First place will be on the line in the MVL Miami Division this week… the number of area unbeatens is down to 2…and one team can clinch a division title this week.
May I vent for just a moment? I watch a lot of sports on television, and it drives me crazy when announcers talk about a “one possession” game. There is no such thing. In no sport do you get points for having possession. It’s a one score game. Might take a team 4 or 5 possessions to get that score, but I have never heard anyone talk about a five possession game. Just me. Thanks.
Now on to the business at hand. The Fort Loramie Lady Redskins continue to make statements every time they take the floor. The numbers from their 79-19 demolition of Loudenville at the Classic in the Country in Berlin Saturday were eye-opening.
Here are three:
The Redskins had 34 Field Goals; Loudenville had 33 SHOTS
Loudenville had 6 more turnovers (39) than shots
Loramie scored an astounding 49 points off those turnovers.
Senior Taylor Ratermann and the Loramie girls went outside the area on Saturday and solidified their grip on the #1 ranking.
Deservedly, the Redskins are the top ranked Division Four team in the state. They host Miami East Tuesday and travel to Versailles on Saturday.
Anna is still in the hunt in the Shelby County League, one game back of the Redskins. Anna is 13-4 overall, and travels to Jackson Center in league play Thursday night. The Rockets will then host Minster in a high-profile non-Conference match-up Saturday.
Marion Local and Fort Recovery are a little more than a week away from a showdown for the MAC title. The Flyers bounced back from their loss to Anna last week with a last second win over Minster and are 14-1 on the season. Marion travels to 7-9 Delphos St John’s Thursday, then hosts Newton on Saturday.
The Indians have also been on a roll, winning 8 of their last 9. Their only loss in that streak was to state ranked Ottawa Glandorf. Recovery takes a trip to South Adams, Indiana Tuesday night, then hosts 7-7 Coldwater on Thursday. Marion Local will host the showdown on January 30th.
The first year of the new Miami Valley League has been marked by a severe imbalance in the divisions in girls basketball. Sidney can clinch the Valley division title by beating Vandalia Wednesday or Xenia Saturday. While the Jackets have been one of the best stories of the season (12-4 after winning two games the past two seasons combined) the rest of the division has been awful. Fairborn, Stebbins, Xenia and West Carrollton are a combined 11-50. Just awful.
ML Dunn has moved. Check out their new location on West National Road in Englewood.
That has not been the case in the Valley Division. Tippecanoe and Vandalia Butler are a combined 23-1 in league play, while Piqua and Troy have both been competitive as well. Tipp won the first meeting with Vandalia 34-29 on January 8 and will host the rematch to end the regular season on February 8th.
Tipp is home to West Carrollton Wednesday and Greenville Saturday, while Butler is at Sidney and Troy.
Tri-Village’s unbeaten season ended at Classic in the Country, falling to Margaretta, the second ranked team in Division III, 62-59. The Patriots scored just 11 points in the first half to dig a deep hole, then almost got out with a 34-point fourth quarter. The Patriots, who host Tri-County North Thursday night, have a one game lead in the Cross County Conference over Franklin Monroe and Arcanum. The Pats have already beaten the Jets and will meet Arcanum February 6th.
13-2 Franklin Monroe hosts 11-3 Bradford Thursday, while 11-5 Arcanum is at 2-14 Mississinawa Valley the same night.
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For the boys this week…Versailles is the lone unbeaten, sitting atop the Midwest Athletic conference at 5-0 and 14-0 overall. The Tigers have a tough week in front of them, traveling to Vandalia Butler Tuesday and then hosting a feisty Parkway team on Friday. The Aviators are 5-1 this month after a 2-5 start, while Parkway is 10-4 and tied with Delphos St John’s for second in the MAC, one game behind Versailles in the lost column.
St John’s, which lost a battle of unbeatens to Lima Shawnee on January 11th, stumbled at home against Coldwater to drop into that tie for second. The Blue Jays try to get back on track Friday night at Marion Local.
Michael Stammen and the Versailles Tigers stand as the lone unbeaten among area teams, 14-0 entering this week.
The Troy Trojans and Tippecanoe Red Devils will decide first place in the MVL Valley division Tuesday night. The Trojans, who have won 10 games in a season just once in the last 7 seasons, are 9-4 and have won three straight. Troy has been in every game, with their four losses coming by a total of 19 points. Tipp has gone the other way, starting 6-1 before losing all three games on a Florida trip over the holidays. The Red Devils enter Tuesday night’s game at Troy having lost 5 of their last 7.
We have said this for a couple of weeks now…the hottest team in the area is the Anna Rockets. The winning streak is now 7 after a 79-50 drubbing of Fairlawn Friday. The Rockets, who are tied with Jackson Center in the loss column in the Shelby County League, took on Ottoville Monday at Flyin’ to the Hoop, then travels to Russia Friday.
Jackson Center, meanwhile, will try to recover from that discouraging double overtime loss at Marion Local with a pair of non-league games. The Tigers (11-2, 7-1 in league play), are home to Lehman Friday night, then host New Bremen Saturday.
National Trail remains the class of the Cross County Conference, though the Blazers still have four teams within shouting distance in the league race. Trail is 12-2 overall, while no one else in the league has less than 6 losses. The Blazers host Ansonia Friday before Eaton visits Saturday. Mississinawa Valley, which is one game back, plays at Arcanum, which is two back, on Friday night.
There are two unbeatens in the Western Buckeye League. Lima Shawnee, ranked 8th in Division two, and Ottawa-Glandorf, ranked third in Division Three, are both 13-0 and will meet on the 31st at Shawnee. We will take a closer look at the showdown next week.
If you are fortunate enough to get the holiday off, enjoy it. Don’t forget the Moeller Beer Barn Scoreboard every night for all the scores and read about all of the biggest games of the season right here on Press Pros!
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After a stumbling start, the Anna Rockets have won even straight and threaten to run away from the rest of the Shelby County League. (Press Pros Feature Photos)