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Tipton to play game at Huntington North
The IHSAA on Sunday announced times and locations for its boys basketball semistate games.
The Class 2A northern semistate between No. 2-ranked Tipton (25-2) and No. 7 Bowman Academy (16-9) is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Huntington North. The winner will advance to the state finals.
GVSU’s Donson earns All-American honors
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Eastern High School product Blake Donson made a splash in the NCAA Division II indoor track and field championships last week.
Donson, a redshirt freshman at Grand Valley State in Michigan, took sixth in the weight throw with a personal-best throw of 61 feet, 11 1/2 inches. He came away with All-American honors on the strength of finishing in the top eight.
Donson had the best showing of any freshman in the event.
Local track squads compete in HSR
MARION — Local track and field teams completed the last section of the Hoosier State Relay qualifying meets Saturday at Indiana Weslyan University.
Kokomo’s girls team had a pair of strong showings. Summer Blackamore won the shot put with an effort of 38 feet, 3 1/4 inches and the 800-meter relay team of Ma-Ryssa Martin, Brayanna Fowler, Iesha Wallace and Raven Pugh placed second in 1:49.22.
Eastern’s boys team also had some strong showings. Grant Cole won the long jump with a leap of 22 feet, 4 3/4 inches. The 3,200 relay team of Lewis Duke, Josh Summers, Adam Schaaf and Sam Higdon was second in 8:28.18. And, James Reed was fourth in shot put with a toss of 46-1 1/2.
Athletes with top-24 performances from the qualifying meets will compete Saturday in the finals Saturday at IWU.
Youth softball team schedules tryouts
LOGANSPORT — The Rockets 8-and-under girls coach-pitch softball team will hold tryouts from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Landis Elementary in Logansport. Interested girls should bring their own glove, helmet and bat and wear gym-appropriate shoes.
For further information, parents should call Dan Johansen at 574-355-6209.
Sports
Local sports briefs - Monday, March 11, 2013
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Northwestern takes down West Lafayette
Northwestern played a very solid game on both offense and defense in defeating West Lafayette 8-5 in the opening round of the IHSAA Class 3A Peru Baseball Sectional Thursday night.
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10 area athletes advance to boys track state finals
Austin Roark’s first season as the head boys track and field coach at Eastern High School just keeps getting better and better.
A week after guiding the Comets to their first sectional title since 1998, Roark will join six of his athletes at next weekend’s IHSAA state finals after advancing out of Thursday’s Kokomo Regional at Walter Cross Field. -
Eastern dominates Taylor in softball
GREENTOWN — The third time turned out not to be the charm for the Taylor softball squad as Eastern improved to 3-0 on the season over its backyard rival Wednesday night, ousting the Titans from the Class 2A Eastern Sectional 15-0 in five innings.
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Barnes sets Taylor's career hits record
Taylor baseball standout Logan Barnes made his final game at George Phares Field one to remember.
Barnes pitched four solid innings to lead Taylor past Monroe Central 9-3 Tuesday. In addition, he went 2 for 3 at the plate, pushing his career hits total to a school-record 142. -
Kats drop heartbreaker
When the postseason arrives, emotions surge like a roller-coaster. One minute, it’s a long uphill, then a wild series of events offer a barrage of frights and thrills. And then, for one team, the ride ends and there aren’t any more tickets for another go around.
After two days of chills and thrills, Kokomo’s softball team ran out of tickets Tuesday night in the Class 4A Harrison Sectional. The Kats dropped a 4-3 decision to Harrison in eight innings, giving up a run in the top of the extra frame, and having a runner tagged out at home in the bottom of the frame.
“It was a great game,” Harrison coach Dick Mitchell said. “It’s always nerve-wracking to coach in one of them, but both teams played their hearts out. Nobody deserved to lose that game, but unfortunately somebody does.” -
Comets turn heads at track regional
Heading into Tuesday’s IHSAA girls track and field regional at Fort Wayne Northrop High School’s Spuller Stadium, event workers alike weren’t sure of Eastern High School’s location.
After the dust settled, they may feel compelled to get a map out and find out where Greentown is located.
Led by seniors Sarah Wagner, Brittany Neeley and Bethany Neeley, the Comets qualified for the state finals in six separate events to finish fourth as a team with 55.5 points, behind host and champion Northrop (78), Bellmont (68) and Carroll (Allen) 66. -
GASKINS: Hibbert’s block was thing of beauty
For the better part of the NBA season, ESPN devoted all kinds of time on SportsCenter episodes to replays of two dunks. Anyone who watches any ESPN at all surely knows the two to which I’m referring: 6-foot-11 DeAndre Jordan of the Los Angeles Clippers posterizing 6-3 Brandon Knight of the Detroit Pistons, and 6-8 LeBron James of the Miami Heat hammering home a dunk over 6-2 Jason Terry of the Boston Celtics.
Day after day, ESPN commentators lavished endless praise, which quickly grew tiresome. The dunks were strong, but Jordan and James were much taller and heavier than Knight and Terry and the dunkers also caught perfect alley-oop passes with the defenders in poor positions to defend. Still, ESPN commentators loved these plays.
I kept wondering if a great defensive play would receive the same kind of love. -
Coons, Walker, Glassburn reach Victory Lane
When the dust settled Sunday evening at the Kokomo Speedway, a pair of drivers who have visited Victory Lane in the past at the local oval found themselves there once again while a talented up-and-comer hit the hallowed ground for the first time.
Jerry Coons Jr. had his way in the sprint car feature and Craig Walker seemed to get faster as the laps wound down to win the Street Stock main event, however Kokomo High School sophomore Kory Glassburn had to scratch and fight before scoring the first feature win of his career in the Thunder Car A-main. -
Field is set for Indianapolis 500
After being bumped from the starting field while sitting on the qualifying line on pole day, Josef Newgarden turned the fastest time on bump day, assuring himself a spot in the Indianapolis 500.
The field of 33 cars will have one final opportunity to practice on Friday before next Sunday’s 97th running of the 500.
One year ago the Sarah Fisher Racing Team withdrew Newgarden’s entry on the first day of qualifying and had to qualify on bump day. This year the team decided not to make another qualifying run and got bumped. -
Athlete of the week
Cole led the small-school Comets to the Kokomo Sectional title, their first title since 1998.
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