Presented by Ross-Chillicothe Convention and Visitors Bureau

On the heels of winning their respective Frontier Athletic Conference Meet, the Chillicothe Cavaliers Swim teams finished near the top at Saturday’s Sectional Meet at Ohio University.

The Athens Boys and Marietta Girls were DII Southeast Sectional Meet Champions, while Chillicothe was the Boys runners-up and the Girls were third behind Athens.

The DII Southeast District Swim Meet is combined with the Central District this Thursday at McCorkle Aquatic Center at Ohio State University. 30 swimmers in each individual event and 20 teams in relay events will compete at the District Tournament.

The Division I District Tournament will be held Saturday.

BOYS DII SECTIONAL TEAM RESULTS: 1st – Athens (619); 2nd – Chillicothe (438.5); 3rd – Greenfield McClain (258); 4th – Marietta (232.5); 5th – River Valley (185); 6th – Warren (165); 7th – Zane Trace (159); 8th – Portsmouth Notre Dame (158); 9th – Northwest (144); 10th – Portsmouth (126); 11th – Hillsboro (117); 12th – Miami Trace (105); 13th – Washington CH (75); 14th – Wheelersburg (74); 15th – Adena (57); 16th – Logan Elm (40); 17th – Fairfield Union (31); 18th – Circleville (28); 19th – Portsmouth West (14).

GIRLS DII SECTIONAL TEAM RESULTS: 1st – Marietta (530); 2nd – Athens (335); 3rd – Chillicothe (304); 4th – Fairfield Union; 5th – Warren (276); 6th – Portsmouth Notre Dame (243); 7th – Greenfield McClain (236); 8th – Washington CH (234); 9th – Wheelersburg (211); 10th – Zane Trace (184); 11th – River Valley (165); 12th – Miami Trace (152); 13th – Hillsboro (140); 14th – Northwest (82); 15th – Portsmouth (69); 16th – Logan Elm (62); 17th – Crooksville (45); 18th Circleville (44); 19th – Adena (23); 20th – Portsmouth West (9).

Presented by Atomic Speedway

Finally… the SOC II title has found a home in Waverly, the first outright title for the Tigers since 1992.

30… long… years.

“We’ve had some really nice teams” said Robinson “teams I thought we probably would win the league. But, crazy things happen. No excuses – we just didn’t get it done.”

The Senators were able to hang with the Tigers early, trailing 16-12 after the first period, but Waverly’s inside-out game complimented by Trey Robertson’s 34-point effort began to overwhelm West on the defensive end.

“They’re tough to guard” said West Coach Caleb McClanahan. “You try to chase Trey around and he’s seen every kind of defense and everything you’re gonna try to throw at him. They hit somebody that’s open or hit (Will) Futhey underneath… They’re the Number 1 seed in D-2 for a reason. They’re a good team.”

Waverly began to pull away in the second period after back-to-back baskets by Hudson Kelly and a lay in by Mark Stulley. Robertson drilled a three and to put the Tigers ahead by 10 at 29-19 with 2:56 remaining before intermission. Waverly widened its margin to 51-39 through the third quarter.

The Tigers have their sites set for Lucasville Valley Friday night to close out the regular season, which will be a night filled with emptions.

“Tomorrow’s gonna be tough” anticipated Robertson, thinking about his class of six seniors. “Brad Stulley and I started coaching these guys when they were in the third grade. We’ve spent a lot of time together. It’d be nice to win that one and send these guys out on a positive note.”

Watch for highlights and interviews Friday night on the Litter Media Games of the Week Post Game Show on the Litter Media Facebook Page.

SCORING: Portsmouth West (47) – Jake Jordan, 2; Jesse Dixon, 12; Jeffrey Bishop, 8; Noah Coleman, 7; Ryan Sissel, 16; Jacob Davis, 2. Waverly (68) – Mark Stulley, 7; Hudson Kelly, 8; Trey Robertson, 34; Wade Futhey, 3; Penn Morrison, 2; Will Futhey, 14.

Presented by Chillicothe VAMC

Zane Trace earned a 48-31 victory at Piketon Friday night, in typical Pioneers fashion.

Patient… methodical… look for the open shot… take it… get back and defend.

It’s the pattern Gary Kellough’s teams have had success with for many years. The win kept Zane Trace atop the Scioto Valley Conference Boys Basketball standings at 8-2, a half game ahead of Paint Valley.

“Consistency’s been our thing the last month” said Kellough. “When we’re consistent, we have good guard play and stuff, we’ve been making good runs. In our last three games, we’ve given up under 40 (points) and the defense end right now is what’s igniting our offense.”

The two clubs traded baskets in the first period with a draw at 12-12. Then the Pioneers put together a 9-0 run to go ahead 21-12. They would maintain at least a six-point edge until the Redstreaks rallied to cut the deficit to 27-23 at the half.

In the middle two quarters, Zane Trace outscored the Streaks 29-17 and held Piketon to just eight second half points.

Piketon’s Kyle Miller credited the Pioneers defense for keeping his team in check in the second half.

“They did a great job of contesting everything… bumping us off our cuts, which is something we’ve prided ourselves on during this good stretch of play” said Miller. “And they hit shots. They executed. They deserve the credit.”  

Xzander Ream led all scorers with 18-points while the Pioneers inside trio of Kyle Stonerock (10 pts.), Nalin Robinson (9 pts.) and Donavin Baker (7 pts.) combined for 26-points.

Piketon had hopes of keeping pace with the SVC leaders, but suffered a setback dropping their conference record to 7-4 and 9-8 overall. They’ll travel to Paint Valley Saturday night. The Bearcats are 7-2/9-8 after a 71-60 win at Westfall Friday.

Meanwhile, Zane Trace keeps chugging along with an 11-5 mark overall and the 8-2 record in SVC action, They’ll head to Frankfort for a meeting with Adena Saturday. The Warriors fell short to Unioto 71-68 in overtime.

The other SVC game saw Southeastern pick up a 62-48 win at Huntington.

Box Score: Zane Trace (48); Xzander Ream, 18; Kyle Stonerock, 10; Nalin Robinson, 9; Donavin Naker, 7; Ben Nichols, 2 and Carter Hill, 2. Piketon (31); Tra Swayne, 13; Levi Gullion, 8; Declan Davis, 4; Kydan Potts, 3; Garrett Legg, 3.

Presented by Rathkamp Financial

Chillicothe’s Osh Brown continues to make an impact for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights Women’s Basketball team.

Sunday in a 49-45 loss to Wisconsin, , with 11-points and 10-rebounds, Brown recorded her sixth double-double of the season, and the 55^th of her career (the most among all active NCAA Division I women’s basketball players).

In a 68-63 loss at Northwestern last Thursday, Brown led all scorers with 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting and an 8-of-8 mark from the free throw line. She grabbed 16 rebounds before fouling out with two minutes left in the game. 

Brown, a graduate transfer from Ball State now with 1,658 career points, is the NCAA Division I active career leader in rebounds with 1,279 and in double-doubles with 55. 

Brown grabbed her first Rutgers double-double in grand fashion in the Paradise Jam opener with a 20-point, 20-rebound performance against DePaul, Rutgers’ first 20-20 since Betnijah Laney’s in 2014 against UNC. The effort fell two shy of Brown’s career-high of 22 rebounds, set in the 2021 NCAA Tournament last season, a Ball State program record.

In 19 games this season, Brown ins averaging 9.1 ppg and 9.1 rpg. She’s fourth in the Big Ten in rebounding. For her career, Brown has played in 134 games and averaged 12.4 ppg and 9.5 rpg.

Rutgers (7-14) is still searching for its first conference win. The Scarlet Knights play at Nebraska (13-4) Thursday and return home with Ohio State (13-3) Sunday at 1pm on ESPN2. The Buckeyes will host Rutgers on Monday February 7th at 6pm in Columbus.