SPEEDWAY — North Montgomery was bombarded with hot-shooting from the host Speedway and from absent varsity players Tuesday. The Sparkplugs defeated the Chargers 75-35 in a game that was never close. Speedway (1-0) unloaded from behind the arch early and often. In the opening quarter the Sparkplugs hit 7-of-9 on 3-point attempts led by DePauw University recruit Drew Valentine. The sharpshooter hit all five of his long-range attempts giving him 15 points in just the first perio

GREENCASTLE — Crawfordsville needed a veteran leader to step up in their season opener against Greencastle on Tuesday, and Ty Lynas answered the bell. The senior scored 14 of his team-high 21 points in the second half, helping stave off a Tiger Cub comeback and lifting the Athenians to a 72-63 win. The first for Crawfordsville over Greencastle since 2017 after four-straight losses, including an overtime heartbreaker in the 2019 sectional final. After a lackluster scrimmage ag

GREENCASTLE — A shorthanded Crawfordsville girls’ basketball team dropped a non-conference road game to Greencastle 60-23 on Tuesday night. The Athenians were without several players, including their top rebounder and floor general Shea Williamson. The Tiger Cubs offense got to the Athenians early and often. Greencastle led 12-2 after a quarter and 26-14 at halftime. A 22-2 edge for the Tiger Cubs in the third quarter blew things wide open. “Yeah they make it tough,” Crawford

LINDEN — North Montgomery’s short-handed girls basketball team lost 43-33 to Attica at home Tuesday. The game was rescheduled at the last minute when both teams lost opponents to COVID issues, and the Red Ramblers picked up their first win of the season to move to 1-2 and give head coach Matt Harmeson a nice birthday present. The Chargers fall to 2-3 as they lose their third straight. It was all the varsity players for North who couldn’t play that was part of the story. “We h

NEW MARKET — Belle Miller had an answer to the second half shooting woes for Southmont. Get to the free throw line. The junior scored seven of the Mounties nine overtime points — five of which came at the charity stripe — to lift Southmont over Crawfordsville 43-37 to claim the 14th annual girls’ Sugar Creek Classic title. “I think around the end of the fourth quarter, coach Wolfe (assistant coach) came over to me and told me to demand the ball,” Miller said. “And then everyo

LINDEN — Behind the veteran leadership of six seniors, North Montgomery posted a 13-11 record last season in Chad Arnold’s first season at the helm. It was the first winning season for the Chargers since 2016. Now Arnold has the task of rebuilding for the future. The Chargers top returning scorer Zak Searle (5.1 points per game) will miss the beginning of the season after suffering a knee injury in football, but senior Logan Kelly (left) does return 3.8 points per game, and k

Thursday night’s win for Crawfordsville was more than a decade in the making. The Athenians stopped a 20-game losing streak to Western Boone in girls’ basketball with a 40-25 thumping of the Stars in the opening round of the Sugar Creek Classic. Olivia Reed celebrated her 17th birthday by pouring in a game-high 20 points to lead the Athenians (1-2), who never trailed in their first win of the season. “The birthday girl, she was great,” Crawfordsville coach Tyler Smith said of

Stranger things than Western Boone failing to win the girls Sugar Creek Classic basketball tournament have happened in high school sports in the COVID-19 stricken year of 2020. The Stars have won 12 of the 13 tourneys, including the last 11 in a row. Crawfordsville is the only other winner, defeating North Montgomery in the championship back in the 2008-09 season. Now might be the best time of any for a new champion to emerge. Western Boone is 0-4 on the season and averaging

NEW MARKET — Southmont did not look like a team that hadn’t suited up since the sectional last February when they took the floor Thursday night in its season opener. Led by their veterans, the Mounties easily defeated Bethesda Christian 51-36. Southmont (1-0) never trailed, leading 23-13 at the half and by as many as 16 early in the fourth quarter. “I was pleasantly surprised,” first-year coach Dan Burkman said. “I knew it might be a little ugly, but like I told the girls in

Crawfordsville lost an early lead and never got it back in a 73-42 blowout loss to North Putnam on Tuesday night in girls’ basketball. The Athenians (0-2) held a 15-8 lead after three-straight baskets from freshman Taylor Abston late in the first quarter, but the Cougars (2-0) went on a 28-7 scoring run over the last nine minutes of the first half to lead 36-22 at the half. Crawfordsville never got any closer in the second half, committing 25 of their 44 turnovers over the la