Boys Best of the Week: Presidents' win first; Elgin wins two close ones

MARION - The Presidents earned their first boys basketball victory of the season when they beat Galion 52-45 in a Mid Ohio Athletic Conference game.

Two days after scoring 41 points against RIver Valley, Marion Harding held Galion's Isaiah Alsip to just eight points. Harding also outscored Galion 12-6 in the fourth period to pull away as Jacob Malone hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final quarter to help the cause. It was Malone's first varsity game of the season.

DeVon Fraker led Harding with 11 points, while Deante and DeJaun Smith both had eight points.

Meanwhile, Elgin won a pair of close ones over the week in basketball, first beating Northridge 39-36 then Sidney Lehman 47-44.

Against Northridge, Colin Rife hit a 3-pointer with a minute left to give the Comets a one-point lead, then added a pair of free throws with 25 seconds to go. He and Tyler Nichols led with 11 points each. Against Lehman, Nichols made two free throws with eight seconds left to push the lead to three points. Rife had 15 points on five 3-pointers, while Nichols added 12 points. Elgin trailed 11-2 after the first quarter and 23-11 at halftime against the Vikings.

Other standout performances this week include:

» Harding's bowling team has shown how formidable it is, beating Pleasant 2,404-2,188 at Coopers Bowl. Harding was led by Zach Cox who had a 254 game and 442 series, Brennan Swihart's 216-209 for a 425 series, Joshua Kraviec's 238 game and 415 series and a 214 game, and 395 series from Eli Cox. Bobby Davis went 213-232 for a 445 series, while Holden Atherton had a 376 and Gizzy Decker a 351 for Pleasant.

» Against Elgin, Harding was even better in a 2,503-1,680 victory, as Kraviec went 257-216 for a 473, Eli Cox went 214-255 for a 469, Swihart went 230-211 for a 441 and Colton Wagner went 204-209 for a 413.

» Pleasant beat North Union 73-57 in basketball as Nick Kimmel had 23 points, Ethan Warner 17 and Patrick Blubaugh 11. The Wildcats got 16 from Harley Day and 14 from Connor Terrill.

» Harding's swim team was fourth at the Colonel Crawford Relays as the 200 medley relay won and the 200 backstroke relay was runner-up. In a 5-way meet at the Marion Family YMCA, the Presidents were second led by the winning 400 free relay team of Kirkland Hawkins, Aaron Pirnstill, Tahvean Mason and Duncan Beary, and Beary's 100 fly win. At the Whetstone Braves Invite, Beary was third in the 100 fly, Mason was fourth in the 50 free and the 400 free team of Hawkins, Colton Hoffman, Mason and Pirnstill was third.

» It's hard to top the night posted by Mount Gilead's Mason Mollohan in an 87-85 double overtime win over Fredericktown. He had 40 points, 17 rebounds, five steals and made 3 of 4 3-pointers to bump his average to 23 points and 16 rebounds per game. Jason Bolha had 27 points including a 3-pointer at the buzzer at the end of regulation.

» In a 101-62 loss to Clear Fork, River Valley got 23 points from A.J. Kenny and 11 from Adam Hawk.

» Cardington's Blake Clapham had a 257-215 for a 472 series as the Pirates used nine bowlers to defeat Northmor 1,826-1,154.

» Highland bowling got a 380 series from Dana Hicks in a 2,097-1,934 win over Centerburg. Joey Bennett and Brennen McLaughlin had games of 197 and 191.

» Buckeye Valley lost a pair of games to Clear Fork and Ontario. Dylan Herbert led BV with games of 25 and 16 points, while Clark Newland had 14 points in each game.

» Northmor romped to a 66-43 win over Cardington as Meechie Johnson led the Knights with 18 points, six rebounds and three assists, while Brock Pletcher had 18 points, four assists and four steals, and Kyle Kegley had 14 points and Tyler Kegley nine rebounds. Garrett Wagner had 18 points and six rebounds for the Pirates.

» Highland's Mack Anglin scored 19 points with Chris Branham scoring 16 and Andrew Wheeler 10 in a 59-44 win over Mount Gilead. Bolha had 22 points and Mollohan 14. In a 66-30 win over Centerburg, Anglin led with 13.

» North Union was outscored 18-13 in the fourth period as Ontario won 50-48. Riley Price had 16 points and Harley Day 10 for NU.

» North Union's bowling scored had a 2,231-2,099 win over River Valley as Connor Brandt had a career high 205-220 for a 425 series and Matt Quigley had a 386. In a 2,165-1,773 win over Fairbanks, Quigley had a 245 game and 425 series, while Riley Young had a career-high 417 with games of 215 and 202. Quigley also had a 245 game and 420 series in a 2,002-1,664 win over Buckeye Valley, while Young added a 394 series. NU's Grant Daum scored a 416 series (205-211) and Brandt a 367 in a 2,207-1,965 win over Galion.

» Cardington's Trey Brininger hit two 3-pointers in overtime and led with 14 points in a 51-49 loss to East Knox.

To vote in this week's Star Boys Best of the Week Performer Poll, visit MarionStar.com and its digital app.

Rob McCurdy is the sports writer at The Marion Star and can be reached at rmccurdy@gannett.com, work 740-375-5158, cell 419-610-0998, Twitter @McMotorsport and Instagram @rob_mccurdy_star.

Star Boys Best of the Week Performer Poll winner

Highland wrestler Bryce Schott finished third at 106 pounds at the Kilted Classic and received 638 votes (43 percent) to beat Northmor basketball player Brock Pletcher, Marion Harding bowler Josh Kraviec, North Union basketball player Mason Soviak and Pleasant basketball player Nick Kimmel. There were 1,486 votes cast.