipment issue.

The Lake City Skiers won the 2019 National Show Ski Association Presidents’ Award for its efforts in running the Division I National Tournament last summer.

Head Manchester Spartans football coach Nate Jensen has announced the addition of assistant coach Cayleel Hill to his coaching staff. Hill will work with Manchester's defensive backs.

Grace’s men’s basketball team held on late to beat Taylor 72-68 on Wednesday. The Lancers moved into sole possession of third place in the Crossroads League standings with the victory. Grace (16-9, 8-5 CL) will end the season with five straight ranked opponents, beginning with No. 9 Bethel on Saturday at home at 3 p.m.

Grace College’s women’s basketball team pulled off its biggest win of the season on Wednesday, upsetting No. 5 Taylor in overtime 69-63. The Lady Lancers overcame a 15-point deficit at halftime to send the game to overtime.

The Manchester University men’s basketball team won consecutive games for the first time this season after defeating Defiance College 84-77 on Wednesday night. Fresh off a 61-51 upset victory over Hanover on Saturday, the Spartans followed up Saturday’s big win with a strong offensive output against the Yellow Jackets.

On football’s grandest stage last weekend, its latest star attraction not only delivered another virtuoso performance but demonstrated the best career path to success.

In a tough matchup in 3A sectional number 20, the Tippecanoe Valley girls basketball team fell to No. 7  NorthWood Tuesday night 48-39 despite a 17-point effort by standout junior Sidney Wagner.

In a rematch against an opponent from earlier in the season, the Wawasee girls basketball team fell to Central Noble 54-31 in their 3A sectional  game on Tuesday night at Lakeland High School.

Grace College student athletes Olia Greathouse and Kaylee Houghton were recently named to the National Small College Rugby Association  Ohio Conference All-Star Team. After a try-out and team practice in Ohio, Houghton and Greathouse traveled to St. Petersburg, Florida, on Jan. 17 to be honored for their high level of play in the league and to participate in the all-star tournament.

Lady Squires Roll To Sectional-Opening Victory; Trojans Fall To Dragons; and results from Monday.

This is one of those weeks where I have about half-a-dozen things running through my head, and I think I should cram as many of them into one column as possible. Like, for example, my social media feeds were filled with lots of angst Monday morning from people who were moaning and groaning that the day after the Super Bowl isn’t already a national holiday and a day off for all of America.

CL Announces Athletes of the Week