Bulldog Scoreboard

SPORTS

Boys high school basketball—
YSHS off to best start ever
With two more wins last week, the Yellow Springs High School boys basketball team improved its record to 11–1, the best start in school history.
The Bulldogs downed conference rival Jefferson, 61–56, last Tuesday, Jan. 7, and beat Cincinnati Christian, 66–43, Jan. 11.
In Tuesday’s game against the Jefferson Broncos, it was all school administrators could do to keep fans from storming the court when senior guard Brent Robinson stole a Jefferson in-bounds pass and made a lay-up as the final horn sounded. Robinson’s bucket made the margin 5 points, but the game’s outcome was in doubt until the final seconds of play.
With just over 20 seconds remaining in the game and the score tied at 56, junior forward Dustin Rudegeair found senior center Andrew Richlen with an in-bounds pass. Richlen backed his man into the paint and hit a turnaround jumper to put YSHS ahead by 2 with 17.1 seconds to play.
Jefferson then failed to score on its next possession, and Richlen was fouled collecting the rebound. With 5.1 seconds left on the clock, Richlen went to the line with a chance to seal the victory by making both free-throws.
“It was a pressure situation, but I didn’t really feel any pressure,” said Richlen, who made the second of his two free-throws to put the Bulldogs up by 3. “I knew I had to make at least one, so they couldn’t beat us with a last-second three. When the second shot left my hands, I knew it was going in.”
Solid free-throw shooting kept the Bulldogs in the game down the stretch. “Free-throws were key tonight,” said coach Brad Newsome. “I think we shot about 80 percent from the foul line, and that made the difference.”
As a team, YSHS was 25 for 32 from the charity stripe, with Rudegeair alone sinking 10 of 12. “I had been in a slump from the line,” Rudegeair said of his recent performances. “It felt great to break that slump when it mattered most.”
Players and coaches also thanked the fans for their strong support during the game’s many tense moments. Before quieting for Richlen’s final free-throws the fans nearly drowned out the referees’ whistles and the substitution horn with chants of “Whose house? Our house!”
“The fans were great tonight,” Newsome said. “They definitely gave our guys a lift in the second half.”
“I’ve never seen our fans like that before,” Rudegeair said after the game. “That was the biggest crowd of the year, and they helped us out a lot tonight.”
Robinson and Rudegeair led the Bulldogs with 15 and 17, respectively. Richlen turned in a great all-around game, finishing with 7 points, eight rebounds and seven blocked shots. Matt Wallace and Rory Hotaling both made strong defensive contributions off the bench.
Coming off the emotional Jefferson victory, the Bulldogs were prime targets for upset by another conference foe, Cincinnati Christian. But the Bulldogs used their trademark transition game to keep the game out of reach in the second half, eventually securing a 23-point win.
“We didn’t come out with the same level of intensity that we had in the last two games,” Newsome said after the game. “But we did a good job of regaining our focus in the second half.”
Nine different players scored for the Bulldogs, who held onto a one-game lead in the Metro Buckeye Conference with the win. Leading the scoring for YSHS were Rudegeair, with 17, and Brandon Frye, with 11.

Girls high school basketball—
Lady Bulldogs win two
The Yellow Springs High School girls basketball team improved its record to 4–5 with two narrow victories last week.
The Lady Bulldogs defeated Clark Montessori, 44–43, on the road on Tuesday, Jan. 7, and beat Middletown Christian, 57–53, at home Thursday, Jan 10.
The victory over Clark Montessori came down to the final shot as sophomore guard Evin Wimberly made one of two free-throws with 7.1 seconds remaining to secure the 1-point victory. The opposing coach attempted to rattle Wimberly by calling four consecutive timeouts before the free-throws, but Wimberly remained composed and sank the winning shot.
Down by as many as 13 in the fourth quarter, the Lady Bulldogs forced several turnovers down the stretch to climb back into the game.
“I am really pleased with the way the ladies kept their composure tonight. No one gave up, and they were rewarded for that in the end,” said coach Shirley Cummins.
In last Thursday’s game, the Lady Bulldogs used a total team effort to knock off a scrappy Middletown Christian team.
Seven different players scored for YSHS, and sophomore Tricia McLinden turned in her best outing of the year with 8 points and 11 rebounds.
Wimberly led all scorers in both games with 27 points each night and is the Miami Valley’s second leading scorer, averaging 25 points per game, according to the Dayton Daily News.
Megan Burrick and McLinden also scored in both games for the Lady Bulldogs.

YSHS swimming teams report
The Yellow Springs High School boys swim team won the Wayne Invitational Swim meet on Saturday, Jan. 4, at Wright State University. The girls team finished fourth out of eight teams in the meet.
Last weekend both teams also swam at the Shawnee Invitational meet at Wittenberg University, but results are not yet available.
“Both teams swam really well, and we had a lot of swimmers drop times at both meets,” said head coach Dave Wishart. “Unfortunately, due to some technical and scheduling difficulties, I still haven’t received the official results of either meet.”
The girls and boys teams will compete this weekend at the Clark County meet at Wittenberg. Preliminaries will be held Saturday, Jan. 18, and finals will take place Sunday, Jan. 19.

Saturday youth basketball play
This winter, the Bryan Community Center gym has been reserved for boys and girls basketball on Saturday mornings from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Children in grades three through six may play on a team and learn the basics of basketball. Team play starts Jan. 18 and continues through March 15.
The program is underwritten by the Mills Lawn School PTO and is free to all children. However, the teams have to pay for new basketballs and printing. Donations are welcome.
For more information, call Cheryl Butler, 767-9178, before Jan. 18.

McKinney School basketball report
Seventh-grade boys split 2
The McKinney School seventh-grade boys basketball team improved to 5–3 by winning one of two home games against Xenia Christian and Mechanicsburg. The Bulldogs defeated Xenia Christian, 32–17, on Saturday, Jan. 11, but fell to Mechanicsburg, 31–26, on Monday, Jan. 6.
In the Xenia Christian contest, Todd Sheets led all scorers with 12 points and Andrew Ferguson and Kalin Brown each added 8. Other scorers were Maxwell Buchwalder, Peter Lovering, Yosef Johnson and Kyle Buchwalder.
Ben Welsh led the Bulldogs with 6 points against Mechanicsburg.
The seventh graders’ next game is on the road against Troy Christian on Saturday, Jan. 18, at 10 a.m.
Eighth-grade boys win
The McKinney School boys eighth-grade basketball team defeated Xenia Christian, 52–31, on Saturday, Jan. 11.
Playing what coach Rob Martin described as “their finest game of the season,” the Bulldogs led comfortably during the entire contest.
Ryan Silvert and Evan Firestone led the team with 16 and 13 points, respectively. Jerricho Stubblefield, Kevin Malarkey, Brandon Carver-Halley, Buddy Adkins, Sonny Thomas, and Abeo Miller also scored. Logan Sage, Dylan Klonch and Mori Rothman also contributed to the victory.

5th-, 6th-grade basketball
Sixth-grade boys lose
Physical inside play and tough defense helped the East Clinton Astros defeat the Yellow Springs sixth graders 40–22 on Sunday, Jan. 12, in Yellow Springs.
Down only 5 points at the half, the Bulldogs poor free-throw shooting kept them from getting back into the contest. The Bulldogs’ missed 19 free-throws during the game.
The sixth graders fell to 0–2. They will host Wilmington and Greenview this Saturday, Jan. 18, and Sunday, Jan. 19. Members of the team not mentioned last week are Raphael Allen, Asa Casenhiser, Anthony Pettiford, Ethan Brown and Jacob Auten.
Sixth-grade girls win again
The sixth-grade girls basketball team used suffocating team defense to improve its record to 2–0 with a 42–14 win over East Clinton on Sunday, Jan. 12.
The Lady Bulldogs scored 4 seconds into the game and never looked back. Ashanta Robinson led the team with 22 points, followed by Ryder Comstock with 8 and Tenia Scarver with 6. Also scoring were Jessica Kellar, Kaci Yelton and Teresa Skinner.
Other members of the sixth-grade girls basketball team are Kristin Foster, Leslie Holland, Élan Orr, Jenny Barnett, Rachel Trumbull and Liz Zaff.
Fifth-grade girls lose
The fifth-grade girls basketball team suffered its first loss of the season Saturday, Jan. 11, falling to East Clinton, 39–21.
The Lady Astros secured victory by outscoring the Lady Bulldogs 12–2 in both the first and third quarters.
Brittany Sheets led Yellow Springs scorers with 10 points. Stephanie Scott, Alex Beer and Barbara Jewel also scored for the Lady Bulldogs.
Fifth- and sixth-grade girls and boys will be in action this Saturday, Jan. 18, and Sunday, Jan. 19, with home games against Wilmington and Greeneview.