Week in LM Athletics : Jan 30 - Feb 5, 2023

This article covers all Little Miami Athletic events that took place in the week of January 30th - February 5th, 2023.

LM SPORTSANDREW IAMS

2/5/20236 min read

Introduction

Welcome to the first edition of “A Week in LM Athletics,” where we review the Panthers’ athletic events and go into detail about how they’re performing. This week, we have five different categories of Little Miami Athletics, including Men’s Basketball, Women’s Basketball, Wrestling, Men’s and Women’s Bowling, and Academic Team. Let’s take a look at what happened.

Men's Basketball

The Little Miami Men’s Basketball team has a current record of 9-11. The Panthers are currently ranked 8th in the Eastern Cincinnati Conference (ECC). As tournament time is approaching, the Panthers are trying to gain momentum with the remaining few games. There were two scheduled events for our Men’s Basketball team this week. First, an away game against another ECC team, the Anderson Raptors, on the 31st. Second, Senior Night for our Men’s Basketball team and Cheerleaders in a matchup against our ECC Rivals, the Kings Knights.

On the 31st of January, our Panthers were on the schedule to travel to Anderson to face the Raptors for the second time this season. Due to an electrical fire in the area, the game was postponed and rescheduled for this upcoming Tuesday, the 7th of February.

The main event of the week for Little Miami Athletics, on Friday, February 3rd, was Senior Night against Kings. The stars of the night were our 13 seniors from both our Cheerleading squad and the Basketball Team. The Men’s Basketball Seniors consisted of nine boys: Guard Isaiah White-Young, Forward Brayden Bischoff, Guard Johnny Murphy, Guard Carter Reynolds, Forward Connor Williams, Center Zee Thrush, Center Aidan Whittington, Center Ethan Pennycuff, and Team Manager Leo Coletta. The Cheerleading squad had four seniors: Jess Voge, Elizabeth Wilson, Hannah Terry, and Sydney Shirey.

The stands were packed, and the Rat Pack was loud and ready to cheer on our Panthers. Starting the game, our Panthers came out with a different starting lineup than normal; this lineup consisted of all seniors. As the game started, our Panthers had a tough time catching fire in the first half, entering halftime with a score of 33-23 with the Knights leading. Coming out of halftime, the Panthers got into a rhythm and started to catch up with the Knights. In the end, our Panthers fell just short in the final quarter, with a final score of 64-55.

Women's Basketball

Our Women’s Basketball team also had two events this week. First, an away game against Anderson on the 30th. Second, a home game against the Kings Knights. Our Lady Panthers are currently ranked 9th in the ECC with a record of 2-19.

On Monday, January 30th, our Lady Panthers fought hard against the Anderson Raptors. We were led by two Sophomore stars, Guard Bella Houllion, and Forward Emma Hartman. Houllion had 15 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block. Hartman led our Panthers with 17 points, 2 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals. Sadly the Panthers fell short in a close game, with the final score at 47-50.

On Thursday, February 2nd, the Panthers faced off against our ECC rivals, the Kings Knights. Again, the Panthers were led by Sophomore stars, this time Guard Lilah Dalraine and Guard Bella Houillion. Dalraine led our Panthers with 15 points, 2 assists, 4 rebounds, and 1 steal. Houillion had another good game with 11 points, 9 rebounds, and 1 steal. After the final buzzer sounded, our Lady Panthers came just short again with a final score of 41-56.

Wrestling

On Saturday, February 4th, our JV Wrestling team had a tournament at home. As a team, the Panthers placed 2nd out of 16 competing teams. Our Panthers had multiple notable performances on Saturday. Drew Vargas (Freshman) earned 1st place in the 144 lb weight class. Dylan Clutter (Sophomore) got 2nd place in the 175 lb weight class. Nathan Wilson (Freshman, pictured) earned 1st place in the 285 lb weight class. Whyatt Fry (Senior) got 3rd place in the 138 lb weight class. Jacob Maddox (Senior) earned 3rd place for the 190 lb weight class. Finally, Brentan Simmerman (Senior) broke the school record for most wins throughout his high school career with 130+ wins, and the season still has one more month left! Simmerman is also dominating the 215 lb weight class in the ECC with 32 wins, the second place has only half of Simmerman’s wins this season!

Men's and Women's Bowling

On Tuesday, the 31st of January, our Men’s Bowling team faced off against the Milford Eagles at Cherry Groves Lanes. Our Men’s Bowling team is currently ranked 7th in the ECC. Against Milford, our Men’s team was led by two Seniors, Connor Minton, and Gustavo Arias. Minton had an average of 224.0 between two games; in the first game he scored 235, and in the second game he scored 213. Minton had 448 pins total, the highest on the team in the match against Milford. Arias, who was the second-highest scorer on the team, had an average of 205.0 pins between two games. In the first game, Arias scored 201, and in the second game, he scored 209. Arias had 410 pins total, the second-highest score on the team. At the end of the Baker games, our Panthers had a score of 2584, but sadly that wasn’t enough to get the win, with Milford having 2695.

Also on Tuesday, the 31st of January, the Women’s Bowling team faced off against the Milford Eagles. Our Women’s Bowling team is currently ranked 7th in the ECC. Against Milford, our Women’s Bowling team was led by Paige Szekely (Junior) and Brynna Mahoney (Sophomore). Szekely had an average of 156.5 between two games. In the first game, Szekely scored a 180, and in the second game, she got a 133. Szekely had a total of 313 pins. Mahoney had an average of 156.5 as well, scoring 166 in the first game and 147 in the second. Mahoney tied Szekely with a total score of 313 pins. Mahoney had her best match of the season, getting a new series high and match high with 313 and 166. After the baker rounds, our Women’s Bowling team defeated the Milford Eagles with a final score of 2003-1881.

Academic Team

The Little Miami Academic Team is the most dominant team in all of Little Miami Athletics. The Academic Team is currently ranked 1st in the ECC with a record of 10-0. The Academic Team has gone undefeated the last three regular seasons with a record of 44-0. On Monday, January 30th, the Academic Team faced off against the Turpin Spartans. The Academic Team left victorious with two wins against Turpin. The first win had a final score of 62-60 and the second win had a score of 78-61.

Conclusion

Looking back on the week, the Panthers went 2-4 within team play. As Winter sports are getting closer to the end of the season, the time is now for the Panthers to catch fire. This upcoming week, the week of February 6th-12th has multiple events for our Panthers. Starting on Tuesday, February 7th, our Men’s Basketball team is traveling to Anderson to play against the Raptors. Our Men’s and Women’s Bowling team will be facing off against Sycamore at Crossgate Lanes. On Wednesday, February 8th, our Women’s Basketball team will face off against the West Clermont Wolves in the first game of the post-season tournament. Also on Wednesday, our Academic Team will face the Milford Eagles and our Wrestling team has a match against Lakota West at home. On Thursday, February 9th, our Men’s and Women’s Bowling Teams will host the Anderson Raptors at Eastgate Lanes. Then on Friday, February 10th, our Men’s Basketball team will travel to West Clermont to face off against the Wolves.