Wabash went undefeated and boasted eight individual champions at the Wabash County Invitational Saturday, Dec. 7.

The Apaches beat Northfield 64-12, Manchester 46-42, Southwood 64-15 among the county match ups. They also topped Northwestern 48-36 and Southern Wells 54-30.

Winning individual titles for the Apaches were Jared Brooks (113), Ethan Higgins (120), Anthony Long (126), Robert Barnett (132), Brayden Sickafus (145), Traydon Goodwin (152), Grant Carandate (160) and Bryson Zapata (170).

Northfield finished second among county schools with a 2-1 record be defeating Manchester 40-36 and Southwood 51-24, and losing to Wabash 64-12.

Wabash County’s girls basketball went 2-7 in play last week.

Manchester 56, Lewis Cass 26

The Manchester girls basketball team raced out to a 17-0 first quarter and 29-3 halftime lead to run away from Lewis Cass for a 56-26 win Tuesday, Nov. 12.

Nine Squires scored on the night led by Mackenzy Day with 12 points and seven rebounds, followed by Beletu Stout with 11 points and two assists, Ranissa Shambarger with eight points, three rebounds and five steals, and Makenzy Meyer with seven points and five rebounds.

Olivia Auler had three points and two steals, followed by Bailey Mooney with three points and two steals, Morgan Parrett with two points and three rebounds, Emma Garriott with two points and two rebounds, and Kiera Hatfield with two points and three assists.

Ainsley West added six rebounds, four steals and three assists and Keilan Creager had three steals.

The JV team handled Lewis Cass with a 30-17.

West led the Squires with nine points, four steals, three assists and two rebounds, while Creager had nine points and one assists, and Madison Parson had five points and 12 rebounds.

Auler had three points and four rebounds and Chaynee Tennant had two points and three rebounds.

By Joe Rodgers, BetIndiana News

Early money is on Navy for Saturday’s game in South Bend, as Notre Dame opened an 11-point favorite and was bet against to -9 in the first 24 hours of wagering.

The Midshipmen boast a rush offense that can exploit the Irish’s weakness on defense. They bring a 7-1 straight-up record (6-2 against the spread) into Saturday’s contest and are 9-2-1 ATS in their last 12 games dating back to last season.
Ken Niumatalolo’s offense has earned the respect of quantitative football analysts, and the triple-option attack should worry Notre Dame, considering the Irish defensive line ranks poorly in advanced metrics. One advanced data set, SP+, makes Saturday’s spread just 4.2 in favor of Notre Dame, even factoring 2.5 points for homefield.

Wabash County’s girls basketball teams tipped off the 2019-20 season last week, going 2-2 for the week.

Southwood 52, Blackford 40

The Southwood Knights kicked off its season with a 52-40 win over Blackford Wednesday, Nov. 6.

The Knights took control of the game early outscoring Blackford 17-2 in the first quarter.

Blackford cut the lead to 29-21 at halftime never got closer in the second half.

MaKenna Pace led the Knights with 17 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals, while Erin Lehner had 17 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and two steals, and Sydney Heflin had eight points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists.

Aleia Sweet had four points and four rebounds, followed by Ella Haupert with three points and three rebounds, Bailey Wyatt with three points, and Maggie Ball with six rebounds.

The JV team also pulled away early from Blackford and cruised to a 32-15 win.

The Northfield Norsemen started the 2019 football season with an 0-4 record that included a 20-6 loss to Southwood on Sept. 13. Since that loss, the Norse have won seven straight contests, including a stifling 14-6 win over the Class 1A No. 3 Knights Friday, Nov. 1.

“[Our guys] did exactly what we told them to do,” Northfield coach Brandon Baker said after the game. “We had to attack on offense and our defense up front did their job.”

Sticking to the offense the Norse have utilized all year, they ran the ball and ran the clock on the opening drive of the game.

Quarterback Levi Fulkerson, who finished the game with 109 yards on the ground on 37 carries, led a steady and deliberate Northfield offense in its opening drive.

Starting at their own 38-yard line, Northfield rushed on its first eight plays.

They took to the air on a fourth and five play when Fulkerson hit Graydon Holmes for six yards to keep the drive going.

After five more rushing plays led to a fourth and two on the Southwood six-yard line, Fulkerson pitched the ball to Holmes who found the end zone with 4:27 left in the first quarter. The extra point from Trent Osborn made it a 7-0 Northfield lead.

“We told them that getting three yards a play was enough,” Baker said. “The clock would keep rolling and our offense stays on the field. In all my [18] years of coaching, this was the best execution of that.”

The Three Rivers Conference recently announced the all-conference teams for volleyball, boys soccer, girls soccer and boys tennis for the 2019 fall seasons.

The football all-conference team will be announced once all member teams' seasons are complete.

Volleyball

First Team

Northfield – Addi Baker, Abigail Hunter

Southwood – Marissa Metzger

Wabash – Alivia Short

Maconaquah – Emily Nowyer, Lilly Maple, Avery Miller

Peru – Courtlynn Crowe

Rochester – Aliva Riegle, Christina Towne

Tippecanoe Valley – Hannnah Engstrand, Makenzi Woodcox

Whitko – Morgan Howard

Southwood's Braden Sweet capped off a strong season with a 35th place finish at the IHSAA Cross Country State Finals in Terre Haute Saturday, Nov. 2.

The junior finished with a time of 16:20.9 the field of 214 runners.

Sweet stayed in the pack of the first 50 runners, then at the 3000m mark, shifted gears to push to the 35th spot.

By Eric Dewberry and Marcus DiNitto, BetIndiana News

The Irish, still in contention for a 10-win season and a New Year’s Six bowl invite after a close call last Saturday, is road chalk at Duke on Saturday.

Purdue, meanwhile, is a rare road favorite at Northwestern, last winning at Ryan Field in 2010.

In Big Ten action, oddsmakers opened No. 3 Ohio State as 44-point chalk over Maryland, the Buckeyes’ largest B1G spread in recent history.