Bethel’s Price swims in state finals; Newton, Lehman boys fall: Friday sports roundup

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Staff Reports

CANTON — Bethel’s Kaylee Price gained invaluable experience swimming at this year’s Division II state meet.

And even though the sophomore finished tied for 15th in the 50 free finals Friday at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton, so got to see just what it takes to swim at the highest level in the state very early in her career.

Price, who entered Friday night’s finals with the 11th-best time after Thursday’s prelims, finished tied for 15th in 24.73 seconds — only 0.31 seconds slower than her prelim time. She was also tied with Versailles freshman Tiana Mescher, setting up what could be an interesting battle over the next couple years to come.

• Boys Basketball

D-IV Sectional

Miss. Valley 38,

Lehman Catholic 31

PIQUA — The Lehman Catholic boys basketball team knew what was coming in a Division IV sectional opener on Friday against Mississinawa Valley. The squads battled in a low-scoring nonconference game on Jan. 11 that the Blackhawks won by four points in Sidney.

Knowing what to expect and handling Mississinawa Valley’s defensive pressure were two different matters, though.

The Cavaliers struggled shooting in the first half and struggled to rebound all night as Mississinawa Valley pulled away late to a 38-31 victory at Piqua’s Garbry Gymnasium.

Lehman lost the team’s regular-season matchup 33-29 and didn’t fair much better offensively on Friday. Mississinawa Valley built a 16-11 lead by halftime and pushed their lead to as many as nine points in the second half.

“We knew going in we were going to have two very prepared teams,” Lehman coach Pat Carlisle said. “We talked about it all week. Grinding, defensive game. Each team was trying to play a very technical brand, and nothing was simply easy.

“We just struggled early and (Mississinawa) was able to get up. That was kind of the margin throughout the game. Give them credit, they were ready. We were ready as well, but they just scored more points.”

Lehman finishes 12-11 overall. It’s the first time the squad has posted a winning record since a 14-10 campaign in 2014-15.

Frantz, a junior guard, led the Cavaliers with 16 points while O’Leary, a senior guard, scored 12.

Lehman will lose three seniors to graduation: O’Leary, Drew Barhorst and Gabe Knapke.

Botkins 65,

Newton 35

PIQUA — In the second game at Piqua Friday night, 12th-seeded Newton — which, just last year, upset a No. 1 seed in the tournament — was within 37-30 after three quarters but couldn’t pull the upset of second-seeded Botkins in a 65-35 loss.

Newton finishes the season 6-17.

Mitchell Montgomery led Newton with 11 points and Andrew Whittaker added eight points.

Contact Josh Brown at [email protected], or follow @TroyDailySports on Twitter. Contact Rob Kiser at [email protected].

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