News Progress

Photo by RR Best
Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond’s Payton Wellbaum tries to hold on to the ball Saturday evening. Wellbaum contributed eight points and pulled down several crucial rebounds in the Lady Knights’ third place victory over Tri-County.

January 28, 2015

Lady Knights take third place

By Matt Kracht
NP Sports Reporter

After falling to tournament champion Arcola 52-38 in the LOVC Northwest championship game, the Lady Knights bounced back to claim third place by defeating the Tri-County Titans 56-43.  Kimberly Davis led all scorers with 15 points going 10-of-11 from the foul line, and Meagan Fifer put forth her best shooting performance of the tourney hitting 3-4 from the field including two crucial 3-pointers. “For three quarters we definitely did a good job bouncing back,” said head coach Craig Moffett. “It showed a lot about a young team that’s got a really good senior leader. Assistant coach Mac Condill used the term resilient, and I think that was spot on.”
The Knights were all over the Titans from the first whistle jumping out to a 6-0 lead with baskets by Davis and Fifer. The Knights extended the margin to 9-3 with 3:30 remaining in the first utilizing crisp passing, but the Titans would claw back to within one at 10-9 at the end of the first quarter. The Titans actually took a short-lived lead at 11-10 on the first points of the second period, but Mycaela Miller answered right back with a big time three. Hannah Wallen then found Payton Wellbaum under the basket to push Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond’s lead back to four at 15-11 with 6:40 remaining in the half. Read More

January 28, 2015

By Matt Kracht
NP Sports Reporter

Coming off a tough defeat in the first round of the LOVC conference tourney Okaw Valley’s struggles continued Thursday, falling in what was a back and forth contest. Okaw Valley built up a nine point lead with just two minutes left in the first half but were unable to hold on. Paige Robinson had 11 points to go along with five steals. However, Cerro Gordo was able to hold offensive threat Amanda McClain to just four points.
After the loss head coach Don Gardner was looking forward to playing on their home court for a change. “This was our third trip up here. We had to come up here twice, and we had to play Argenta before the tournament. So we are ready to get back home I think. We get to play Cerro Gordo Monday at our place so that will be a nice rematch.” Read More

January 28, 2015

Williams, St. T outpace Sullivan

By Matt Kracht
NP Sports Reporter

Ty Molzen scored 18 points to go with eight rebounds in a competitive defeat versus the St Teresa Bulldogs Friday Night. Head coach Chester Reeder praised Molzen’s growth as a player after the game. “He keeps getting better and better. I challenged him early in the year, and he has definitely raised his level. He is rebounding like crazy for us; he is finishing at the rim and knocking down open shots. I can’t ask for any more out of Ty Molzen.”
It looked like the contest might get out of hand early as St Teresa rode the return of starter Christian Williams to a 7-2 lead with five minutes to play in the first quarter. Nick Frerichs stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer from the top of the key to cut into the lead to 7-5, but the Bulldogs got two quick buckets extending the lead to 11-6 with three minutes remaining in the first. Molzen then went on a rebounding spree to close out the quarter, and the Redskins were able to cut the lead to 15-10. Read More

January 21, 2015

Strong shooting propels ALAH

By Matt Kracht
NP Sports Reporter

Fourth seed Arthur Lovington Atwood-Hammond rallied from a seven point first quarter deficit to stun the top seeded Lady Timberwolves Monday night in the second round of the LOVC Conference tourney. The Lady Knights outscored Okaw Valley 22-7 in the second quarter and 18-5 in the third ultimately cruising to a 56-39 point victory.
With the Lady Knights trailing 13-7 early in the second quarter sophomore Mycalea Miller knocked down back to back threes to tie the game with six minutes to go before half. Miller scored a team high 15 points on the night. Okaw Valley fought back taking a 17-15 lead before Kimberly Davis nailed a dagger three to take it right back at 18-17. The floodgates then opened, and ALAH went on a 10 point run capped off by another clutch three from Kimberly Davis putting the score at 28-17 with under a minute to go before the half. Read More

Photo by R.R. Best
Sullivan’s Zach Hrvol drives to the open basket last Friday.

January 21, 2015

No. 5 ranked Warrensburg demonstrates abilities in win

by Aaron Dyer
Sullivan Reporter

While last week against Tuscola may have been a close contest, Sullivan couldn’t manage to pull it together on Friday against Warrensburg-Latham’s boys’ basketball team–a group that for the second week in a row in January was ranked no. 5 in class 2A.
Despite the 62-37 loss, Sullivan did earn a bit of experience and things to practice for when they approach their next competitor on the court.
“We ran into a really good team, and they took advantage of our mistakes,” said head coach Chester Reeder.
When the game began, Warrensburg-Latham Cardinals took off to an early lead, managing to steal the ball and shut down Sullivan before they could even get an attempt.
During the first quarter, Layne McMahon and Alec Ballinger both acquired a foul against Sullivan, though the Cardinals would convert on only one of their free throws.
After the fouls, Reeder called a time out in hopes of reforming his team and getting them back on the board, and that’s exactly what he did.
With the pep talk during the time out, the Redskins scored in a neck-and-neck pattern as both teams attacked the paint and ended the first with the Cardinals narrowly ahead 12-17.
But the second quarter was a change for the worse as the Redskins seemed to hesitate more.
“We weren’t attacking the paint throughout the whole game like we usually do,” said Reeder. “We started to in the first quarter, but the second and third quarter, we got away from it.” Read More