by Gary Andrews

The Southwood and Northfield boys’ basketball teams got back to the old days of tipping off the night before Thanksgiving Wednesday before a packed house at Northfield. The night got started with the junior varsity game going triple overtime with the Knights prevailing 61-55.

In the varsity game the Norse struck quick on a Tanner Wilcox bucket that was quickly answered with a bucket from Alex Harmon. The lead would go back and forth with Cody Holmes and Carson Blair trading buckets as the Norse led 8-5 when the Knights made a run. Harmon would connect on a jumper that started a 9-0 run by the Knights as Southwood led 14-8. During the run Brandin Frazier had two buckets with Matt Nose chipping in a deuce. Tanner Wilcox would stop the run with a two before Harmon ended the quarter with a three and the Knights led 17-10.

Southwood would quickly open their lead to 22-11 on a Carson Blair two and a three before two Adam Roser free throws. The Knights then got two buckets from Noah Kirk to lead 26-14 when Noah Shear connected and was followed by a Tanner Wilcox free throw to make it 26-17, but again the Knights answered with a late bucket, this time from Clay Hinrichsen to lead 28-17 at the half.

Carson Blair got things going to start the third with a bomb from behind the arch to open a 31-17 lead for the Knights before two straight Adam Roser three’s got the game back to 8 at 31-23. Matt Nose would then convert an old fashion three and was followed by a Robbie Cole three and two Nose free throws to give Southwood their largest lead of the night at 39-23. Alex Harmon would sandwich a bucket between buckets from Jarred Short and Austin Burns as Southwood led 41-27 after three.

by Gary Andrews

The Manchester boys’ and girls’ basketball teams took the trip south on State Road 13 to Oak Hill Saturday to play in a quadruple marathon with the Golden Eagles.

The girls’ junior varsity game was up first at 3 p.m. with Manchester leading 16-10 at the half. Oak Hill had the Manchester lead cut to 2 points several times, but an intentional foul with 4.7 remaining on Oak Hill sealed the Manchester 32-29 win.

Leading Manchester was Rachel Cave with 10 points. Bethany Collett added 9, Sydney Day 8, Kiera Stacy 5.

The boys’ junior varsity kicked off game two. The Squires jumped out to an early lead with Oak Hill coming back to lead the first quarter 9-8.  Oak Hill led 21-19 at the half.

Oak Hill built their lead to 10 points in the fourth before the Squires made a run, cutting it to 4 before the Eagles pulled away for the 46-37 win,

Leading Manchester was Kane Gable with 15 points. Levi Hicks added 8, Bailey Ness 6, Jake Schannep 2, Adam Byers 2, Keelan Norwood 2, Heath Dierks 2.

Game three was the girls’ varsity game with the Lady Squires coming in riding a two game win streak, while Oak Hill fell in their last game to Southwood.

Oak Hill jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead before  Rae Bedke hit to make it 4-2. Oak Hill increased their lead to 9-2 when Drew Thompson ended the quarter with a three to make it 9-5.

Manchester got the first bucket of the second quarter from Tiffany Johnson and trailed 11-9 after a Ellie Milam bucket.  Oak Hill would score the next 4, but the Squires responded with two buckets from Celina Carter to make it 15-13. The Lady Eagles scored the final 4 points of the quarter and led Manchester 19-13 at the half.

by Gary Andrews

Not only did the Wabash Lady Apache basketball team open their 2014-15 season with an impressive 60-44 win over Mississinewa Friday; they got to be part of history as senior Claire Cromer went off for 42 points to set the Wabash single game scoring record.

The Lady Apaches dominated right from the start, jumping out to an 11-0 lead and leading 14-4 after the end of the quarter. Claire Cromer had all 14 points for Wabash.

Mississinewa would cut the Wabash lead to 16-10 early in the second quarter before Shelby Stone buried two shots from behind the arch to build the lead to 22-10. The Indians again cut the lead to single digits before Cromer drained back-to-back three’s, then hit four straight free throws to increase the lead to 31-18. At 31-22 Cromer would hit a shot before the buzzer as Wabash led 33-22 at the half.

Kristin Cromer and Sarah Puckett would get in on the scoring action in the third while Claire Cromer kept rolling as the Lady Apaches built their lead to 45-25 before leading 45-26 after three.

Claire Cromer would hit a three to get the Wabash scoring going in the fourth as sister Kristin hit two free throws as Wabash rolled to a 60-44 win.

Claire Cromer led the way with 42 points. Shelby Stone and Kristin Cromer added 6 points each, Sarah Puckett 4, Katie McCauley 2.

By Bill Barrows

Periodically, I have the privilege to witness heartwarming and amazing things that happen in the course of my daily activities in youth sports at the Wabash County YMCA. This week, I watched as a young man took a huge step forward on a long road back to regaining his health.

Jace Randel’s parents, Jason and Amanda, registered him to play 4th & 5th grade tackle football in August. Jace expected to play with a number of his classmates on the Cowboys team this fall while learning some life lessons along the way. He had no idea the roller coaster ride he had in front of him.

”On Aug. 20 (ironically, the same day as the first football practice) Jace began not feeling well. I took him in to his pediatrician after a few days of stomach pain.  He ordered blood work, just to be sure it wasn’t an appendicitis.  The blood work came back abnormal,” explained Amanda.

After consulting with their pediatrician, the Randels prepared for a trip to Riley Hospital.

“The Pediatrician explained to us that Jace's blood work had come back abnormal, and after consulting with a few Riley Oncologists, they thought Jace had leukemia.” Amanda continued, “We were being sent to Riley to run more blood work and prepare him for a bone marrow biopsy.” Jason & Amanda told their son what this meant; Jace was crushed.

“I told him that we were NOT putting our faith and trust into one test.  We would be putting our faith in God who, we KNEW, could do anything!!” She explained, “What a calming affect that can have on a person, to know WHO is in control and WHO is all powerful,”

The blood work at Riley came back inconclusive. Jace received a platelets transfusion in order to perform the biopsy to prevent excessive bleeding. He had an allergic reaction to the platelet transfusion.  Instantly, he began to break out in hives and his throat started swelling.  After giving him large doses of Benadryl, he was finally able to sleep. The biopsy came back negative. Several other tests were run, for conditions such as; mono, autoimmune markers, and vitamin deficiencies, and all came back normal. Normal was a relative term. Jace wasn’t getting any worse, but was also wasn’t getting any better either.

by Gary Andrews

The Southwood VolleyKnights had one last game scheduled for the year Saturday and it was the state championship. The Lady Knights had won nine straight games to win the sectional, then defeated Clinton Central 3-0 for the regional title. Last Saturday Southwood won the very tough Bremen semi state by topping Adams Central 3-1 and Hammond Bishop Noll 3-2 for the semi state title. Saturday at Ball State the VolleyKnights had the task of taking on defending state champion Providence for the state title.

Southwood, the 2A public school state champion hung tough, but the power hitting of Providence ended up being too much as the VolleyKnights fell 17-25, 14-25, 18-25.

Providence got off to a 10-3 start in game one before the Knights shook off the championship jitters and started to go to work. Emilie Harnish would get a kill and Bailey Lundmark a block during a 5-0 run to close the gap to 10-8. Providence would then score 10 of the next 14 points to open a 24-15 lead before two Sami White tips kept the game alive, but one last Pioneer kill ended game one 17-25.

Southwood jumped out to a 4-0 lead to start game two with Sami White serving. Kaitlyn Murphy had a kill with White scoring on an ace and a tip. Bailey Hobbs would get a kill as the Knights extended their lead to 8-3 before the Pioneer’s got hot. Providence would score 6 of the next 7 points to tie the game at 9 before a White tip and an Emilie Harnish ace made it 11-9. With Southwood up 12-10 the sleeping giant awoke as Providence went on a 10-1 run to grab a 20-13 lead on their way to the 25-14 final.

by Gary Andrews

The Southwood volleyball team traveled to Bremen Saturday for the 2A volleyball semi state with the task of taking on #7 Adams Central in the opening round. Hammond Bishop Noll, a state finalist last year waited on the winner after sweeping perennial power Muncie Burris in game one.

The Lady Knights would look good early as they grabbed a 9-7 lead when Adams Central scored three straight to grab a 9-10 lead. The Knights would hang tough though, getting kills from Sarah Peters and Bailey Hobbs and eventually took the lead back 17-16 off a Bailey Lundmark block. The Flying Jets would then grab control, scoring 7 of the next 8 points to lead the Knights 18-22 in route to a 20-25 win.

Southwood would regroup and came out swinging in game two, getting kills from Sarah Peters, Kaitlyn Murphy and Bailey Lundmark to grab a 5-3 lead. Tied at 5 Bailey Hobbs would get a kill and an ace as the Knights scored 5 of the next 7 to lead 14-9. Adams Central would claw their way back and after a 5 point run led 19-20 as an 0-2 score was starring the Knights in the face. With things looking bleak Southwood found one last breath. Down 21-23 Kaitlyn Murphy would get a kill during a 3 point run as the Knights grabbed a 24-23 lead with the Flying Jets answering to knot the score at 24. Murphy would then record another kill with Anna Rees serving an ace and just like that the Knights pulled off game two 26-24 and tied the match 1-1.

by Gary Andrews

Northfield senior cross country runner Jenna Halderman ran in Saturday’s state finals at Terra Haute, becoming a state medalist for the second straight year. Halderman placed 14th in what was the fastest girls state meet in history. Halderman ran the course in 18:24 which was faster than last year and a personal best.

Halderman was the 5th senior to cross the finish line which makes her an Indiana All Star.

Halderman will run for Team Indiana against six other states in two weeks in Ohio.

At the IHSAA Regional at Clinton Central, Southwood faced off with Clinton Central, bringing home the regional title beating Clinton 25-21, 25-20, and 25-23.

Delayne Gentry had 1 service point, 1 assist and 6 digs.

Sami White had 7 service points, 2 aces, 1 kill, 7 digs, 16 assists and 1 block.

Makenna Dawes had 4 digs.

Anna Rees had 6 service points, 1 assist and 5 digs.

Bailey Hobbs had 6 service points, 1 ace, 3 kills, 3 assists, 6 digs and 1 block.

Sarah Peters had 5 service points, 3 aces, 4 kills, and 2 blocks.

Bailey Lundmark had 6 kills and 2 blocks.

Kaitlyn Murphy had 3 kills, 2 blocks and 1 assist.

Emilie Harnish had 16 service points, 7 aces, 7 kills, 7 digs and 1 assist.

The varsity improve their record to 24-13, with a 6-1 TRC record.

Southwood Volleyball will be in action again on Saturday, Nov. 1 at Bremen against Adams Central for the IHSAA Semi-State title at 12:30 p.m.