Highland Scots split pair of games, winning by five, losing by a bunch.

On Dec. 21 Highland hosted the Galion Tigers and came home with a 66-61 victory. 

Highland was up 29-24 at the half thanks to some solid play by Dane Nauman, who scored seven of his 10 points in the half. Both teams scored 37 points in the second half with Brock Church scoring 11 points to lead the way, which included three makes from three-point land. Highland outscored Galion in the final frame 25-18 to take the five-point victory. Jordan Bellamy had a big fourth quarter with eight points including a three pointer.

Jordan Bellamy and Brock Church scored 15 points each for Highland, and Zach Schmidt added 12 points in the victory.

On Dec. 17 the Scots suffered a 77-42 loss at the hands of Shelby.

Shelby led from the beginning with a 26-7 first quarter, and the Whippets never let up as they hit halftime with an insurmountable 49-19 lead. The third quarter was all Shelby again as the Whippets put up 24 points compared to 18 for the Scots. The final quarter was Highland’s, albeit by a small advantage in a quiet 5-4 score, allowing the Whippets to walk away with an easy win.

Highland was led by Bellamy, who scored 15 points, and he swished in three makes from beyond the arc. Garrett Fitzpatrick scored eight points and Gavin Hankins had seven points, which included a three- pointer.

The split put the Fighting Scots at 2-5 for the season.

Marysville outlasts Mount Vernon 61-59 in double OT

On Dec. 22, Marysville and Mount Vernon went all the way to double overtime for Marysville to come away with a hard-fought 61-59 win.

Marysville was up 12-10 after the first quarter, but Mount Vernon charged to a 13-8 second-quarter advantage to make it a 23-20 game at halftime. Marysville outscored Mount Vernon 16-14 in the third quarter to come within one point and then tied the game at the end of regulation by outscoring Mount Vernon on a 10-0 run. Overtime was tight as well, but Marysville persevered to a 15-13 advantage in the two overtime periods to secure the win.

Leading Marysville was Nick Weaver with 23 points, which included seven threes. Jason Moore was the only other Marysville player in double figures with 17 points.

Mount Vernon was led by Beau Bridges with 16 points. Nolan Belcher and Owynn Gleason each had 10 points, and Trevor Butke added nine points. Gleason had three makes from beyond the arc, and Bridges and Belcher each had a pair of makes from three-point land as well.

Statistically, the teams were fairly even, with Mount Vernon holding slight advantages in assists (16 to 15), steals (eight to six) and blocks (two to one). Shooting accuracy was the difference, as Marysville shot 41% from the field compared to only 32% for Mount Vernon.

Marysville improved to 2-5 on the season while Mount Vernon dropped to 5-3. 

Northmor withstands fourth-quarter surge by Clear Fork for 51-49 win

Northmor High School managed to eke out a 51-49 win over Clear Fork on Dec. 23.

Clear Fork jumped out with a 13-6 lead after one quarter, but Northmor bounded back and, behind nine points from Garesin Cass, outscored Clear Fork 21-10 in the second frame to make it a 27-23 game in favor of Northmor at the half. While Clear Fork put together a strong fourth quarter, outscoring Northmor 20-12, it was the third quarter that ended up being the deciding factor as Clear Fork was limited to only six points compared to 12 by Northmor.

Northmor saw scoring from six players, led by Cass, who had 18 points, including a pair of threes. Grant Bentley and Maxton Lower each scored nine points.

Clear Fork had a 30 to 25 rebounding advantage and a 12 to 10 advantage in assists. Northmore had an advantage in shooting the ball at a 43% clip compared to 38% by Clear Fork.

Elgin posts big first, holds on to hang first loss on East Knox, 49-46

East Knox came into last week's contest against Elgin High School with an unbeaten record, but Elgin took advantage of a hot start and a major advantage in assists to come away with a 49-46 win over the Bulldogs.

Elgin went up 11-2 to start the game with Sam Whitney getting the only bucket for East Knox. The Bulldogs bounced back with 16 points in the second quarter compared to 10 for Elgin, and it was a 21-18 Elgin lead at the half. The Bulldogs got second-quarter scoring from four players, led by Shane Knepp's seven and Dillon Morlead's five.

Elgin outscored East Knox 13-12 in the third quarter, despite nine more from Knepp, but East Knox scored 16 points in the last quarter – none from Knepp – to 15 for Elgin, which was enough for Elgin to come away with the nail-biting win.

Knepp led all scorers with 25 points, including a pair of threes, after being completely shut down in the first quarter. Dillon Moreland had 11 points, with five in the fourth quarter.

It was the first loss of the season for East Knox, which fell to 6-1. The Bulldogs remain 5-0 in league play.

Northridge comes back to beat Fredericktown, 49-44 

Despite a big start for Fredericktown, the Freddies fell to 2-7 with a 49-44 loss to Northridge at home.

Fredericktown went up 17-4 in the first quarter, but then it was a Northridge advantage the rest of the way as the Vikings crawled back to victory. In the second half, the Vikings outscored Fredericktown 34-21. In the first, Brady Lester's six points and Trevor Beellman' five got the Freddies off to a quick start. Ruhl scored all of the Freddies' six points in the second quarter, in which they were outscored 9-6 but still held a 23-13 lead at halftime.

In the third, Northridge held a 17-10 advantage despite six points from Kaid Carpenter and four by Lester, and Northridge won the game with a 17-11 fourth quarter, though Carpenter hit for eight points for the Freddies

The Freddies were led by Carpenter, who finished with 14 points, all in the second half. Lester chipped in for 13 points, and Teegan Ruhl scored 10 for Fredericktown.

Fredericktown had a 37-to-27 rebounding advantage and also outshot Northridge 39% to 33%. However, Northridge had an eight-to-two steal advantage in the win.