Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014

Panthers dominate boards in big win

By Gary R. Rasberry
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard

Parkway's Haley Hawk, 52, goes up to the basket strong against Perry. Hawk had 18 points and 11 rebounds in the Panthers' 71-51 win over the Commodores.

ROCKFORD - Parkway used hot shooting in the second quarter to pull away from Perry and pick up a 71-51 win in non-conference girls basketball action at Panther Gymnasium on Tuesday night.
The Panthers improve to 2-0 to start the season for the first time since the 1996-97 season.
After a back-and-forth first quarter, Parkway immediately turned a 15-13 lead into a 22-13 advantage with a 7-0 run, ignited by a three-pointer from Kayla Walls. The teams traded baskets through the quarter before Panther freshman Sydney Crouch got hot in the final two minutes of the half, hitting a trio of three-pointers, including one with two seconds left to put Parkway up 38-28 at the half.
"Funny thing about Sydney. I was the seventh-grade coach. That was the first year she ever picked up a basketball," Parkway coach Chris Weirrick said. "She never dribbled (before). Couldn't hit a free throw. ... That girl has worked harder than anyone I have seen over the last couple of years. I told her over the summer if she worked hard she could see some varsity minutes."
Both teams were putting up shot attempts. Parkway was just 11-of-33 from the field in the first half but countered that with a dominating rebounding effort, pulling down 33 rebounds in the half, including nine off the offensive boards.
"At Botkins (last Saturday), we were taking good shots but they weren't falling," Weirrick said. "Tonight, they were falling"
Perry (0-1) tried to get back into the game, paring the Panther lead by two points through the third quarter and getting the deficit down to 51-45 early in the fourth quarter on two free throws from LaTrisha Edmonds.
Looking for a spark, Weirrick called on point guard Sarah Gehron, who was nursing a twisted ankle, to help the team. Gehron stepped up, and although she didn't score, her skills helped Parkway not only slow down the Commodores offensively but reignite the Panther offense.
"I wasn't going to play her. I knew if I put her in, it would (increase) the energy level of everybody else (and) it did," Weirrick said.
Crouch came back off the bench and hit another three-pointer and a pair of free throws as the Panthers outscored the Commodores 20-8 in the final quarter to put the lead back up to 20 at the final horn.
Parkway dominated the inside game as freshman Haley Hawk and seniors Kayle Heckler and Terra Walls each had a double-double in scoring and rebounds. Hawk led the way with 16 ppints to go with 11 rebounds. Walls had 15 points and 13 rebounds and Heckler had 12 points and 11 rebounds as the Panthers out-rebounded the Commodores 61-48.
"Rebounding is something I want us to take pride in," Weirrick said. "We want to hang our hat on it, especially on the defensive end. I truly believe you give a team 2-3 chances at the bucket, you're going to get beat. We work really hard."
Crouch added 15 points on 4-of-8 three-point shooting and 3-of-4 free throw shooting.
Edmonds was the only Perry player to reach double figures with 16. Alanna Sanks added nine points
Parkway has off the rest of the week before hosting Crestview on Dec. 9.
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard

Freshman Sydney Crouch went 3-for-4 from the three-point line to help Parkway improve to 2-0 on the season with a 71-51 win over Perry on Tuesday night.

Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard

Terra Walls had 15 points and 13 rebounds to help Parkway start the season 2-0 for the first time since the 1996-97 season with a 71-51 win over Perry at Panther Gymnasium.

Additional online story on this date
CELINA - Officials are pleased with the city's financial situation as they continue to trim $17.23 million in outstanding debt.
Celina officials this year paid $3.06 million in principal and interest on the aggregate debt load and are poised to pay $2.72 million in 2015. [More]
Subscriber and paid stories on this date
MINSTER - The village beginning next year will pay an additional $21,400 in estimated fees to the city of St. Marys for handling income tax collections.
Village traffic study looking at section of U.S. 33
ROCKFORD - Police Chief Paul May hopes to slow traffic on Bridge Street (U.S. 33) from 50 mph to 35 mph on the northwest end of the village.
"I dou
CELINA - Health insurance costs will increase slightly next year for Mercer County employees.
Workers will continue to contribute the same percenta
Celina mayor, wife open new shop
CELINA - Mayor Jeff Hazel is crazy about coffee, excellent coffee.
Hazel and his wife, Patty, have been working since last year to bring that passion to life in the newly opened Hazelnut Coffee Co., at 318 S. Ash St.
Division VI State Football Championship Game
MINSTER - Football is a game of inches. Minster's run to the state title game has proven that.
A brief recap: the Wildcats won their first-round g
Tuesday's Local Roundup
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry
Marion Local jumped out to a 15-0 lead after one quarter and never looked back in a 49-21 victory over Waynesfield-Goshen in girls basketball action at Waynesfield.
Division III-IV All-Ohio Football
A pair of local athletes earned All-Ohio honors as The Associated Press released its Divisions III and IV All-State teams on Tuesday night.
Celina defensive back Sean Kirk and St. Marys running back Isaac Fitzgerald each earned special mention honors.
Class of 2015 one of the most talented in years in boys basketball
Every few years, the area schools bring together a group of athletes out of one grade that have exceptional talent and ability.
The senior class fo
CELINA - The past three seasons have seen the Celina boys basketball team end its season on the court at Lima Senior.
After losing to eventual regional runner-up Bath in the Division II sectional final last season, the Bulldogs are loaded for bear this season.
CELINA - The Celina girls basketball had a learning curve in 2013-14, dropping to 5-19 and 3-6 in the Western Buckeye League.
The good news for th
COLDWATER - The waiting process is nothing new for Coldwater boys basketball coach Mike Bruns.  
The Cavaliers' football playoff run has meant that Bruns did not have a full varsity team in camp until the end of the football season.
COLDWATER - After coaching most of the current Coldwater girls basketball team during their junior high days, Connie May will get a chance to coach the players on the high school level.
FORT RECOVERY - New Fort Recovery boys basketball coach Chris Guggenbiller can't wait to start the season.
The Fort alum takes over a team that went 15-7 last season and lost a chance at an MAC title in the final conference game of the season.
FORT RECOVERY - Brian Patch did not find a bare cupboard as he moved from the boys basketball office to the girls basketball office at Fort Recovery
MARIA STEIN - Different year but same drill for the Marion Local boys basketball team.
For the fourth consecutive year, the Flyer football team is making a deep postseason run, meaning some of the projected key players on the basketball team will join the team late.
MARIA STEIN - The Marion Local girls basketball team returns nine letterwinners from a team that won 18 games last season.
The Flyers did lose a F
MINSTER - With 21 years on Minster's sidelines in his rear-view mirror, Mike Lee is preparing for the 2014-15 boys' basketball campaign with a sense
MINSTER - As Minster head basketball coach Nann Stechschulte examines her girls' basketball lineup at this time each year, the veteran coach doesn't
NEW BREMEN - With 10 returning lettermen, including three starters, New Bremen is looking to be a factor in the Midwest Athletic Conference boys basketball race this winter.
NEW BREMEN - Eight. That is the challenging number facing New Bremen girls basketball coach Chris Burden.
Burden begins the 2014-15 season with just eight girls in his program - three juniors, two sophomores and three freshmen.
NEW KNOXVILLE - Sixth-year New Knoxville boys basketball coach Kort Fledderjohann is looking at a nucleus of five returning seniors as a building block for his 2014-15 Rangers.
NEW KNOXVILLE - Veteran coach Tim Hegemier begins his 10th season at the helm of the New Knoxville girls program without his franchise quarterback. That means sophomore Kenzie Schroer has some big shoes to fill.
ROCKFORD - Second-year Parkway boys basketball head coach Rick Hickman and staff have an optimistic outlook on the season ahead.
The Panthers, who
ROCKFORD - The Parkway girls basketball coaching staff underwent a bit of a makeover in the offseason.
Chris Weirrick steps in to fill the role of former head coach Lynn Hughes. Joining him on the sidelines will be varsity assistant Linda Hawk and JV coach Dave Souers.
ST. HENRY - Expectations are high for the St. Henry boys basketball team this season.
Just how far they will go, however, is up to the seniors.
ST. HENRY - The St. Henry girls basketball team played in a lot of close games last year but had trouble finishing.
Head coach Kurt Huelsman is hoping that will change this year.
ST. MARYS - With four of his five starters returning from the 2013-14 basketball campaign, St. Marys head coach Dan Hegemeier can't help but crack a
ST. MARYS - Following Kelly Fulmer's departure as the head coach of the St. Marys girls' basketball program during the offseason, St. Marys officials