Category Archives: Sports Feature

Wallen Scores 1000th Career Point at Knights Classic

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File Photo by R.R. Best
Hannah Wallen (#14) and Haley Rose (#12) fight over a loose ball at a recent game. Wallen scored her 1000th career point against Cumberland last Friday.

•January 3, 2018•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

The Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond girls’ basketball team placed second in the Knights Classic Holiday Tournament this past week, and senior Knight Hannah Wallen scored her 1,000th career point against Cumberland Friday.

During the Knights Classic Holiday Tournament, ALAH defeated Cumberland and Chrisman to reach the championship game against Decatur St. Teresa.

In the championship game, though, the Knights lost to the Bulldogs 65-61.

St. Teresa jumped out to a 13-7 first-quarter lead and took a 32-23 lead at the half.

The Knights outscored the Bulldogs 19-13 in the third quarter cutting the lead to three points, 45-42.

St. Teresa held on in the fourth for the eventful 65-61 win.

Hannah Wallen tallied a team-high 16 points (including three 3-pointers), five rebounds and seven assists, to go with five rebounds. Read More

Okaw Valley Girls Finish Strong Week with Wins

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Sullivan and Okaw Valley players fight for the rebound.

•December 20, 2017•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

The Okaw Valley girls’ basketball team finished a strong week with a win against rival Sullivan last Tuesday and two wins in the Okaw Valley Holiday Tournament in Bethany.

“We continued to play well throughout the weekend,” said Okaw Valley coach Brad Ackers. “I was very pleased with our defense and rebounding all week long. We shot the ball well Friday and Saturday, and when we do that, we are awfully tough to beat.”

Against Sullivan the Timberwolves jumped out to a 13-6 first quarter lead and almost repeated it in the second with a 10-6 run.

The second half was a low scoring affair with OV outscoring the Redskins 13-8 for the 36-20 win.

“You can’t beat too many teams shooting 13 percent from the field, 0-for-14 from behind the arc, and 56 percent from the line,” said Sullivan coach Sheri McCain. “I was very disappointed with our effort tonight. Okaw Valley simply wanted it more than us tonight.” Read More

Robinson Breaks Record at Thanksgiving Tournament

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•November 29, 2017•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

The Okaw Valley girls’ basketball team avenged an earlier loss and defeated Central A&M to place third in the Pana Thanksgiving Tournament this past week. Then they knocked off Mount Pulaski Monday night.

In the Pana Thanksgiving Tournament, Paige Robinson broke her own tournament scoring record.

In five games, she totaled 107 points and was named to the all-tournament team.

To win third place, the Timberwolves knocked off Central A&M 45-35 after losing to the Raiders 44-33 the previous Saturday. Read More

Four Swimming Girls Advance to State

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Girls’ Swim Team: Left to right: Natalie Drury, McKenna Kull, Alison Oligschlaeger and Anna Wooters.

•November 15, 2017•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

The Sullivan/Okaw Valley/Shelbyville girls’ swim team competed in the Girls’ Swimming and Diving Sectional in Champaign (Central) at Centennial High School, Saturday.

The swim team finished fourth out of 32 teams (138 points) and advanced four swimmers to the state meet at Winnetka (New Trier) Friday and Saturday.

“These girls are really dedicated to their sport, and they swim all year round, even summer,” said coach Scott Bales. “Most people don’t realize the hours of practice our swimmers must put into their sport to even drop a few seconds in any event. The fact that this is their third year in a row to qualify for the state swim meet is a testament to their hard work and dedication.” Read More

From Bethany to U of I Football Manager

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Photo furnished
University of Illinois football manager Logan Tipsword stands on the sideline of TCF Bank Stadium on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis Saturday, Oct 21.

•November 8, 2017•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

Like many athletes who grow up in Bethany, Logan Tipsword was an avid follower of Illini athletics.

Once Tipsword graduated from Okaw Valley High School in 2015 where he played three sports, he attended the University of Illinois and is now a junior majoring in crop science.

“I chose the U of I because I loved Illini athletics and knew it was one of the best schools in the country,” he said. “I never wanted to go anywhere else.”

During the summer while playing golf in Sullivan, Tipsword met a University of Illinois alumnus, Ben Kuhns, who worked for the football team several years ago.

Tipsword decided he again wanted be a part of a team, even if he was not a player, so with help from Kuhns and Trent Chestnut, who is head of equipment, Tipsword applied and was accepted to be one of the 13 managers for the Illini football team. Read More

Okaw Valley Reigns as Regional Volleyball Champions

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Regional Champs
The excitement was evident in Okaw Valley with the volleyball team’s first Regional Championship. Bella Benning, Kate Jeffers and Natalie Jeffers expressed the emotions of the winning team and the crowd that supported them.

•November 1, 2017•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

After losing four straight games to end the regular season, the Okaw Valley volleyball team turned it around at the perfect time.

The Timberwolves took advantage of hosting the Class 1A regional in Bethany by knocking off Decatur Lutheran in the quarterfinals and revenging an earlier loss to Cerro Gordo to face No. 1 seeded Broadlands Heritage in the regional championship.

OV upset the Little Okaw Valley Northwest division foe to win its first regional championship in Okaw Valley, Findlay and Bethany’s history, but the Timberwolves could not carry over that moment into a first-round sectional loss to North Clay. Read More

ALAH Football Closes Season at Villa Grove 

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ALAH Knight Kobe Wells finished his football season scoring one touchdown against Villa Grove Heritage last Friday.

•October 25, 2017•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

The Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond football team dropped its last game of the year to Villa Grove/Heritage 44-7 to end its season.

VGH scored 12 points in the first quarter and 16 in the second to take a commanding lead at half.

Kobe Wells scored the lone touchdown with a 36-yard run down the right side of the field.

He ran the ball five times for 43 yards and caught two passes for 33 yards. Read More

Harlin Swings Like a Girl for Big Wins

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Okaw Valley Golfer Grace Harlin swings at Ironhorse

•October 18, 2017•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

When Grace Harlin hears someone say you swing like a girl, she takes it as a compliment.

The Okaw Valley High School golfer has been playing and practicing on the OV boys’ team since her sophomore year.

The OV girls’ team dissolved after Harlin’s freshman year because of lack of participation numbers, so she joined the boys’ golf team.

Her sophomore year she would have to complete with boy golfers in practice to see who would qualify to play in each match.

“Sometimes I would beat some of the boys, and other times I wouldn’t,” said Harlin. “Junior year a few of us would rotate on who would be the five and six (spots on the varsity team).”

But the battles against the boys paid off for Harlin during her senior year. Read More

International Competition for Arthur Gymnast 

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Pictured is Ariel Kibler.

•October 11, 2017•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

Arthur resident Ariel Kibler is trying to make it a three-peat.

Kibler, 19, made the World Age-Group Competition Team and is scheduled to compete in the World Age-Group competition to try to earn her third national championship in the double-mini trampoline Nov. 16-19 in Sofia, Bulgaria.

“I hope to meet people from other countries and see how other countries may do things differently,” she said. “Overall, I am just excited to be able to represent the USA on a big competition level such as this. I just want to do my best, have fun, and hopefully earn a medal along the way.”

The World Age Groups is an international competition (ages 11-21) that takes place every year, excluding Olympic years.

Kibler was a national champion in the double-mini trampoline event in 2015 and 2017.  Read More

ALAH Football Shuts Out Sangamon Valley

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•October 4, 2017•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

The Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond football team shut out Niantic/Sangamon Valley 19-0 to keep alive a shot at the 2017 playoffs.

The win improved ALAH’s record to 3-3 on the season and 1-2 in the Little Okaw Valley (Northwest) Conference.

“We got off to a terrible start but caught a break when the lights went out. When we resumed play we played much better,” Coach Dale Schuring said. “Marcus Vanausdoll, Lucas Otto and Adam Day played really well on defense for us. Brady Borntreger, a freshmen, did a nice job in his first start at QB.” Read More