The Wabash boys basketball team led after each quarter in its Three Rivers Conference contest and held off a late Squire push to pull out a 46-40 win Friday, Jan. 17.
After falling to Wabash by 35 points three weeks earlier, Manchester looked like a different team, taking an early lead before the Apaches took a 14-8 lead after one quarter.
Wabash led 24-19 at halftime and 35-29 after three quarters.

Southwood 61, Manchester 55 (2 OT)

After 36 minutes of play that included an overtime period, the Southwood Knights dominated the second overtime to defeat the Manchester Squires 61-55 Friday night, Dec. 20.

With the score tied 52-52 to start the second overtime, Southwood’s Braden Barney scored off the tip for a 54-52 lead, followed by a basket from Carson Rich 30 second later for a quick 56-52 Knight lead.

A large group of friends and family gathered at the Southwood High School library in support of MaKenna Pace as she signed with Indiana Wesleyan University to continue her softball career.

Pace was a four-year varsity player for the Lady Knights earning many honors such as most valuable player, the Golden Glove award, 1st Team All-TRC and 1st Team All-Wabash. Pace has been a nine-season sports participant, also playing volleyball for one year and basketball for four, she has been a varsity letter winner eight times.

Southwood softball coach, Carl Pace, deemed Pace as the “backbone” of the team.

Wabash

Girls basketball

Oak Hill took control of its girls basketball game against Wabash and cruised to a 40-21 win over the Apaches Tuesday, Dec. 17.

Oak Hill led 8-2 after the first quarter and 27-9 at halftime.

Alivia Short and Mariah Wyatt each had six points, while Madison Lutz added four, Linda Codres had three, and Maya Benysh added two.

Oak Hill won the JV game 41-25.

Brook Westendorf led Wabash with six points, followed by Hannah Layne with five points, Kasey Long and Emma Tracy with four points each, and Ashley Province and Jade Stumpo with three points each.

Northfield outscored Southwood 27-16 in the second quarter to pull out a close 44-36 county and Three Rivers Conference win Friday, Dec. 13.

Southwood jumped out to an 8-6 lead after the first quarter but Northfield took an 18-13 halftime lead.

The Norse added to its lead with a 15-11 third quarter for a 33-24 lead and held on for the win.

Addi Baker led Northfield with 14 points, followed by Kierston Stout with eight points and Kenzie Baer with seven points. 

Emma Hoover added six points, followed by Ainsley Dale with five points, Addy Rosen with two points and E. Pennington with two points.

Southwood was led by Makenna Pace with 13 points and two rebounds, Sydney Helfin with seven points and six rebounds, and Erin Lehner with five points, three assists and three rebounds, Sierra Stout with four points and nine rebounds, Aleia 

Sweet with three points and three rebounds, Maggie Ball with two points and four rebounds and Ashley Smith with two points.

Southwood won the JV game 44-14.

Alaina Winer led with 17 points and six rebounds, followed by Bailey Wyatt with 11 points, seven steals and four rebounds, Ella Haupert with eight rebounds, Meredith Norman with five points and three assists, Autumn Culver with two points and Sweet with one point.

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.