VANDALIA — Sidney couldn’t hold onto a big early lead and suffered its first conference loss of the season in a Miami Valley League girls basketball game on Saturday. Vandalia-Butler rallied from an early 10-point deficit and held on late to beat the Yellow Jackets 53-51 at the Student Activity Center.
Sidney built an early 10-point lead and led 18-12 at the end of the first quarter, but Butler’s defense took over for the next 14 minutes.
The Aviators outscored the Yellow Jackets 9-4 in the second quarter to pull within 22-21 at halftime, then used a 17-6 scoring advantage in the first six minutes of the third to take a 38-28 lead.
Sidney got going late in the quarter thanks to a pair of 3-pointers by Peyton Wiley and pulled within 38-36 by the end of the third. Wiley hit a 3-pointer to give Sidney a 41-40 lead with seven minutes left in the fourth, but Butler’s Sami Bardonaro hit a 3 several seconds later to put Butler ahead again.
Lexee Brewer made a basket to give Sidney a 48-47 lead late in the quarter but Evan Neely hit two baskets soon after to increase the lead to 51-47.
Stockton led the Yellow Jackets with 21 points and eight rebounds while Wiley scored 12 and Brewer scored 10. Brewer also had five rebounds and three steals.
The loss broke a five-game winning streak for Sidney (5-2, 3-1), which will play next on Wednesday at home against Xenia in MVL action.
Russia 50, Botkins 35
Russia jumped out to a 14-2 lead by the end of the first quarter and cruised from there to a Shelby County Athletic League victory on Saturday at Clair C. Naveau Gymnasium.
The Raiders led 23-8 at halftime and 38-19 at the end of the third quarter.
Ella Hoehne and Kate Sherman each scored 14 points for the Raiders while Jessica York scored 10.
Madison Wendel led Botkins with 10 points while Carmen Heuker scored eight.
Russia (4-3, 2-2 SCAL) will play next on Thursday at Fairlawn. Botkins (4-2, 2-2) will play next on Thursday when it hosts Houston.
Fort Loramie 96, Jackson Center 26
Fort Loramie tied a school record by making 26 free throws in another big SCAL victory. The Redskins built a 26-11 lead by the end of the first quarter and used a 22-4 scoring advantage to run away by halftime on Saturday at Jackson Center.
The Redskins made 26-of-31 free-throw attempts to tie the record for made foul shots in a game. The team also made 26 foul shots in games in 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2015.
The Redskins shot 33 for 56 (59 percent) from the floor while Jackson Center shot 9 for 26 (37 percent).
Ava Sholtis led Fort Loramie with 22 points and had seven steals and four assists. Marissa Meiring scored 15 points, Taylor Ratermann added 13, Kenzie Hoelscher scored 11 and Jadyn Puthoff added 10. Caitlyn Gasson led the team with five assists.
Kylie Hartle led Jackson Center with five points.
Fort Loramie (7-0, 4-0) will play next on Thursday when it hosts New Bremen.
Anna 54, Houston 33
The Rockets built a 19-3 lead by the end of the first quarter and cruised from there to a big SCAL victory on Saturday in Houston.
Anna used a 15-7 scoring edge in the second to increase the lead to 34-10 at halftime. Houston outscored Anna 9-8 in the third quarter and 14-12 in the fourth.
Lauren Barhorst led Anna with 16 points while Ella Doseck scored 13 and Kiplyn Rowland scored nine.
Kiannah Jones led Houston with seven points.
Anna (5-1, 4-0) played at New Knoxville on Monday and will play next on Thursday when it hosts Jackson Center. Houston (0-6, 0-3) hosted Covington on Monday and will play next on Thursday at Botkins.
St. Henry 53, Lehman Catholic 40
Lehman couldn’t hold onto an early lead and lost in a nonconference game on Saturday in Sidney.
The Cavaliers led 14-12 at the end of the first quarter but the Redskins used a 20-9 scoring advantage to take a 32-23 halftime lead. Lehman cut the gap to 38-33 by the end of the third but St. Henry finished with a 15-7 scoring advantage in the fourth.
Lauren McFarland led Lehman with 15 points while Anna Cianciolo scored eight. Both McFarland and Cianciolo each had five rebounds while Heidi Toner led the team with seven.
The Cavaliers (2-4) will play next on Tuesday at Fairlawn.
Lima Bath 51, Versailles 41
The Tigers took a 16-7 lead after the first quarter of a nonconference game on Saturday in Lima but couldn’t hold on. Bath used a 20-3 scoring advantage in the second quarter to grab a 27-19 lead by halftime and pulled away in the second half.
Caitlin McEldowney led the Tigers with 10 points while Lindsey Winner scored nine.
Versailles (6-3) will play next on Dec. 26 at Anna.
Other scores: New Bremen (6-1) 47, Delphos Jefferson 45.
• Boys basketball
Fort Loramie 47, New Bremen 44 2 OT
New Bremen missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer, allowing Fort Loramie to hang on and earn a home victory in a nonconference thriller on Saturday.
Fort Loramie hit six 3-pointers in the first quarter, including three from junior guard Devin Ratermann, and led 18-6. The Redskins hit two more 3s in the second quarter while New Bremen scored 12 points to pull within 24-18 at halftime.
The Cardinals outscored Fort Loramie 15-5 in the third to take a 33-29 lead but Fort Loramie battled back to tie it 39-39 and force overtime.
In the first overtime, Nick Brandewie hit two free throws with about 20 seconds left, and the Redskins held strong on the defensive end.
In the second overtime, Grant Albers got the Redskins on the board first with a driving layup. New Bremen answered with a 3 from Logan Suchland to take a one point lead, but Loramie answered on a 15-foot jumper by Nate Meyer.
Fort Loramie forced a turnover on the next possession, and with 20 seconds left Albers hit two free throws. Suchland missed a 3 at the buzzer.
Ratermann led the Redskins with 12 points while Caeleb Meyer and Albers each finished with eight. Meyer led the team with seven rebounds while Albers had six rebounds and three assists.
Nolan Bornhorst led the Cardinals with 15 points while Suchland and Griffen Roetgerman each scored nine. Dan Homan led the team with seven rebounds.
The Redskins shot 15 for 43 (35 percent) from the floor and outrebounded New Bremen 28-23. New Bremen shot 14 for 48 (37 percent) from the floor.
Fort Loramie (3-0) will play next on Tuesday at Jackson Center. New Bremen (2-2) will play next on Saturday at home against Anna.
Jackson Center 54, Indian Lake 48
The Tigers stayed undefeated by beating neighboring rival Indian Lake in a nonconference game on Saturday in Lewistown.
Jackson Center took a 12-11 lead by the end of the first quarter and used an 11-4 scoring advantage in the fourth to extend the lead to 23-15 at halftime. The Tigers outscored the Lakers 16-14 in the third while the Lakers owned a 19-15 advantage in the fourth.
Aidan Reichert led Jackson Center with 26 points while Christopher Elchert scored 12 and Garrett Heitkamp added 10.
The Tigers (4-0) will play next on Tuesday when they host Fort Loramie.
Russia 62, Riverside 38
The Raiders grabbed an early lead and ran away in the fourth quarter to a big nonconference win on Saturday at Kenny Truster Gymnasium in De Graff.
Russia took a 15-10 lead by the end of the first quarter and led 26-21 at halftime and 44-32 heading into the fourth. The Raiders finished off the game with an 18-5 scoring advantage in the fourth.
Zane Shappie led Russia with 21 points while Mason Dapore and Dawson Luthman scored 10. Xavier Philpot added nine.
John Zumberger led Riverside with 14 points while Ethan Jackson scored 10 and Kaden Burk added eight. Burk led the team with nine rebounds.
Riverside shot 15 for 41 (36.6 percent) from the field. Russia outrebounded the Pirates 28-22.
“I was really proud of our guys’ effort tonight, specifically in the first half,” Riverside coach Seth Bodenmiller said. “The way we looked in those first two quarters is who this team needs to be. We were patient on offense and played tremendous defense, and outside of a few mental mistakes, I’m not sure how much better we could have been.
“We just couldn’t sustain it for the whole game and Russia made better plays in the second half than we did.”
Russia (2-3) will return to action on Tuesday when it hosts Botkins. Riverside (1-5) will play next on Friday at home against Lima Perry.
Minster 59, Wapakoneta 55
The Wildcats rallied in the fourth quarter to earn a nonconference win on Saturday in Wapakoneta.
Minster took a 15-6 lead by the end of the first quarter but Wapakoneta used a 16-8 scoring advantage in the second and an 18-17 scoring advantage in the third to tie it 40-40. The Wildcats used a 19-15 advantage in the fourth to earn the win.
Jacob Salazar led Minster with 17 points while Justin Nixon scored 12 and Brady Hoelscher and Bryan Falk added 10. Trent Roetgerman scored seven of his nine points in the fourth quarter. Nixon led the squad with nine rebounds.
The Wildcats shot 20 for 40 from the field while Wapakoneta shot 20 for 45. Minster had a 30-20 rebounding advantage.
Minster (5-1) will play next on Saturday at home against Mississinawa Valley.
Other scores: Ansonia 50, Houston (1-4) 44.
• Bowling
Sidney squads compete at Raiders Classic
Sidney’s boys and girls bowling teams played in the Raiders Classic at Beaver Vu on Saturday in Beavercreek.
The boys team finished third out of 32 teams. Logan Finke placed third overall and made the all-tournament team with a 400 series. Jaxon Rickey rolled a 372 series and Harrison Fisher rolled a 366 series.
The girls team didn’t advance to match play.
Sarah Bell rolled a 338 series, Camryn Smith rolled a 267 series and Kate Miller rolled a 242 series.
