Tag Archive for: Bears

EAGLES LOOK LOCKED IN

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HANOVERTON OH- United had a mighty impressive showing on Tuesday night that might have sent a message to the EOAC.  After losing a tough game to Heartland in the first game of the season, the Eagles took out their frustration on Leetonia. The best down the Bears to a tune of 55-16.

Nevin Hahlen had a great night for the Eagles paving the way with 16 points.  Grant Knight was also in double figures for the Eagles finishing with 11 points on the night.  Brock Rhodes was able to chip in 7 points to the cause.  Ashbee Merritt fought hard for the Bears trying to keep them in the game. He led the team with 5 points.

Both teams hit the road on Friday as United will make a trip to Salineville to take on Southern, while Leetonia will stay on the road at East Palestine.

EAST KEEPS ON WINNING

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YOUNGSTOWN OH- For the first time since 2019 and the early 2010s,, the East High Lady Golden Bears came into their fifth game of the season against the Niles McKinley Lady Red Dragons who were at an even one and one record.  Last season, it was East getting the victory and they would get a repeat, dominating under head coach Tanisha Franklin by the final score of 53-13.  

 

In the first half, it wasn’t the scoring of Samair Colon that wasn’t impressive, but instead it was her four assists.  She would leave off right as she did last game then, scoring double digits in the second half and finishing with 13 points.  Joi Reynolds was the second highest Lady Bear as she dropped eight points, followed by Joh’Niqua Clay with seven Yelian (Jai) Maldonando with six points and five in the paint for Alyssa Crankfield.  For Niles, they struggled early in the paint and behind the arc but coach Bolhas team improved in the second half shooting a few wide open threes.  Gianna Wagner shot two threes in the third and finished with six points, Alaina Thigpen had three points, while Kaite Heinselman, Emily Macik, Jules Money and Abbey Reed each scored two points.  

 

The East High Lady Bears will travel to Akron to take on the Akron North Vikings Friday, while the Lady Red Dragons of Niles will host another Steel Valley iconic school in the Lady Chaney Cowgirls Monday the 5th.  After the coach, Ian O’Brien caught up with Tanisha Franklin after the big victory and what to expect against North.  

 

*Contributed by YSNs Ian O’Brien*

EAST MEANS BUSINESS

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YOUNGSTOWN OH- After dropping their first game of the season to Lakeview in overtime, East won their next two games in decisive fashion. They headed home on Monday night to take on a mighty Liberty team coming off a district championship, and returning just about everybody.  The Bears were not bothered by the task however, as they edged out Liberty 42-40 and seriously opened some eyes around the area.  East won despite being outscored 27-20 in the second half.

Samair Colon led East with 15 points on the night. She also played lock down defense on the talent Leopards guards.  Alyssa Crankfield was also in double figures for East scoring 10 points.

Liberty was led by Aaliyah Foster with a game-high 22 points.  Demi Watson, and Kylee Thomas both finished the night with 9 points for the Leopards.

East is now 3-1 on the season and they will continue their run on Wednesday as they go to Niles. Liberty will try to bounce back on Friday night as they host Hudson in a Girls/Boys double header.

MILTON WINS A MONDAY MATCHUP

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NORTH JACKSON OH- Last season when these two teams met, it was the Blue Jays of Jackson Milton coming away with the victory against their former head coach Guy Costello and the Leetonia Bears.  This year, the Bears were looking to make an upset happen and get their first victory against Jackson Milton since 2015 where they went on to win 60-51.  Unfortunately, that would not happen as a quick second quarter ended up being in favor of the Blue Jays, pulling away from the Bears, and winning by the final score of 63 to 31.  

 

For Milton, leading the way was the talented junior in Aiden Stanke who finished with 14 points on the night.  Aaren Romigh would then finish with 13 points, followed by six points by Alex Rotuna and a late three made in the fourth by senior Billy Sloan.  On the side of Leetonias, it was Ashbee Merritt with 12 points on the night, followed by CJ Faulkner with six, nine for Andrew Hendricks and four for Noah Riffee.  

 

After the game, YSNs Ian O’Brien caught up with head coach Stephen Procopio and talked about the young team and what to expect against Mathews on Tuesday as the Blue Jays will travel to Vienna to play the Mustangs (1-0) who beat Hubbard 61-44.  Leetonia (0-1) will head to Badger to take on the Braves.  

 

*Contributed by YSNs Ian O’Brien*

 

CHANEY CHARGES INTO POSTSEASON

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YOUNGSTOWN OH- The final week of the regular season saw a lot of great rivalry matchups across the network. The Steel Valley Conference didn’t skip out on that either as all four teams were in action against one another. Mooney and Ursuline fought tooth and nail in the Holy War and Chaney and East met in the Youngstown City Classic at Rayen Field. The Cowboys came in with a near perfect season and a top-four spot in the postseason on the line and the Golden Bears came in with a singular win on the season coming via a Mooney forfeit earlier in the season. The postseason was still in reach if East could pull of the week 10 upset.

That would not be the case as the Chaney Cowboys showed their dominance once again this season over their city rivals. Chaney never blinked and got out to an early 21-0 lead in the game and turned on the cruise control in route to a 34-0 shutout for the Cowboys defense. They were led offensively by backup quarterback No. 16 Drew Gault who was able to control the game both through the air and on the ground against the Golden Bears. He grabbed a handful of yards on the ground but shined through the air as he connected with DJ Waller and Jaquan Johnson on a pair of 25-plus yard touchdown throws. Future Bearcat Jason Hewlett also pulled in a pick-six on the defensive side of the football field. Justin Amill-Austin and Jawan Freeman both punched in rushing touchdowns as well. The Cowboys won the battle on the scoreboard, but they had their problems holding on to the football as a pair of fumbles both landed in the lap of the Golden Bears.

While East had struggles scoring Friday night, they were able to put together a few nice drives against one of the top defenses in the region. Thomas Davis was a workhorse all night long getting every big play on the ground for the Golden Bears offense. They didn’t have a drive of over twenty yards until the fourth quarter against the Cowboys as they drove down the field before failing to convert on a fourth and long.

East falls to (1-9) in week 10 for the second time in as many years under Head Coach Mark Assion. Their season comes to a close as they needed a win to sneak in as the 16-seed for the postseason. Chaney moves to (9-1) after their rivalry win. This is the first time they’ve had home field advantage in the postseason in over twenty years. Their week 11 matchup will be announced on Sunday.

*Contributed By YSN’s Alek Koberna

POTTERS GRAB FIRST WIN ON PATTERSON FIELD

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EAST LIVERPOOL OH- East Liverpool got their first win on their brand new field on Friday night as they toppled Oak Glen 44-12.

It was the run game that dominated the night for the Potters.  They ran for a total of 443 yards and had two players eclipse the 100 yard mark.  Quintin Conrad led the way in that category as he tumbled on to 177 yards with just 11 attempts.  That’s a stunning average of almost 16 yards per run.  Trent Davis also ran wild for 125 yards on 10 Carrie’s to add to the Potters onslaught.  The Potters will stay home on Friday as they conclude the regular season hosting Weir.

CLIPPERS CLAIM SECOND WIN IN A ROW

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LEETONIA OH- Columbiana is fresh off their win that gave their coach Bob Spaite his 200th.  They didn’t lose any momentum as they traveled to Leetonia and flew past the Bears 41-0.

Joe Guido drilled Cameron Clancy for a 16 yard pass for a score to set the tone for the Clippers.  Guido would go on to throw another touchdown and run for one as well.  Parker Bush also had a huge highlight play as he ran an interception back to the house from 40 yards out.  Caleb Buchheit capped off the night with a 74 yard run for a touchdown.

Both teams are home to end the regular season in Week 10.  Columbiana returns home to host Lisbon. Leetonia will stay at home and host Wellsville.

TROJANS LAY SEIGE TO LEETONIA

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LEETONIA OH- It was senior night in Leetonia on Thursday, and the Bears welcomed in 8-13 Sebring. To start the night the Bears fought tooth and nail for the seven seniors playing their last home game.  Sebring took a very competitive first set, and then wore down Leetonia to earn the sweep. (25-21 25-5 25-15)

Alexa Cruz led the way for the Trojans with 10 kills on the night. She also served up 5 aces. The Trojans as a team finished with 19 aces on the service line.  Blake Thomas eclipsed 200 kills on the season and finished with 7 on the night.

Leetonia was led by Katlyn Callahan who finished with 5 kills.  Lexi Solomon-Hansen had a great day for the Bears finishing with 4 kills, and 4 blocks. The Bears out blocked the Trojans who came in with 117 total on the season.

BEAVERS PUNCH TICKET TO OVAC FINAL

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EAST LIVERPOOL OH-

In the words of Herm Edwards “You Play to Win the Game”.  The game was an OVAC Volleyball Semi Final game between Oak Glen and Beaver Local.  Previous to Tuesday both teams had won a match against each other, so coming in everyone knew that it was going to be a battle of friendly and equal rivals.  The Beavers came into the night riding an 8 match win streak and continued their hot streak into the first set winning 25-22.  The Bears behind a young talented team came back and won the second set 18-25.  Both teams continued back and forth with Beaver Local winning the third set 25-19, and Oak Glen winning the fourth set 15-25.  The fifth set began and the Beavers coming out and getting a quick 3 point lead that Oak Glen was never able to counter enough to get any closer.  Beaver Local won 15-10 and secured their spot in the championship round.

For Beaver Local Briar Wolski and Peyton Roberts had 11 kills each, while Jocelyn Pomeroy had 10.  Aleia Evanko and Emma Roberts were successful in feeding the front row with 17 and 12 assists respectively.  Four different Beaver Local players had double digit digs with Chloe Reed leading the charge at 13.

Beaver Local now moves on to play rival #1 seed East Liverpool in the OVAC 4A Volleyball Championship at Union Local on Saturday at 1:00pm

*Contributed By Josh Sigler at blathletics.org

LISBON VOLLEYBALL FOLLOWS UP FOOTBALL WITH WIN OVER BEARS

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LISBON OH- On Friday night Lisbon football took care of their rival Leetonia in the “Spaghetti Bowl.” On Monday night, the volleyball team followed them up with a big win over the Bears in straight sets. (25-12 25-8 25-11)

 

Cami Freeland and Maddie Marshalek both led the Blue Devils offense with 6 kills a piece.  Stefanee Stacy set up the offense with 18 assists. On defense the Blue Devils were led by Eliza Baker with 13 digs.  Morgan Lively served up a storm with 27 service points, and 14 aces.

Lisbon will continue the season Wednesday as they host the Academy of Urban Scholars.  First serve is set for approximately 7:00.