LOOKING AT EAST...are the Lady Indians of Newton as they own a 2-2 record and host Miami East on Thursday.

By Bob Moore
The boys in northern Darke County shook up the conference race in week 2 as Ansonia and Mississinawa Valley (MV) pulled off a big home wins over Twin Valley South (TVS) and Franklin Monroe (FM).

The Arcanum and Bethel girls’ teams also earned big road wins last week as the Trojans downed TVS and the Bees beat the Tri-Village (TV) Patriots. Arcanum and Bethel remain undefeated in league play with Ansonia, Miami East and National Trail. At least one of these teams will go into next week with a conference loss as Ansonia visits Bethel on Thursday.

On Friday night the MV Blackhawks were led in scoring from juniors Colton Cox and Trent Heitkamp with their victory over the FM Jets. Heitkamp and Cox lead the team in scoring with 14 and 10 PPG, while sophomore point guard Gary Peace contributes 8.8 PPG. The Blackhawks will face Bradford, Arcanum and Twin Valley South before the Holiday break and will see how the young ‘hawks fare with the rest of the CCC before dreaming of sugar plums.

Ansonia also had two under classmen come up big in their win over Twin Valley South. Sophomore Brandon Liette netted 15 against the Panthers while junior Dylan Bubeck joined senior big man Adam Kremer with 12 and 16 points. No matter the year or the team the Tigers are a handful in the jungle! The Tigers will be on the road next week in the loudest gym in the CCC at Tri-County North and will play at Miami East before the Holiday.

The Lady Trojans had a busy week with three games on the road with Franklin Monroe, TVS and Versailles. The Trojans were successful in the conference games and remains a conference front runner at 3-0. The Trojans won 4 in a row after losing their opener at the Bill Burkett Tournament, but the streak ended when they ran into the defending Division III champs Versailles Tigers on Saturday. The Trojans are leading the league in offense at 57 PPG with 3 players averaging in double figures in Cates (14 PPG), Schellhaus (13 PPG) and Meyer (10 PPG).

The Bethel Bees earned a big road win at Tri-Village 54-45 with Emily Ellerbrock leading the Bees with 18 points and Brittany Lewis adding 13. The Bees enter conference play this week 2-0 and will face Ansonia who also defeated TV for their only conference victory to date. The Bees are in the top 4 in team defense holding teams to less to 42 PPG while Ansonia is in the top 4 in offense generating 52 PPG. Something will have to give and when it does one team will fall from the ranks of the unbeaten.

In other games last week the Bradford Boys fell one point short at Newton of winning their first conference game since 1999. The ‘Roaders stole the ball with 12 seconds remaining in the game but couldn’t get the last shot to fall. On the flip side, the Lady ‘Roaders were successful in getting their first win of the season this week by knocking off Emmanuel Christian.

Games to watch this week:
Girls – Ansonia @ Bethel, National Trail @ Mississinawa Valley. The Blazers have the best overall record in the CCC at 4-1…

Boys – Tuesday: Covington @ Miami East, TV @ TVS; Miami East has the most productive offense and defense to date winning their first 3 games by an average of 30 points! Covington struggled on the road at Versailles this weekend and the environment at Miami East is not going to be any friendlier. TV and TVS has had some classic games over the years and this year should be no different. Good friends and serious competitors in coaches Josh Sagester of TV and Tony Augpurger of TVS would like to have this game as fodder material come post season… Look for this one to be a barn burner.

Friday- The Game of the week. Pre season favorites and currently undefeated Miami East and Bethel will clash in the Bee Hive of Bethel for bragging rights and a step up on the fellow competitors in the conference. Both teams are holding their opponents to 46 PPG but Miami East is flying with Hickman, Carey and Dunivan leading the offense that is cranking out 75 PPG. One key to this game is taking care of the rock and crashing the offensive boards! Points off turnovers and second chance buckets may prove to be the difference in this game that may turn into an instant classic! Stay tuned to this website. We’ll have it covered!