A busy night of basketball across the area brought strong showings from varsity and middle school teams alike. Riverside’s varsity girls earned a hard-fought conference victory, while West Liberty-Salem’s middle school girls and Bellefontaine’s middle school boys each turned in impressive performances of their own. Here’s a look at how the action unfolded:
Riverside Varsity Girls
The Riverside Lady Pirates earned a solid TRC victory Tuesday night, defeating Troy Christian 46–38.
Riverside trailed 11–7 after the first quarter but surged ahead with a dominant second frame to take a 28–17 halftime lead. The Pirates extended the margin to 35–19 after three and held on for the win.
Riverside Scoring:
Kenna Johnson – 19 points
Kenzie Stotler – 9 points
Maddie Lemly – 8 points
Emilee Robinson – 8 points
The Lady Pirates improve to 2–4 overall and 1–2 in conference play. They return to action Saturday morning against Lehman Catholic.
West Liberty-Salem Middle School Girls
The West Liberty-Salem 7th-grade girls basketball team played a modified two-quarter contest at home and defeated Fairbanks 15–4. The Tigers are now 3–1 on the season.
WL-S will be back on the court December 18th at home against Greeneview, with tipoff set for 5:30 p.m.
In a full-game, the WL-S 8th-grade team also topped Fairbanks 32–9.
WL-S Scoring:
Avery Randall – 11
Rylie Falloon – 10
Bella Johnson – 4
Lilly Yeater – 4
Avery Brown – 2
Lilly Collins – 1
The Tigers travel to Springfield Catholic Central on Monday.
Bellefontaine Middle School Girls
The 7th-grade Lady Chiefs fell just short against North Union, losing a hard-fought contest 33–30. Despite the close defeat, several players turned in strong scoring nights.
Lady Chiefs Scoring:
Leah Harvey – 9 points
Myra Varner – 6 points
Braelynn Neer – 4 points
Charlie Fraizer – 2 points
Mia Regula – 2 points
Ari Rumor – 2 points
Alivia Rogan – 2 points
Joelle Eaton – 1 point
The Lady Chiefs will be back in action Monday at home versus Graham.
The Bellefontaine 8th-grade Lady Chiefs, however, struggled against North Union Thursday evening, falling 30–16.
Lady Chiefs Scoring (8th grade):
Kennedy Hairston — 7 points
Annie Gallaway — 5 points
Alexis Hogan — 5 points
Zyannia Bean-Breaston — 2 points
The 8th-grade Lady Chiefs now hold a 3–2 record and will look to regroup and bounce back in their next matchup on Monday versus Graham.
Bellefontaine Middle School Boys
The Bellefontaine Chiefs’ middle school boys teams turned in strong performances against North Union, earning wins at both grade levels.
7th Grade: Bellefontaine 34, North Union 26
Jax Fleming led the Chiefs with 12 points, while Caleb Palmer added 7 points and dominated the boards with 14 rebounds. Braylen Lyburtus and Zieler Whetsel each scored 5.
8th Grade: Bellefontaine 44, North Union 12
The 8th grade squad delivered a dominant performance. Sennett Stolly led the scoring with 11 points, followed by Will Jenkins with 8 and Colson Garver with 6.
