BOYS VARSITY BASKETBALL COUNTY CHAMPIONS: front row, from left: Levi Hicks, Kane Gable, Branden Scott, Cameron Brandenburg, and David McAtee; back row, from left: Chainey Zolman, Chase Fierstos, Heath Dierks, Koehl Fluke, Keelan Norwood, Braydon Sewell, Bailey Ness, and Adam Byers. (photo by Gary Andrews)

by Gary Andrews

Tuesday was championship day at the Wabash County basketball tournament with four champions being crowned. The Wabash Lady Apaches started out the day by winning the girls junior varsity title, topping Northfield 31-24. Twenty minutes later, the Manchester Squire JV boys team took battle with Northfield, holding on for a 44-38 win.

After two varsity consolation games, the Wabash and Northfield varsity girls took the court with the Lady Apaches coming out on top, 43-36. The Manchester and Northfield boys rounded out play for the night, with Manchester taking home the crown 65-55.

by Gary Andrews

For the second game in a row a third quarter lapse by the Manchester boys basketball team hurt big time. Manchester was tied with Huntington at the half before a 22-10 run by the Vikings in the third led them to a 51-39 win over the Squires.

Chainey Zolman would get the first bucket of the game to give the Squires a 2-0 lead before Caleb Landrum hit a three and two free throws to give the Vikings a 5-2 lead. Again it would be Zolman connecting for the Squires to make it 5-4. The last point of the quarter came from a Hunter Hollowell free throw as Huntington led 6-4 after one.

David McAtee would hit two free throws to start the second quarter. Connor Platt would then find the hot hand for the Vikings, draining a deuce and a free throw to give Huntington a 10-7 lead when Zolman drained a three, then scored off an offensive rebound to put Manchester up 12-10. Sam Daugherty would then convert an old fashion three and was followed by a Conner Platt free throw to put the Vikings back up 14-12. Cameron Brandenburg would the tie the score and was followed by Branden Scott connecting for a 16-14 lead. Caleb Landrum ended the half with a bucket as the two teams were tied at 16 at the half.

by Gary Andrews

The Northfield boys basketball team got off to an extremely slow start against Bluffton Saturday, falling behind 21-7 after the first quarter in a 66-59 loss to the Tigers.

Bluffton out scored Northfield 12-10 in the second quarter to lead 33-17 before the Norse would start to chip away. Northfield won the third quarter 22-21 then made a run in the fourth, out scoring the Tigers 20-12 but the first quarter deficit was to much to overcome in the loss.

by Gary Andrews

It was just one of those nights for the Northfield girls’ basketball team as they played host to county rival Southwood. Northfield shot 50 percent for the night and 64 percent from behind the arch in a 53-39 win.

Abby Keaffaber got things going when she drained the first shot of the night from three point land to give Northfield a 3-0 lead. Brooke Elliott would answer with a bucket, but the first quarter would belong to the Norse. Jacklyn Peas answered Elliott’s bucket with one of her own and was followed by Payton Thomson draining a three to put Northfield up 8-2. A Katie Souffer rebound bucket made it 8-4 when Keaffaber and Arie Kennedy hit back to back, making it 12-4. After another Stouffer bucket Peas would score off an offensive rebound and Cherish Leming would end the quarter with a bucket as Northfield led 16-6.

Brooke Elliott would get the scoring going in the second, but was answered by a Cherish Leming three and a free throw to make it 20-8. The Norse would then go on an 11-2 run that opened a 31-10 before Elliott got it stopped with two free throws. During the run Thomson hit a three with Abby Keaffaber scoring three times. At 31-12 Thomson would find the range behind the arch one more time as Northfield took a 34-12 lead to the locker room.

As cold as Southwood was in the first half, just the opposite happened the first four minutes of the third quarter as the Lady Knights scored the first 10 points of the quarter to cut the Northfield lead to 34-22 with 3:59 left. Payton Thomson would then bang home her third three pointer of the night and was followed by a Jacklyn Peas bucket to make it 39-22. Haley Heath and Arie Kennedy would trade buckets with Brooke Elliott hitting the final bucket of the quarter with Northfield leading 41-26 with a quarter to go.

by Gary Andrews

The Southwood varsity boys’ basketball team traveled to Greentown Saturday to take on Eastern, falling 74-72 to the Comets.

Down 17 going into the 4th quarter the Knights hit 5 three’s in the 4th to close to one at 73-72 with 13 seconds left. The Knights then had the ball, down two points with 5 seconds left. A three-point attempt by Alex Harmon did not fall as Eastern held on for the win.

Harmon did score 10 points in the 4th quarter. Matt Nose scored 11 points in the 4th quarter.

Wabash High School recently released the names of the 2015 Hall of Fame Class. The 2015 class includes Lee Showalter (1927), Robert Schuler (1930), Tammy Reahard (1987) and Tim LaMar (1999).

This group will be inducted between games on Jan. 17, when the girls’ basketball teams play Manchester. Wabash High School is still looking for a family member for Lee Showalter. If anyone has information on Lee Showalter, they should call the Wabash Athletic Department at 260-563-4138.

by Gary Andrews

The Wabash girls’ basketball team traveled to Rochester Saturday to battle the 3A, #8 Zebras on their home court, giving the host fits for a half before a cold third quarter by the Apaches resulted in a 49-44 loss.

Wabash played right with Rochester in the first, trailing just 12-10 at the first buzzer, then doubled up on the Zebras 10-5 in the second to take a 20-17 lead at the half.

Cold shooting haunted the Lady Apaches in the third as Rochester out scored Wabash 20-8 to lead 37-28 heading to the fourth, which the Apaches won 16-12 before running out of time in their comeback attempt.

Claire Cromer led the Lady Apaches with 18 points. Kristin Cromer added 9, Sarah Puckett 7, Jaycee Parrett 4, Shelby Stone 4, Madison Barden 2.

by Gary Andrews

The Southwood boys’ basketball team made a run at Huntington Friday, giving the Vikings all they wanted the first half before falling 74-50.

The youthful Knights went toe to toe with the Vikings for a half, at one time leading in the second quarter. Southwood fell behind early but a bucket from Alex Harmon and a three from Carson Blair knotted the score at 6 when a Viking 13-5 run ended the quarter with Huntington leading 19-11.

Playing a 4A school on their home court and trailing after one you can either give up or play like there is nothing to lose. The Knights chose the second option and behind hot shooting from Robbie Cole and Carson Blair mounted a comeback and took a 27-26 lead on a Brandin Frazier bucket. The taller Vikings bounced back and eventually led 36-29 at the half.

Things went south for the Knights in the third quarter as they struggled to find the bucket and keep Huntington away from theirs, losing the quarter 21-7 and trailing 57-36 after three.

Southwood would play right with the Vikings in the fourth, losing the quarter 17-14 for the 74-50 final.

Leading Southwood was Robbie Cole with 12 points. Alex Harmon added 10, Matt Nose 8, Noah Kirk 8, Carson Blair 6, Peyton Trexler 2, Brandin Frazier 2, Clay Hinrishsen 2.