By Josh Brown

and Rob Kiser

Miami Valley Today

CASSTOWN — The Miami East boys basketball team spent the majority of its first game in 2020 fighting back from an early deficit to force overtime.

Once there, the Vikings still had plenty of fight left, too.

Miami East battled back from a six-point halftime deficit to tie the score at 54-54 at the end of regulation, taking visiting Tri-County North to overtime to begin the new calendar year Friday night. And in the extra period, the Viking defense shut down the Panthers, allowing East to take control and claim a 67-57 Cross County Conference victory.

The Vikings (6-3, 4-0 CCC) held a 12-11 lead after the first quarter, but a big second by Tri-County North put the Vikings behind 31-25. The Panthers remained in the lead at 42-37 heading into the fourth, but the Vikings were able to force overtime and then dominated the final period.

Three Vikings finished in double figures, led by Brendon Bertsch, who had 21 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Sam Zapadka added 19 points and three assists, Collen Gudorf had 10 points and eight rebounds and Noah King and Brayden Young each had six points.

Covington 70,

TV South 57

COVINGTON — The Buccaneers started fast, as Kleyton Maschino scored 10 points in the opening quarter as Covington led 19-14 at the first break.

Covington (5-4, 3-1 Cross County Conference) led 39-26 at halftime and 51-41 after three quarters.

Maschino led Covington with 22 points.

Jake Hamilton added 16 points, Kadin Presser scored 13 and Spencer Brumbaugh turned in a strong defensive effort.

Lehman 45,

Elgin 39

MARION — The Cavaliers rallied in the fourth quarter to even their record at 4-4 overall and improve to 2-1 in the Northwest Central Conference.

Lehman trailed 11-6, 20-15 and 29-27 at the quarter breaks, before outpointing Elgin 18-10 in the fourth quarter.

Luke Frantz led Lehman with 20 points.

Brendan O’Leary netted 13 points and Justin Chapman added eight.

Preble Shawnee 61,

Milton-Union 56

CAMDEN — Preble Shawnee snapped Milton-Union’s five-game winning streak Friday night, dropping the Bulldogs to 7-2 overall and 2-2 in Southwestern Buckeye League Buckeye Division play by handing them a 61-56 defeat at Preble Shawnee.

Things were even after one at 12-12, but the Arrows (5-4, 3-2 SWBL Buckeye) took a 26-22 lead at halftime and built a 46-39 lead heading into the fourth, holding on from there.

“The bottom line is we did not play well on the road in a league contest. We had 18 turnovers, and they did not pressure us,” Milton-Union coach Rusty Berner said. “We didn’t take care of the ball very well, our shot selection wasn’t great and we didn’t shoot the ball as well as we can. At the end of the day, when you’re playing on the road, you have to have some kind of toughness, and we didn’t tonight.

“That’s five wins in a row for Shawnee. They’re playing really well, and we didn’t play well tonight.”

Sam Case hit six 3-pointers, leading the Bulldogs with 18 points and five rebounds, while Blake Brumbaugh added 17 points and four rebounds. Nathan Brumbaugh chipped in nine points, five assists and eight steals and Andrew Lambert added eight points.

Milton-Union hosts Northridge Friday.

Miss. Valley 51,

Newton 42

PLEASANT HILL — Newton rallied in the third quarter, but costly mistakes cost the Indians a chance at a CCC win.

Mississinawa Valley led 10-6 after one quarter and 24-16 at halftime, before Newton (1-6, 0-3 CCC) tied at 34-34 after three quarters.

Mitchell Montgomery led Newton with 14 points and six rebounds.

Kleyson Wehrley scored 10 points and Andrew Whitaker added seven.

Ansonia 65,

Bradford 41

BRADFORD — The Railroaders dropped a CCC game to the Tigers.

Parker Davidson led Bradford (2-7, 0-4 CCC) with 13 points and Gage Wills scored 12.

Other scores: Arcanum 54, Bethel (3-8, 2-2 CCC) 44.

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

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