Van Buren grinds out victory over McComb

VAN BUREN 52McCOMB 43McCOMB – Van Buren trailed McComb 13-8 after one period of play on Friday.But the Black Knights used lots of depth and lots of balance to grind their way back and come away with a 52-43 win in the Blanchard Valley Conference boys basketball opener for both teams.McComb's Casen Stately, a 6-foot junior, scored eight points in the first quarter in powering the Panthers to their early lead. Stately would score nine points in the fourth quarter and finish with a game high 21, but that would account for almost half of McComb's total offense.Van Buren started grinding its way back, with six players leading the charge.Grady Miller and Brady Lance hit 3-pointers that ignited a 12-8 Van Buren edge in the second quarter, and Will Rampe (7 points) and Finn Martin (6) fueled a 22-point fourth surge that allowed the Knights to pull away.Rampe would finish with 14 points and Finn had 12. Miller (7), Anikan Ortega (6), Lance (5) and Alex Homan (5) combined for another 23 points in the comeback.Van Buren is 1-1 and will take a 1-0 BVC mark into Friday's game at Arcadia.McComb is 0-2 heading into today's nonleague matchup with Upper Scioto Valley.VAN BUREN (1-1)Ortega 3-0—6, Bishop 1-1—3, Homan 2-1—5, Miller 3-0—7, Lance 2-0—5, Martin 4-4—12, Rampe 5-4—14. TOTALS: 20-10—52.MCCOMB (1-1)Stately 7-7—21, Kern 2-1—5, Gonzalez 3-0—8, Schroeder 1-2—4. TOTALS: 15-10—43.Van Buren 8 12 10 22—52McComb 13 8 8 14—433-POINT GOALS: Van Buren 2 (Miller, Lance); McComb 3 (Gonzalez 2, Halker). P-GILBOA 58ELMWOOD 56BLOOMDALE– Pandora-Gilboa overcame a 35-22 halftime deficit to edge out Elmwood 58-56 on Friday in opening-night BVC action. Cory Gerten notched a game-high 24 points for the Rockets, knocking down six 3-pointers. Camden Verhoff finished with 18 points. Elmwood's Owen Traxler connected on four triples, scoring 23 points for the Royals. Landry Seedorf and Kason Hammer each added a trio of triples, as Seedorf ended with 18 points and Hammer put up 12. The Rockets, up to 2-0 following the win, travel to Cory-Rawson today. Elmwood (0-2) hosts McComb on Friday.P-GILBOA (2-0)Gerten 9-0–24, Verhoff 7-3–18, Kempf 2-1–5, J. Buell 2-1–5, Meyer 1-1–4, A. Buell 0-2–2. TOTALS: 21-8–58.ELMWOOD (0-2)Traxler 6-7–23, Seedorf 7-1–18, Hammer 4-1–12, Plouck 1-1–3. TOTALS: 18-10–56.P-Gilboa 10 12 21 15–58Elmwood 18 17 14 7–563-POINT GOALS: P-Gilboa 8 (Gerten 6); Elmwood 10 (Traxler 4). L-BENTON 63ARCADIA 41ARCADIA– Liberty-Benton jumped out to a 15-4 first-quarter lead and rolled to 63-41 win over Arcadia on Friday. Four Eagles finished in double digits, led by Lincoln Holler with 20 points. Cooper Conaway scored 14 points. Luke Gerken hit two triples for 13 points, and Reid Irwin ended with 12. Isaac Stoner led the Redskins with 15 points. Grady Bronston added 12 points, hitting twice from long range.The Eagles improved their BVC winning streak to 28 with Friday's win, and now sit at 1-0 on the year. L-B hosts Leipsic on Friday, while Arcadia (0-2) hosts North Baltimore today.L-BENTON (1-0)Holler 6-7–20, Conaway 6-1–14, Gerken 5-1–13, Irwin 5-1–12, Latta 1-1–4. TOTALS: 23-11–63.ARCADIA (0-2)Stoner 6-3–15, Bronston 4-2–12, Colman 2-2–6, Green 1-3–5, Tucker 1-0–2, Rank 0-1–1. TOTALS: 14-11–41. L-Benton 15 9 23 16–63Arcadia 4 9 17 11–413-POINT GOALS: L-Benton 6 (Gerken 2); Arcadia 2 (Brobston 2). U. SANDUSKY 45B. CENTRAL 33UPPER SANDUSKY– Upper Sandusky defeated Buckeye Central 45-33 in boys N-10 play on Friday.The Rams held the Bucks to just two points in the fourth quarter, and just nine in the entire second half, where the Rams poured in 22. Matt Schoenberger drilled eight three-pointers, scoring 24 to lead the Rams. Josh Heilman recorded 10 points.Cade Daniel paced the Bucks with 12 points.The Rams, now all even at 1-1, will be at Tiffin Columbian today before traveling to rival Carey on Thursday. B. CENTRAL (0-2)Daniel 5-0–12, Hafner 4-0–8, Kaiser 2-0–5, H. Caudill 2-0–4, Fourtner 1-0–2, L. Caudill 1-0–2. TOTALS: 15-0–33.U. SANDUSKY (1-1)Schoenberger 8-0–24, Heilman 2-6–10, Smith 2-0–4, Clark 1-0–3, King 1-0–2, Arter 1-0–2. TOTALS: 15-6–45.B. Central 9 15 6 2–33U. Sandusky 8 15 13 7-453-POINT GOALS: B. Central 3 (Daniel 2); U. Sandusky 9 (Schoenberger 8).TURNOVERS: B. Central 22, U. Sandusky 7. ADA 65VANLUE 15ADA– Ada poured in 31 points in the first quarter in Friday's dominating 65-15 win over Vanlue.Kayleb Hickman paced the Bulldogs with 16 points. Zack Zimmerman ended with 13 points, Blake Zoladz scored eight and Carson Conley and Tyler Stauffer added seven each. Owen Roszman scored 10 of the Wildcats' 15 points, and grabbed six rebounds. Now 2-0, Ada takes on Allen East on the road today, before beginning a four-game home stand across the next two weeks. Vanlue will travel to Arlington on Friday.VANLUE (0-2)Roszman 3-4–10, Hamilton 1-0–3, Shulaw 1-0–2. TOTALS: 5-4–15.ADA (2-0)Hickman 7-1–16, Zimmerman 6-0–13, Zoladz 3-2–8, Conley 3-0–7, Stauffer 3-1–7, McKeon 2-1–5, Oldfield 1-2–4, A. Brown 1-0–2, Allen 1-0–2, C. Brown 0-1–1. TOTALS: 27-8–65.Vanlue 6 4 2 3–15Ada 31 19 7 8–653-POINT GOALS: Vanlue 1 (Hamilton); Ada 3 (Hickman, Zimmerman, Conley). RIVERDALE 55LEIPSIC 30LEIPSIC– Riverdale defeated Leipsic 55-30 to open up Blanchard Valley Conference play on Friday night.Hayden Scott led the Falcons with 21 points and Grady Haley finished with 15. Riverdale kept the Vikings to just five second-half points. Leipsic's Calvin Miller scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds.The Falcons will travel to Ada on Friday and then begin a four-game holiday homestand, running from December 13 to January 2.Leipsic is back on the court today with a road contest at Hardin Northern.RIVERDALEScott 9-2–21, Haley 6-5–18, Inbody 3-0–6, Young 1-3–5, Tucker 1-0–3, Boucher 1-0–2. TOTALS: 21-8–55.LEIPSICMiller 4-1–11, Eagleson 2-0–6, Garcia 3-0–6, Hernandez 1-0–2, Cunningham 1-0–2, Lammers 0-2–2, Walther 0-1–1. TOTALS: 11-1–30.Riverdale 14 15 17 9–55Leipsic 8 15 5 2–303-POINT GOALS: Riverdale 3 (Scott, Haley, Tucker); Leipsic 4 (Miller, Eagleson 2). ARLINGTON 64C-RAWSON 23RAWSON– Arlington defeated Cory-Rawson 64-23 in non-conference action on Friday, holding the Hornets scoreless in the fourth to secure the win.The Red Devils were up by 20 points after the first quarter, leading 28-8 before going up 45-18 at the half. Carson Reece scored 11 to lead the Hornets, sinking a pair of triples. The Red Devils (2-1) host Vanlue on Friday at 7 p.m. Cory-Rawson, now 0-2, travels to Mohawk today at 6:30 p.m.Arlington 28 17 13 6–64C-Rawson 8 10 5 0–23 O. HARBOR 49FOSTORIA 36OAK HARBOR– Oak Harbor's 17-4 first-quarter lead helped it to a 49-36 win over Fostoria on Friday.Oak Harbor's Zach Hallett led all scorers with 18 points, while Jayceon Tucker paced the Redmen with 15. Jaden Smith finished with eight, and Julius Smith added six.FOSTORIATucker 5-4-15, Ja. Smith 3-0–8, Ju. Smith 3-0–6, B. Trent 2-0–4, M.Trent 1-0–3. TOTALS: 14-4–36.OAK HARBORHallett 7-4–18, Ares 3-1–8, Steinbrick 2-0–6, Rife 2-2–6, Stewart 2-0–4, Brooks 1-1–3, Witt 1-1–3, Perkins 0-1–1. TOTALS: 18-10–49.Fostoria 4 7 17 8–36Oak Harbor 17 7 12 13–493-POINT GOALS: Fostoria 4 (Ja. Smith 2); Oak Harbor 3 (Steinbrick 2).TURNOVERS: Fostoria 16, Oak Harbor 16. H. NORTHERN 64MARION ELGIN 25MARION– Jake Cook scored 17 as Hardin Northern routed Marion Elgin 64-25 on Friday night.Alex Gatchel ended with 11 points for the Polar Bears. Paul Minter added nine points. The Polar Bears, now improved to 2-1, host the Leipsic Vikings today at 4:30 p.m.