BASKETBALL

A win, two losses for varsity boys

The Yellow Springs High School boys varsity basketball team prevailed against Jefferson High on Tuesday, Jan. 9, winning 47–44 away. Senior Otto Cipollini led the team in scoring with 12 points, followed by freshman Mason Cline and senior Jake Ortiz-Thornton, who each scored nine points, though every player on the roster that evening helped contribute to the final score: senior Sam Miller brought in eight points, junior Landon Harris scored five, and seniors Antonio Chaiten and Dylan Reed netted two each. Cipollini also led the team for rebounds with 12.

The boys had two more losses in subsequent conference games, falling 34–66 against Legacy Christian on Friday, Jan. 12; and 48–50 to Middletown Christian on Tuesday, Jan. 16.

The team’s season record currently stands at 2–10 with a conference record of 0–6.

McKinney girls play strong despite loss

The McKinney Bulldogs girls team went up against Legacy Christian on Thursday, Jan. 11, falling 9–48 — an improvement in scoring over the team’s first match of the season, also against Legacy, in which the score was 6–38.

As Coach Rena Balzer wrote in an email to the News last week: “I would attribute the increase in score on their part on the 11th to the fact that [Legacy] kept their more skilled players in the game far longer than in December. We’re thinking that our new defensive strategy had them more concerned. … While it’s nice to win games, our goal is to work hard, keep trying and keep learning new things. We don’t expect perfection, just that our kids keep trying, learning and putting things into play that they learn — and that they have fun doing it!”

Balzer continued: “Legacy came out strong once again, but we saw improvements in several categories, even with the loss, so that defines success in our book — especially when you consider that our players have far less experience with basketball in general. What we do have is natural athleticism, speed and aggressive, controlled defensive capabilities; this will bode well for the future of the girls basketball program and YS Schools.”

Balzer noted that player Allee Bayard scored for the first time this season in the Jan. 11 game. The coach also keeps track of “mini basketball stats” during each game, with leaders in the categories of rebounds, hustle and leadership signing a mini basketball representing each of the categories. At the end of the season, the players with the most points in each category will keep the signed balls. The category leaders for the Jan. 11 game were: Malini Miller, rebounds; Bayard, hustle; and Sage Oberg, leadership.

BOWLING

Boys roll into second place

The varsity boys bowling team added another win to its season Wednesday, Jan. 17, triumphing over conference rivals Emmanuel Christian 2,329 pins to 2,132. The win unseated Emmanuel from its second-place position in the division; the Bulldogs currently have a season record of 4–2 and a conference record of 3–2.