Girls Best of the Week: Champions getting crowned in Marion area basketball, bowling
It looks like it could be a three-way tie for the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference girls basketball championship.
Clear Fork upset Shelby by two points last week, dropping the Whippets to three losses in the MOAC along with Pleasant and River Valley. All are 10-3 with league-clinching finales lined up this week. Galion goes to River Valley on Tuesday, while Marion Harding travels to Pleasant and Ontario goes to Shelby on Thursday.
There was a changing of the guard in the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference. In a winner-take-all matchup Saturday night, Mount Gilead got by Cardington 45-33 as Madilyn Elson scored 16 and Danielle Pohlkette had eight for the winners. It is Mount Gilead's first KMAC title in girls basketball, its first for the program since 2011 and its third league title ever in girls hoops. Cardington got eight points from Abigail Hardwick as the Pirates saw their eight-year conference championship streak ended having won the first five KMAC titles in league history.
North Union won its third Central Buckeye Conference Mad River Division basketball championship in a row and its fourth in five years in going 10-0 in league games this season.
The Wildcats knocked off Graham 51-25 as Jada Davis scored 12, Allison Price 11 with four assists and Hope Hall nine. In a non-leaguer with Bishop Ready, North Union won 51-39 with Allison Price going for 12 points and six rebounds, Abbey Price for 12 points and three steals, Kennedy Harrah for 10 points and Audrey Benedict for eight points. NU completed its undefeated run in the CBC with a 56-44 win over Northwestern as Abbey Price had 15 points, four assists and three steals, Allison Price 12 points, Benedict 11 points and Zoe Wedding four steals.
In bowling, River Valley tied Galion for the MOAC regular season championship with 8-2 records. The Vikings clinched the share after a 1,616-1,598 win over Highland at Colonial City Lanes. RV dug deep in its final Baker game as the match was tied going into the final 10 frames. Madisyn Schwartz led the Vikes with a 187 game, while Alexis Manning posted a 358 series. Elyssa Reigles went 181-186 for a 369 series for the Scots, while Jo Burson had a 155-170 325.
Earlier, River Valley beat the Scots at Bluefusion 1,818-1,590. Elgin also competed and scored a 1,727. Manning shot a 203-201 404, Elgin's Bethany Strong a 224-213 437 and Reigles had a 195 game and 312 series.
In KMAC bowling, Fredericktown has an 11-2 record, while Cardington and East Knox are at 10-3 with the final week of regular season playing out this coming week.
Here are some other highlights have have occurred over the last two weeks in area girls winter sports:
∎ River Valley basketball defeated Highland 54-34. Brooklyn Mosher scored 19, Lexie Hecker 12 and Makyha Rodgers 10 for RV, while Abby Jordan had a career-high 11 for the Scots. RV held Highland to 11 points in the first half.
∎ Pleasant downed Genoa Christian 59-26 with Taydon Obenour scoring 12 and Olivia Pratt, Ady Foster and Avah Steele all getting 10.
∎ Elgin scored a 49-23 win over Ridgemont as Gracie Isler had 11 points, Madison Hill 10 and Jordan Wall eight. In a 37-27 win over Upper Scioto Valley, Sam Girton put up 18 points.
∎ East Knox beat Cardington 38-27. Madison Caulkins scored 11 for Cardington. In a 47-41 loss to Centerburg, Hardwick posted 15 and Lydia Hess nine.
∎ Ridgedale's Hannah Murphy scored 10 and Lauren Leslie eight in a 52-25 loss to Bucyrus. In a 40-30 loss to Upper Scioto Valley, Leslie had 12 and Lilly Ruth eight. Leslie had 14 and Murphy eight in a 37-31 loss to Delaware Christian, while Ruth put up 13 points in a 58-31 loss to Waynesfield-Goshen.
∎ Northmor fell to Danville 56-43. Riley Johnson scored 17 points for the Golden Knights, while Madison Simpson added nine points, seven rebounds and four assists, Lauren Johnson nine points and Emily Zeger 15 rebounds. In a 46-34 loss to Fredericktown, Simpson had 15 points, Lauren Johnson 10 and Zeger 10 rebounds and four steals.
Temple Christian beat the Knights 44-41 as Lauren Johnson scored 12 points with four steals; Emilee Jordan had 10 points and eight rebounds; and Simpson had nine points, 12 rebounds, four assists and four steals. Northmor bounced back from the skid to beat Genoa Christian 51-43. Simpson produced 13 points and 11 rebounds, Riley Johnson 11 points, Zeger 10 points and seven boards and Jordan 12 rebounds.
∎ Highland beat Galion 49-9 as Makayla Woods scored nine for the Scots and scoring eight were Shelby Conley, Amarie Morgan and Aubree Bellamy. In a 60-36 loss to Shelby, Highland got nine points from Jordan and eight from Kameron Stover. In a 56-30 loss to Danville, Stover had 10 points.
∎ In a 62-53 loss to River Valley, Janaiye Braddy and Kamarice Jackson both scored 15 points and Aniya Mitchell had 10 for Marion Harding. Mitchell had 16 and Jackson eight in Harding's 42-32 loss to Clear Fork.
∎ Mount Gilead's swimmers only had five athletes and finished eighth at the North Central Ohio Swimming League Championships at Colonel Crawford. The 200-yard freestyle relay and 200 medley relay both scored points as did Kamry Grandstaff in the 100 backstroke and Kendall Neal in the 100 breaststroke.
∎ Marion Harding's bowlers took 12th out of 23 teams at the Jaguar Baker Tournament. The Presidents also beat Pleasant 1,734-1,597 in an MOAC finale. Hannah Mullennix paced the Prexies with a 192-183 375, while Kenzi Vaught went 169-169 338, and Megan Adamson had a 164 game. For Pleasant, Ashlyn Peters had a 190-138 328 and Emily Seckel a 154-173 327.
∎ Pleasant produced a 1,742-1,726 victory over Wynford at Cooper's Bowl after trailing by 21 pins entering the Baker games. Peters posted a career-high 268 game and ended with a 417 series. Seckel added a 156 game.
∎ Ridgedale knocked off North Baltimore in bowling 1,720-1,078 as Aubrie Smith led the Rockets with a 217 game and 391 series. In a 1,807-1,695 loss to Cardington, Smith put up a 189 game and 352 series.
∎ North Union's Montana Donohue shot a 342 series in a 2,207-1,913 loss to Kenton Ridge.
∎ Highland fell to Galion 1,822-1,769 at Victory Lanes. Reigles had a 204 game, Jo Burson a 202 game and Shelby Michels a 181 game for the Scots.
Coaches and statisticians are encouraged to send their results to the Marion Star's Rob McCurdy at rmccurdy@gannett.com, 419-610-0998, Twitter @McMotorsport and Instagram @rob_mccurdy_star.
VOTE: Marion Star Girls Best of the Week Performer Poll
Elgin bowler Bethany Strong rolled a 224-213 437 series in a loss to River Valley.
River Valley bowler Alexis Manning rolled a 203-201 404 series in a win over Elgin.
Ridgedale bowler Aubrie Smith rolled a 217-174 391 series in a win over North Baltimore.
Pleasant bowler Ashlyn Peters rolled a career high 268 game and finished with a 417 series in a win over Wynford.
Marion Harding bowler Hannah Mullennix rolled a 192-183 375 series in a win over Pleasant.
Voting continues at MarionStar.com and its app through early Sunday morning.
In the last poll, North Union basketball's Abbey Price, who put up team highs of 19 points, five rebounds, four assists and six steals in a win over Benjamin Logan, received 1,204 of 2,309 votes (52 percent) to win it. Other nominees were River Valley wrestler Lila Mencer, Pleasant swimmer Jenna Hollenbaugh, Marion Harding bowler Kenzi Vaught and Highland bowler Elyssa Reigles.
This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Girls Best of the Week: Champions crowned in basketball, bowling
