January 29, 2004

SPORTS

Girls basketball splits two games

The YSHS girls basketball team sailed to a 56–28 win over Middletown Christian at home on Jan. 15, but fell to Jefferson, 65–40, on Jan. 24. The Lady Bulldogs are now 8–4.

Megan Burrick, on the ground, and Evin Wimberly battled for the ball during the Lady Bulldogs’ 65–40 loss on Saturday.

The Lady ’Dogs got off to a slow start on Jan. 15, falling behind the Eagles after the first quarter, 12–7.

The Lady Bulldogs turned things around in the second quarter with its press, led by Carly Bailey. Evin Wimberly set the offensive pace when she opened the second quarter by hitting an unguarded 3-pointer. Megan Burrick closed the half by grabbing the rebound on her own missed shot and passing the ball to Dana Ingham for a layup, as the Lady Bulldogs led 27–16.

“Let’s pick it up, show them this is ’Dog town!” Maurice Wimberly, Evin’s father, shouted from the stands. Burrick obliged, opening the third quarter with a 3-pointer, while Evin Wimberly continued to ferret out the ball.

Wimberly scored 28 points, half of the team’s total, to go along with 8 steals. Tricia McLinden had 14 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds. Bailey grabbed 9 boards.

The biggest cheer of the night came in the last minute of the game when Tina Peters scored her first point on a foul shot, which netted the Lady Bulldogs the last point of the evening.

Coach Shirley Cummins said that the win was another good example of the team’s fresh energy that resulted from combining the JV and varsity teams. The two teams merged three weeks ago. “I don’t have to worry about counting quarters anymore, and we can put fresh people in at the end who are hungry,” she said.

Saturday’s game against a Jefferson team with a reputation for size and aggression was decided in the first quarter by the intimidation factor. Jefferson, ranked second in the state in Division IV, outscored the Lady Bulldogs, 28–8, and though the Lady ’Dogs played better in the second half, the gap was too wide to close.

The Broncos’ defense shut down YSHS point guard Wimberly, and the Lady ’Dogs’ nerves got the best of them, Cummins said. Burrick led the Lady Bulldogs with 15 points. Wimberly was limited to 11 points and 7 steals.

“If [the Lady Bulldogs] had totally had the confidence in themselves they would have walked away with the win, but they doubted in their own abilities,” Cummins said. “They’re a good team and they have to believe that. When they believe they can beat teams, they’ll shine.”

The team’s Jan. 17 and Jan. 26 games were canceled due to weather.

McKinney School girls win three

The McKinney School girls basketball team returned to form, beating Xenia Christian 34–8 on Jan. 13. Ashanta Robinson led the scoring with 16 points, followed by Tenia Scarver with 9.

McKinney continued winning last week, defeating eighth-grade opponents Xenia Nazarene in overtime, 17–14, on Jan. 22 and Jefferson, 25–21.

The McKinney girls are now 8–5 overall, and 5–2 against eighth-grade conference opponents.

‘Dogs, Broncos tied for MBC lead

It was an emotional pendulum last week for the YSHS boys basketball team, which suffered a devastating 65–64 loss to Jefferson on Jan. 16, and then four days later came back to defeat Xenia Christian, 62–60, in front of a beaming home crowd on Tuesday.

Dustin Rudegeair going up for a shot during his 21-point performance against Miami Valley on Friday. The Bulldogs won, 73–53.

The intensity made the Bulldogs’ 78–53 win over Miami Valley on Jan. 23 pale in comparison.

Against Jefferson, the Bulldogs jumped out to an 18–8 lead, before hitting a dry spell in the second quarter, as the Broncos narrowed the Bulldogs’ lead to 25–21 at half-time.

The teams were neck and neck through the fourth quarter until, with less than a minute to go and the Bulldogs ahead 49–47, the Broncos scored and forced the game into overtime.

Jefferson led during the first OT, but the Bulldogs evened the score and pushed the game to a second tie breaker. Jefferson again grabbed the lead, but the Bulldogs would not let up, scoring 5 straight points to pull ahead 64–62.

Jefferson called a time-out to work up a play, and the Broncos sank a 45-foot shot to win.

In the excitement the Broncos left the court without a congratulatory handshake. So the Bulldogs filed into the Broncos’ locker room to shake their hands.

“I was proud to be a Bulldog that day,” assistant coach Greg Felder said. “Everyone in the community should realize that this is a special group of kids. If these guys can maintain that kind of attitude, they’ll go far. They’ll go far in life.”

It didn’t take the Bulldogs long to rebound. In their game against Xenia Christian, the team got off to a typically slow start, but quickly came back from 6 points down to overtake Xenia midway through the second quarter. Anthony Brandon hit a 3-pointer to give the Bulldogs their biggest lead of the night, 43–31, in the third quarter.

In the fourth, the Bulldogs relaxed their press and Xenia stormed back to lead 55–52, and it looked like it might be a replay of the Jefferson game. When Rudegeair found himself at the free-throw line at 60–60 with less than a minute to go, the similarity could not be denied.

“I knew our team couldn’t have another close game like that,” Dustin Rudegeair said. “And I knew everyone would work hard to make it happen.”

Rudegeair made both his shots, then blocked Xenia’s attempt for a tie.

Jordan Skinner led the Bulldogs with a career-high 30 points against Miami Valley on Friday. Twenty-five of his points came in the first half. Skinner also had 12 rebounds, while Rudegeair scored 21.

The Bulldogs are now 8–3 overall and tied with Jefferson for first place at 5–1 in the Metro Buckeye Conference. The ’Dogs, who won the MBC last year, play the Broncos at home on Friday, Feb. 13.

“In the last four years it’s either been Yellow Springs or Jefferson in the finals,” Newsome said. “They’re trying to swing the pendulum their way and we’re trying to keep them from doing it.”

“We still feel like we control our own destiny,” Newsome said. “We’re the champs until we say we’re not the champs.”

Boys 4th, girls 6th at Bellefontaine

The YSHS boys swam to fourth place and the girls finished sixth at the nine-team Bellefontaine Invitational swim meet last Saturday, at the Bellefontaine YMCA.

In the boys competition, the 200 free relay of Michael Hosket, Jonathan Bullock, Evan Gerthoffer and Will McCuddy placed third. The 400 free relay team of Hosket, Gerthoffer, Jacob Wishart and Will McCuddy also placed third.

In individual competition, Hosket swam to season-best times in the 100 freestyle to place second, and the 50 freestyle to place fifth.

McCuddy placed fourth in the 200 freestyle with his best time of the season, and fifth in the 500 freestyle.

Wishart was fifth in the 200 freestyle and third in the 500. Gerthoffer placed sixth in the 100 breaststroke. Brandon Carver-Halley placed seventh in the 100 breaststroke.

In the girls competition, Amanda Bush, Olivia Dixon, Eve GunderKline and Michaela McCuddy placed sixth in the 400 free relay and seventh in the 200 medley.

In individual competition, GunderKline had a very good day, swimming season-best times in the 100 breaststroke to place fifth, and in the 100 freestyle to finish sixth. Dixon swam her best time of the season in the 100 breaststroke to place eighth.

The teams practiced hard right up to the night before the meet, which may have helped several swimmers post season-best times, even in a slow pool, coaches Dave Wishart and Mickey Bullock said. Though the teams were missing some key people due to conflicts, “both of our teams placed pretty well,” Wishart said.