TIPP CITY — No. 23 is leading Sidney in scoring again this year — but a different guard is wearing the number.

Sidney junior Jordan Scully is the top scorer in the Miami Valley League and had her highest scoring output in a month in a 51-27 win over Tippecanoe on Saturday at Pat Wampler Gymnasium.

Scully wore No. 23 throughout her youth and middle school playing days, but she had to wear No. 5 her first two years on varsity due to Allie Stockton already having claimed her preferred number. Stockton, who is now at the University of Findlay, graduated as the program’s No. 3 career scoring leader last year.

Scully is wearing her preferred number again and has taken over as the Yellow Jackets’ top scorer, but with that has come increased defensive attention.

She has seen a variety of schemes to try to slow her down. She has been slowed some recently, but she scored a team-high 20 points on Saturday. It was the first time she’s reached 20 points since scoring 24 in a win over Xenia on Dec. 7.

“She is handling herself well,” Sidney coach Jamal Foster said. “It’s tough to go from being an option a year ago to the option now. You get to see the box-and-ones, you get to see triangles-and-twos and these junk defenses.

“It takes a bit of maturity to handle that when a team has game planned on slowing you down. She has come in week after week and asked questions, she’s come in and worked hard. To see the ball go in for her was good.”

The win broke a two-game losing streak for the Yellow Jackets (9-3, 8-1 MVL); they lost by two points to Vandalia-Butler and by five to Tri-Village last week.

Tippecanoe (6-4, 5-3) entered the game tied for second place in MVL standings and hadn’t lost a league game by more than seven points.

“This was what we like to call a statement game to show that we’re still here, and those games are in the past now,” Scully said. “We’re just moving forward.”

Scully has scored in double figures in all but two games and is averaging an MVL-best 16 points per game. She is also averaging 2.7 steals, two rebounds and two assists per contest.

Scully didn’t make a field goal until the second quarter on Saturday. Her first basket came after she missed a 3 from the right wing after getting an inbounds pass. Freshman forward Olivia Foy grabbed the rebound and threw to Scully at the top of the key, and she hit that try nothing-but-net.

“When your teammates are still in there working for it, (it’s great),” Scully said. “Everybody is working for it. We’re all working together and trying to get people open.”

Scully scored three more points in the second quarter, then hit three 3-pointers in the third and one in the fourth.

Senior guard Kiara Hudgins scored 12 points and junior guard Larkyn Vordemark finished with 10.

Hudgins scored four points and Vordemark scored five in the first quarter to help Sidney take an 11-9 lead. After having given up some easy baskets in the quarter, the Yellow Jackets used a 10-3 advantage in the second quarter to take a 21-12 halftime lead, then followed with a 13-5 edge in the third.

“Finding ourselves and defending is something we really talked about before the game and is something we’ve worked on the last couple days in practice,” Foster said. “We’ve worked on establishing ourselves back on the defensive end. Even when it gets slow on the offensive end, our defense has always carried us into runs, and our defense has always gotten us through.

“Getting back to guarding, pressuring the way we needed to, got us there in the second quarter.”

Hudgins came up big on drives on Saturday, which Foster was happy to see.

“We feel Ki is our biggest mismatch,” Foster said. “The way she changes tempo, the way she gets by her person. We’ve talked about her blowing by her first level and being able to do that. She’s gotten some shot attempts the last couple of games, and they just didn’t go in.

“For her to be able to stay aggressive in the shots that she was taking, that’s why you heard me so elated (on the bench). She was getting downhill and was staying confident in herself. It was good to see her playing the way she was playing today.”

Sidney has a busy week ahead. The Yellow Jackets are scheduled to host Greenville on Wednesday in an MVL game and Centerville on Thursday in a nonconference matchup. They’re scheduled to travel to Troy next Saturday for an MVL contest.

Fort Loramie pulls away from St. Henry in 2nd, 3rd

After leading 13-10 at the end of the first quarter, Fort Loramie used a 13-6 advantage in the second and 11-2 advantage in the third to pull away at St. Henry on Saturday.

Avery Brandewie led Fort Loramie (12-1) with 13 points and had eight rebounds and three assists. Skyler Albers scored 11 points and had six rebounds. Victoria Mescher scored eight points and Summer Hoying scored seven points and had four assists.

Fort Loramie is scheduled to host Anna in a Shelby County Athletic League game on Tuesday.

Paul free throw seals it for Botkins

Botkins’ Camdyn Paul hit a late free throw to seal a 35-34 victory over Elida on Saturday in Botkins.

It was close throughout. The Trojans trailed 21-20 at halftime before rallying in the second half.

DeeDee Pitts led Botkins (5-7) with 12 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Paul, Janel Platfoot and Peyton Platfoot each scored six points.

Reach Bryant Billing at 937-538-4818, or follow @SidneyOHSports on Twitter and @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook.