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GIRLS WRESTLING
Although girls wrestling has had an avenue for the last handful of years, the sport finally found a home as a sanctioned Indiana High School Athletic Association sport this season. And a pair of Sullivan grapplers are continuing to blaze their trail.
Competing in the first ever IHSAA sectional at Mt. Vernon over the weekend, juniors Brylee Wilkinson and Rachel Ramirez will once again make history this weekend. The pair of Lady Arrows not only qualified for the regional with a Top-4 finish, the duo will be heading to the next round as sectional champions.
Wilkinson picked up a pair of wins in claiming the sectional title at 100 pounds, while Ramirez won three times on her way to the title at 125.
Wilkinson advanced to the 100 championship with a 16-second fall in her opening match of the day. The pin was the fifth fastest of the day from the entire field.
In the finals, the Lady Arrow junior needed just 25 seconds into the second period to pick up her second win by pin, defeating Owen Valley’s Josey Mobley.
Wilkinson takes a season record of 12-7 into the regional.
The sectional title for Ramirez was a little more arduous. The junior started her day with a 43-second pin before slipping past Jasper’s Lillian Hanshaw by a score of 2-0 in the semifinals.
In the championship bout, the Lady Arrows’ most accomplished wrestler defeated Mt. Vernon’s Justice Stillwagoner, 15-7.
With the three wins, Ramirez boasts an overall mark of 27-7 heading to regional action.
The Lady Arrows nearly had a third grappler keep their season alive. Sophomore Landrie Fifer fell one win shy of placing in the top four at 120.
The 120-pounder had the misfortune of facing the eventual sectional champ in the opening round. Fifer dropped a tough 11-8 decision to North Posey’s Kaylie Will. The match would be Will’s toughest of the day, as she went on to win her next two matches by fall.
Fifer stayed alive with a win by fall in her second match. But once again fell short in the consolation semifinals by a score of 10-7 against Mt. Vernon’s Micah Lamberson-Angle.
Fifer finished her season with a record of 13-11.
Regional action for Wilkinson and Ramirez will commence Friday morning at Mooresville. The Top-4 in each weight class will punch their ticket to the first ever Girls IHSAA State Finals.
Ramirez was a two-time state finalist when the state tournament was overseen by the girls coaches association. She placed seventh as a freshman. Wilkinson joined Ramirez at the state meet last season.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
DUGGER UNION 42, Washington Catholic 22: The Lady Bulldogs bounced back from a loss in the championship game at the Christmas in the Tank Classic.
The Bulldogs improved to 4-8 on the season with the home win on Saturday.
Jordyn Smith and Sage Stahl led the way, combining for 30 points. Smith tallied a game-high 16 points.
The hosts jumped out to a 14-4 lead after the first eight minutes of play and carried a 30-8 lead into the break.
Arianna Frazee added seven points in the win.
Cori Pearison added two points while pulling down 12 rebounds.
Like she has done all season, Stahl controlled the glass with a game-high 16 rebounds to finish with a double-double and Frazee added nine boards.
Smith led the defense with seven steals to go along with four rebounds and dished out five assists.
SHAKAMAK 54, Mitchell 22: The Lady Lakers evened their season record with a home romp.
Madelyn Kennett led the charge with a game-high 19 points including 11 in the second period.
Shakamak led 34-10 at the break and never let the visitors back into the game.
Senior Elayni Stone added 12 points while Aubree Langford (8) and Mattilyn Hill (7) combined for 15 points in the win.
Clara Barber added three points and senior Chase Hammond returned to the lineup to register one bucket. Hammond had missed the previous month due to an ankle injury.
NORTH CENTRAL 48, Covenant Christian 38: Shelby Seay and Jalyn Davidson scored 19 points apiece to lead the Class 1A No. 1 ranked Ladybirds to a tournament title over the hosts.
Samantha Secrest (8) and Maycie Dreiman (2) rounded out the scoring in the win.
Earlier in the tournament, North Central knocked off Class 3A Cascade in the opener, 51-37.
Davidson led the charge with 20 points and dished out five assists and came up with four steals.
Seay added 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists in the win while Secrest finished with nine points, seven rebounds and three steals.
The pair of wins improved the Ladybirds’ record to 15-2 on the season.
BOYS BASKETBALL
NORTH KNOX 58, Vincennes Rivet 38: The Warriors picked up their second straight win with the lopsided victory against their county and Blue Chip Conference rivals.
The visitors raced out to a 16-5 lead after the first eight minutes of play and never looked back in improving to 3-7 on the season.
Will Trabant came off the Warriors’ bench to tally a career-high 19 points to lead the charge.
The sophomore scored half of his game-high total in the third period, including knocking down a three-pointer from the top of the key.
Camden McCory added 12 points in the win, while Braxton Yenne (9) and Cole Kerns (7) combined for 16 points.
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