Apax cruise in sectional opener

The Wabash defense was up for the task as they dominated Winamac, 48-15, in the semifinals of the Class 2A Rochester Sectional Saturday night, March 4.

Postponed a night due to poor weather on Friday, March 3, the Apaches held the Warriors to three first-quarter points and shut out Winamac, 15-0, in the third quarter to earn a spot in the championship game Monday night, March 6.

Wabash led the game, 14-3, after the first quarter and took a 23-8 lead at halftime.

and Bryce Wilcox had a big game with 12 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks.

Jason Oprisek finished with eight points, nine rebounds, four assists, and two steals, with Nathan Lehner scoring eight points with four assists, and two steals, followed by Dylan Stout with six points and six rebounds, Jaret Denney with four points, one rebound, and one assist, and Dalton Barney, Caleb Wyatt, and Griffin Chambers with two points.

Southwood 70, Canterbury 57

Southwood once again took an early lead, withstood a fight from Fort Wayne Canterbury, steadily pulled away from the Cavaliers in the championship game, and celebrated a championship with a 70-57 victory Saturday, March 4.

The Knights raced out to a 20-10 lead after one quarter only to see Canterbury cut the lead in half at 36-31 at halftime.

The Knights outscored the Cavaliers, 17-14, in the third quarter, then pulled away in the fourth quarter to advance to the Frankfort Regional this Saturday, March 11.

Five Knights scored in double figures in the game, led by Lehner with 16 points. He added two steals, one assists, and one rebound to his tally, while Oprisek tossed in 14 points with four rebounds, and two steals, and Cole Winer added 12 points, four rebounds, and two assists.

Wilcox and Stout were both big inside with Stout picking up 10 points, seven rebounds, five blocks and two steals and Wilcox recording 10 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks, and Will Winer finished with eight points, five rebounds, four steals, and three assists.

Southwood (12-12) will face No. 11 Blue River Valley (20-6) in a one-game regional at Frankfort at 7 p.m.

No. 2 Fountain

Central and Liberty Christian play in the early one-game regional at 4 p.m.

The Apaches smothered the Warriors in the third-quarter shutout, and finished with the 33point win.

Grant Ford led Wabash with 11 points – nine of them on 3-pointers – three rebounds, and two steals, followed by Kaden Vogel with eight points, eight rebounds, three assists, and two steals, Izaak Wright with seven points, six rebounds, three assists, and two steals, Trevor Daughtry with six points, three assists, and three steals, Kolton Wilson with six points, two rebounds, and one assist, Collin Price with four points and three rebounds, Alex Dinkins four points and three rebounds, and Antonio Grant with two points and two assists. Dave Ford added two rebounds and one assist on the night.

The win put the Apaches in the championship game against Lewis-Cass. The game was played after The Paper of

Wabash County press deadline. Look for results on the paper’s Facebook page and for a full story in the March 15 issue.

The winner of the championship game moves on to a one-game regional this Saturday, March 11, at North Judson-San Pierre against the hosts Bluejays (23-3) at 1 p.m.

Squires fall in semi-finals

The Manchester Squires traveled to South Adams for sectional play last week where they ran through Bluffton in the opening round before falling to eventual champion Blackhawk in the semifinals.

In the opening round of sectional play, Bluffton stayed close but a 15-1 run by Manchester blew the game open as the Squires cruised to a 92-54 win over the Tigers, Wednesday, March 1.

Bluffton started the game with a 4-0 lead before the Squires scored the next six points.

A Tiger basket midway through the first quarter cut the Manchester lead to 9-8 but the Squires scored 15 of the next 16 points to take a 24-9 lead and it was never close the rest of the way.

The high-scoring Squires hit 15 three-pointers on the night including five from Gavin Marin and three from Tyler McLain.

Gavin Betten led the Squires with 28 points, 17 rebounds, four blocks, and two assists, followed by McLain with 15 points, six assists, and four rebounds, and Martin with 15 points and three rebounds.

Four Squires scored six points on the night with Trevor Heath adding five rebounds, Ethan Hendrix contributing four assists and two rebounds, along with Wyatt Prater adding an assist and a rebound, and Reiss Gaerte recording one block.

Tallon Torpy scored five points along with four rebounds and three assists, followed by Cont. on Pg. 19.

Northfield’s Dillon Tomlinson gets a three-point shot up over Southwood’s Cole Winer. The Knights defeated MSD rival Northfield, 69-35, in sectional semi-final action on Friday, March 4.

Squires

Kaleb Kline with three points, one rebound, and one assist, Carter Wagoner with two points, four rebounds, and one block, and Aaron Reid with one rebound and one assist.

Semifinals

Blackhawk

Christian 75, Manchester 42 Class 2A No. 3

Blackhawk Christian showed why they belong near to top of the class after dominating Manchester in the semifinal round with a 75-42 win Friday, March 3.

The Squires stayed close with

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the Braves for the first 4 1/2 minutes.

After the Braves took a 4-0 lead, Betten and McLain hit back-to-back buckets to tie it at 4-4.

The teams traded baskets with Betten tying the game at 66 with 5:25 left in the first quarter.

Blackhawk took an 11-6 lead before McLain scored on an inside drive with 4:12 left in the quarter to cut it to 11-8.

McLain hit 1-2 free throws at the 3:29 mark to make it an 11-9 score but it all Braves after that.

Blackhawk went on a 12-0 run over a 3:10 span to take a 23-9 lead before Hendrix hit 1-2 free throws as the firstquarter buzzer sounded.

Blackhawk controlled the game the rest of the way to advance to the championship game where they defeated Adams Central for the title.

The Squires finish a strong season with an 18-6 record and placed second in the Three Rivers Conference.

Official stats were not available for the game at press time.