On Saturday at 4 p.m., the Fairlawn and Covington boys basketball teams will tangle for the second time after an overtime thriller in their initial meeting. And Friday at 6, Lehman Catholic takes on Mississinawa Valley again after their close tussle in the regular season.
These are just two of the headliners on the ScoresBroadcast.com webcast schedule over the next three days, during which the online service covers six Division IV boys and girls high school sectional contests. Between Feb. 20 and 29, SCORES will feature a total of at least 14 tournament webcasts.
The series of games began Thursday night with coverage of the Houston-Botkins girls clash at Sidney High School. Jack Kramer and Matt Zircher were courtside.
SCORES stands for the Shelby County Online Radio Entertainment System, which was conceived in 2006 and 2007 when the local radio station broke five decades of tradition and ceased coverage of high school athletics.
SCORES reaches its 1500th webcast since its inception during the 2020 high school basketball tournament. The free online streaming of tourney hoops usually spans close to 40 games depending, in part, on how far area and Shelby County schools advance in the post-season.
Coming off recent upset victories, both Fairlawn (14-8) and Covington (9-13) look to advance on Saturday in a sectional contest at Piqua High School. This SCORES webcast starts at 3:45.
The Jets surprised Fort Loramie, 51-50, on Monday. Covington scored a 57-55 triumph on the road at Tri-Village on Feb. 7. Fairlawn’s win several days ago mirrored its game at Covington on Jan. 25. Ashton Piper hit buzzer-beaters to seal both contests for the Jets.
Meanwhile, Mississinawa Valley (11-11) nipped Lehman Catholic (12-10), 33-29, on Jan. 11 and faces the task of topping the Cavaliers a second time in Friday evening’s tourney tilt. Webcast time is 5:45.
“Beating a club on multiple nights in the same year may not be an easy task,” said Kramer, SCORES play-by-play announcer. “The Jets could have a chance to prove how difficult this can be if they and Jackson Center square off for a third time in a sectional championship next Saturday.”
The Tigers clipped the Jets twice by close margins in the regular season.
Interestingly, Jackson Center may have to beat another team three times in a row before it gets to the final. With a win over heavy underdog Bradford on Saturday, the No. 1 seeded Tigers will try to tame Russia in a third meeting after sweeping the pair of regular season contests.
SCORES webcasts the two first-round sectional games at PHS on Friday. It will stream the first and third match-ups tomorrow night.
Next Wednesday marks the only time in the week when SCORES takes a night off. The online service is at courtside at SHS on Monday for upper and lower bracket district semifinals in girls Division IV. It returns to PHS for boys sectional finals on Tuesday and Thursday.
The longest-tenured and founding sponsor for SCORES is Lacal Equipment located in Jackson Center. It underwrites a halftime segment during each webcast that highlights two student athletes or cheerleaders for their academic excellence.
Local and regional sponsorships enable SCORES to offer its live and archived webcasts, without charge, to all listeners.
