Van Buren tops P-G, closing in on BVC crown

VAN BUREN 44P-GILBOA 36PANDORA – Van Buren's Will Rampe scored nine of his team-high 15 points in the fourth quarter and the Black Knights moved within one win of claiming at least a share of the Blanchard Valley Conference boys basketball title with a 44-36 win over Pandora-Gilboa on Friday.Van Buren chalked up its 14th straight win since a season-opening loss to Ottawa-Glandorf and improved to 8-0 in the BVC. The Black Knights, who last won the BVC crown during the 2018-019 season, lead Arlington (14-3, 6-1 BVC) by one game and Arcadia (11-4, 6-2 BVC) and Liberty-Benton (9-6, 5-2 BVC) by two with two league games left. Both on the road, at Vanlue next week and at Elmwood on Feb. 13.Cole Bishop scored 11 points and Brady Lance added 10 in Friday's win over P-G. Camden Verhoff had a game-high 19 points for the Rockets (7-8, 4-3 BVC).VAN BUREN (14-1, 8-0 BVC)Ortega 2-0—5, Bishop 4-0—11, Lance 4-1—10, Martin 0-3—3, Rampe 6-3—15. TOTALS: 16-7—44.P-GILBOA (7-8. 4-3 BVC)Gerten 1-5—7, Verhoff 8-0—19, Meyer 0-2—2, Kempf 2-0—6, A. Buell 1-0—2. TOTALS: 12-7—36.Van Buren 8 9 16 11—44P-Gilboa 9 4 9 14—363-POINT GOALS: Van Buren 5 (Bishop 3, Lance, Ortega); Pandora-Gilboa 5 (Verhoff 3, Kempf 2). ARCADIA 51RIVERDALE 48MOUNT BLANCHARD – Riverdale held Arcadia's Isaac Stoner, the leading scorer in the Blanchard Valley Conference at 20.1 points a game, to just six points on Friday.Grady Bronston stepped up big for the Redskins, though, pumping in 21 points – almost double his season average – in leading Arcadia to a 51-48 BVC win over the Falcons.Bronston, a 6-foot-2 junior, scored 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter. Lamarion Tucker nailed one 3-pointer, was 4-for-4 from the line and scored seven of his 12 points in the final period, when Arcadia overcame a 34-30 deficit by outscoring Riverdale 21-14.Arcadia improved to 11-4 overall and at 6-2 sits in third place in the BVC standings. Hayden Scott pumped in 20 points for Riverdale, 10-6 overall and 3-4 in BVC play.ARCADIA (11-4, 6-2 BVC)Stoner 1-4—6, Green 2-0—4, Bronston 9-2—21, Brubaker 4-0—8, Tucker 3-4—12. TOTALS: 19-10—51.RIVERDALE (10-6, 3-4 BVC))Haley 4-1—9, Inbody 2-0—4, Flowers-Barger 2-1—7, Young 2-1—6, Scott 7-3—20, Elwood 1-0—2. TOTALS: 18-6—48.Arcadia 10 10 10 21—51Riverdale 14 9 11 14—483-POINT GOALS: Arcadia a3 (Tucker 2, Bronston); Riverdale 6 (Scott 3, Flowers-Barger 2, Young).JUNIOR VARSITY: Riverdale, 33-30. LEIPSIC 67VANLUE 41LEIPSIC – Leipsic put 11 players in the scoring column and used a 31-15 edge in the second and third quarters in beating Vanlue 67-41 on Friday and chalking up its first BVC win of the season.Calvin Miller, a 6-foot-2 junior, scored 13 points in the first quarter, had 20 in the books by halftime, and finished with 26. Grady Bryan added nine points for the Vikings (3-12, 1-6 BVC).Brady Hamilton had a 12-point, 13-rebound double-double for Vanlue. Owen Roszman led the Wildcats (0-15, 0-7 BVC) with 17 points and Laine Saltzman scored 10.VANLUE (0-15, 0-7 BVC)Saltzman 4-0—10, Miller 1-0—2, Roszman 6-5—17, Hamilton 6-0—12. TTOALS: 17-52 5-7—41.LEIPSIC (3-12, 1-6 BVC)Miller 9-5—26, Carrillo 1-0—2, Hernandez 2-2—7, Beckman 1-0—3, Gonzales 2-0—6, Walther 1-0—2, Lammers 1-2—4, Bryan 2-1—6, Eagleson 2-0—5, Cunningham 1-0—2, Garcia 2-0—4. TOTALS: 24-10—67.Vanlue 10 7 8 16—41Leipsic 18 14 17 18—673-POINT GOALS: Vanlue 2-12 (Saltzman 2)REBOUNDS: Vanlue 29 (Hamilton 13, Roszman 6).TURNOVERS: Vanlue 21.JUNIOR VARSITY: Leipsic, 31-6. LIMA BATH 45O-GLANDORF 33LIMA – Lima Bath outscored Ottawa-Glanodrf 27-17 in the second half to cap off Friday's 45-33 Western Buckeye League win over the Titans.Logan Markley scored 12 points and Dagan Hawkins had 10 to lead Bath (11-5, 4-2 WBL). Brody Fortman's 13 points were a team high for an ice cold O-G (10-4, 5-2 WBL) team that connected on just 1-of-16 3-point attempts and 11-of-45 shots (24.4 percent) overall.O-GLANDORF (10-4, 5-2 WBL) Heitmeyer 1-0—3, Fortman 3-7—13, Maag 0-1—1, Duling 1-2—4, Yaeger 1-0—2, Schumaker 3-0—6, Pester 1-0—2, Ellerbrock 1-0—2. TOTALS: 11-45 10-14—33.BATH (11-5, 4-2 WBL)Hawkins 2-5—10, Markley 3-6—12, Clark 1-1—4, Cole 2-1—5, Pester 3-0—7, Welsch 2-2—7. TOTALS: 13-36 15-19—45.O-Glandorf 6 10 8 9—33Bath 5 13 11 16—453-POINT GOALS: Ottawa-Glandorf 1-16 (Heitmeyer); Lima Bath 4 (Hawkins, Clark, Pester, Welsch).JUNIOR VARSITY: Ottawa-Glandorf 43-26. L-BENTON 74MCCOMB 45MCCOMB– Liberty-Benton jumped out to a 21-6 lead after the first quarter and cruised to a 74-45 Blanchard Valley Conference victory over McComb on Friday night.L-B scored 20-plus in each of the first three quarters in Friday's big win. Lincoln Holler sank five three-pointers for the Eagles, finishing with a game-high 30 points. Reid Irwin notched 16 points, and Luke Gerken tacked on 14. Luke Kern paced the Panthers with 20 points. Zaiden Gonzales had eight, and Madden Halker added seven.The Eagles (9-6, 5-2 BVC) host the Bluffton Pirates today at 5:30. McComb, now 4-12 and 0-7 in BVC games, travels to Cory-Rawson today at 7 p.m. in a non-conference affair.L-BENTONHoller 11-3–30, Irwin 7-1–16, Gerken 6-1–14, Troyer 2-0–6, Conaway 1-1–3, Thomas 1-0–3, Latta 1-0–2. TOTALS: 29-6–74.MCCOMBKern 9-2–20, Gonzales 3-1–8, Halker 2-2–7, Schroeder 3-0–6, Stateler 1-0–2, Hart 0-2–2. TOTALS: 18-7–45.L-Benton 21 23 22 8–74McComb 6 17 13 9–45THREE-POINT FIELD GOALS: L-Benton 10 (Holler 5); McComb 2 (Gonzales, Halker). SPENCERVILLE 65BLUFFTON 31BLUFFTON– Spencerville dominated Bluffton in the second half en route to a 65-31 NWC victory on Friday evening.The Bearcats scored 32 points in the second half, holding the Pirates to just 10. Spencerville notched 12 threes as a unit, with three different players connecting on at least two. Will Sensabaugh led all scorers with 21 points for the Bearcats, netting five three-pointers. Grady Smith hit two triples, finishing with 18 points. Landon Kahle added a trio of long-range jumpers for nine points.Bluffton's Bean Ginther ended with nine points. Parker Lovell scored seven points, while Robby Taylor tacked on two triples for six points. The Pirates fell to 5-10 and 0-5 in the NWC, and travel to Liberty-Benton today at 5:30. SPENCERVILLESensabaugh 6-4–21, Smith 5-6–18, Kahle 3-0–9, Grigsby 3-0–6, Stemen 1-1–4, Comer 1-2–4, Hartman 1-0–3. TOTALS: 16-13–65.BLUFFTONB. Ginther 2-4–9, Lovell 2-3–7, Taylor 2-0–6, Scoles 1-0–3, Donley 1-0–2, A. Ginther 1-0–2, L. Ginther 0-2–2. TOTALS: 9-9–31.Spencerville 15 18 23 9–65Bluffton 10 11 5 5–31THREE-POINT FIELD GOALS: Spencerville 12 (Sensabaugh 5); Bluffton 4 (Taylor 2). W-GOSHEN 84C-RAWSON 50WAYNESFIELD– Waynesfield-Goshen handled NWCC opponent Cory-Rawson 84-50 on Friday at home.The Tigers snagged a much-needed conference victory, now up to 4-2 and 8-6 overall after beating conference foe North Baltimore a week ago. Austin Inbody led the Hornets with 26 points, knocking down a trio of long-range shots. Carson Reese added two made threes, finishing with nine points. Shyler Ludwig added on seven points.The Hornets (3-12, 2-4 NWCC) host the familiar McComb Panthers today at 7 p.m. LIMA PERRY 51N. BALTIMORE 42LIMA– Lima Perry edged out North Baltimore in an NWCC matchup on Friday night.The Commodores got their first win of the season in Friday's game, moving to 1-15 and 1-6 in the NWCC.The Tigers (4-14, 1-6 NWCC) host Ridgedale on Friday at 7 for another conference battle. P. HENRY 63LIB. CENTER 56HAMLER– Patrick Henry won its fourth straight on Friday, defeating Liberty Center 63-56. Mack Hieber, now just 38 points away from the Patriots' all-time scoring record, ended with a game-high 22 points. Tristen Rosebrook knocked down six three-pointers, scoring 20 points. Reid Creager added 16 points. Now 13-3 and 3-1 in the NWOAL, the Patriots host Leipsic today at 6:30. H-LOUDON 42ST. MARY CC 27BASCOM– Hopewell-Loudon's 18-6 fourth-quarter sealed a 42-27 victory over conference foe St. Mary Central Catholic on Friday. Ashton Miller led the Chieftains with 12 points. Kellen Frankart scored 10, and Brody Brickman added seven.H-L improved to 8-7 with the win, including 4-4 in the SBC-River, and travels to Lakota on Tuesday at 7 for another in-conference clash.