December 22, 2005

sports

Bulldog sports roundup

Compiled by Lauren Heaton

Boys basketball improves to 3–1
The boys basketball team came to a 3–1 season record last week by beating Greenon 44–42 on Saturday, Dec. 10 and knocking down Xenia Christian 58–49 on Tuesday, Dec. 13. The Bulldogs took their first loss at 71–63 against Ridgeville Christian on Friday, Dec. 16. The game against Miami Valley on Dec. 9 was cancelled due to weather.

Against Greenon, the Bulldogs held a 24–12 halftime lead, but slowed down in the third quarter to let the Knights catch up. Holding on in the last period, the two teams traded the lead until just over a minute remained in the game and Brad Benning-Clark put back a shot to go up 41–40 for Yellow Springs. Greenon scored with 40 seconds left to take back the lead. But with 18 seconds left, Nick Eastman threw a fast pass to Benning-Clark, who finished with a layup and a foul to take the Bulldogs up for the win. Benning-Clark was the lead scorer with 18 points, and Issa Walker had 13 points.

The Bulldogs secured an early lead against Xenia and widened the gap by as much as 21 points at 44–23 until midway through the third quarter when Xenia made a run to get within 10 points of Yellow Springs. But the Bulldogs worked their way back to a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter to close out the win. Yellow Springs forced 24 turnovers, and Benning-Clark was the high scorer with 18 points. Walker had 13 points and Eastman had 8 points and 10 rebounds.

Against Ridgeville, the Bulldogs suffered a low-scoring first quarter at 20–9 and never recovered. Yellow Springs outscored the Lions 19–16 in the second period and matched them point for point with 16 and 19 points for each team in the third and fourth quarters, but the opening gap proved too large to overcome. Walker led the team with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Anthony Carter had a key performance with 15 points and 4 steals, while Benning-Clark contributed his normal 16 points.

The Bulldogs were ranked fourth in the area by the Dayton Daily News last week. Coach Brad Newsome hopes the team can work out its decision-making skills and stay positive and focused through the rest of the season, he said.

The McKinney School 7th grade boys team improved to 3–0 in the season by defeating Miami Valley 42–33 on Saturday, Dec. 17. Robert Harden led the team with 15 points, and Carl Weiner had 10.

Girls basketball wins two
The YSHS girls basketball team is off to a nice 6–1 start after blowing away both Tri-County North, 53–34, on Tuesday, Dec. 13 and Xenia Christian, 61–38, on Saturday, Dec. 17. Last Thursday’s game against Dayton Christian was cancelled due to weather.

The Lady Bulldogs had the lead for most of the game against Tri-County, though their opponents’ quick defense caused Yellow Springs to turn the ball over 19 times. Carly Bailey had her best game of the year, scoring 19 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. Megan Burrick contributed 14 and Tenia Scarver added another 15 points. Defensive stand-outs Alisha Walker, Alisha Lucas and Jessica Kellar caused numerous Tri-County turnovers, while Jenny Barnett grabbed 4 boards and caused two jump balls. Other scorers were Ryder Comstock with 4 points, Alisha Walker with 3, and both Ashante Robinson and Olivia Chen with 2 points.

The Lady ’Dogs were red hot against Xenia, scoring 22 points in the first quarter, including 3-pointers from Burrick and Scarver. The Ambassadors matched the Bulldogs in the second period with an even 12 points for each team. Yellow Springs couldn’t open the gap on Xenia in the second half with the Ambassadors outscoring them 16–4 points in the third. But in the final period, Robinson scored 11 of her 16 points to drive home the win.

“We had to play tough defensively because Xenia’s team is explosive. I turned my back and bam, bam, bam, they hit three 3-pointers in 45 seconds,” coach Alex Autry said. “But Ryder Comstock and Alisha Walker played some of the best defense I’ve seen in awhile, and the good thing was that the girls learned how fast someone can get back into the game in this conference.”

Burrick had 23 points and 7 steals for the evening. Scarver dished out eight assists and scored 8 points, while Bailey added 11 points to help the Bulldogs come out victorious.

The McKinney School girls team defeated Miami Valley 19–17 on Saturday, Dec. 17. Stephanie Scott and Marlee Layh led the team with 7 and 6 points, respectively.

YS swimmers battle for places
The Yellow Springs High School boys and girls swimming teams opened their season at the Greenon High School Fall Invitational at Wittenberg University on Dec. 10. The girls scored 12 points for 12th place among 15 teams, and the boys placed 7th out of 13 teams, scoring 59 points. On Saturday, Dec. 17, the teams swam against Springfield North in the Panther Invitational, where the girls scored three points to finish 11th out of 13 teams, and the boys scored 14 points to finish 7th out of 13.

Three Yellow Springs girls competed against Greenon. Olivia Dixon placed 17th in the 100 freestyle and 13th in the 50 breaststroke, swimming strong early-season times in both races. Jenny Barnett placed 11th in the 50 backstroke, scoring 2 points for the Lady Dogs in her first high school competition. Eve GunderKline opened her season with a 5th place finish in the 50 breaststroke to score 10 points.

For the boys competing in the Greenon meet, the 200 medley relay team including Jacob Wishart (backstroke), Brandon Carver-Halley (breaststroke), Peter Lovering (butterfly), and Peter Carver (freestyle), placed 5th to score 20 points. The same foursome placed 11th in the 200 freestyle relay to score four points. In individual events, Jacob Wishart placed third in the 100 freestyle, scoring 12 points. In the same event, Lovering placed 6th to score nine points and Peter Carver finished 29th with a strong swim for his first high school meet. Wishart finished 5th in the 50 backstroke to score 10 points, while Carver-Halley was 9th in the 50 breaststroke to score 4 points.

At the Panther Invitational for the girls, the 200 medley relay team including Barnett (backstroke), Dixon (breaststroke), Tina Chen (butterfly), and Miriam Barcus (freestyle) placed 13th. The 400 freestyle relay comprised of Chen, Barnett, Barcus, and GunderKline finished 8th to score 2 points. Barcus had a strong swim in the 200 freestyle to finish 9th, one place out of the scoring column. In the 50 freestyle, Miriam Barcus placed 17th, followed by Liz Zaff racing in her first high school meet to 35th place, Claire Triplett in 51st place, also swimming her first high school meet. Triplett also swam to an 18th place finish in the 100 backstroke. Eve GunderKline place 8th in the 100 freestyle to score a point.

The boys medley relay at the Panther Invitational included Wishart (backstroke), Carver-Halley (breaststroke), Lovering (butterfly) and Carver (freestyle), who finished 10th. The same 400 freestyle relay team finished 5th to score eight points. In individual events, Wishart placed 6th in both the 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle, scoring three points in each event. Lovering placed 10th in the grueling 200 individual medley and 11th in the 100 breaststroke.

Coaches Abby Guiler and Jennifer Malone were pleased with the results in both meets. Coach Guiler noted that many of Yellow Springs returning swimmers are way ahead of where they were last season and that the new additions to both teams were contributing significantly.

Contact: lheaton@ysnews.com

Annual YSHS alumni basketball tourney

The annual Yellow Springs High School alumni basketball tournament will be held Friday, Dec. 30, and Saturday, Dec. 31, in the high school gym. This year’s teams are as follows:

The classes of 1983 and before; 1984–1986; 1997–1991; 1991–1995; 1996–1998; 1999–2001; 2002–2003; and 2004–2005. Game times will be printed in next week’s News issue.

Participants can sign up to play on Dec. 30. The cost to play is $10 per player. Admission to the tournament is $3 per day. Proceeds benefit the Yellow Springs basketball program. For more information, call Carl Schumacher at 532-3474, Jeff Mohlman at 416-0139 or Brent Robinson at 605-4939.