JR. HIGH SPORTS DIGEST
Archbold 8th Grade Boys Basketball

Archbold improved its record to 3- 0, Tuesday Dec. 11, with a 67-22 victory over Fairview. A 21-3 first-quarter advantage set the stage for the easy victory. Luke Kammeyer and Hayden Stamm dominated inside, scoring 14 of the 21 first-quarter points.

In the second quarter, the Streaks edged the Apaches 12-5 to take a 33-9 halftime lead. The Streaks marched to the free-throw line 17 times and made eight, led by Gabe Rodriguez hitting 4/4.

"We did a nice going to the basket, drawing fouls, but we need to step up to the line with confidence and knock them down," said Brian Ziegler, coach.

The third quarter was almost a replay of the first as the Streaks out-scored Fairview 19-4 to increase the lead to 52-13. In the final period Dylan Reisser scored all 8 of his points to lead the Streaks to a 15-9 edge. Kammeyer led the Streak attack with 18 points and 6 rebounds.

Stamm scored 9 and hauled down 9 boards. Travis Pennington and Dusty Lucas each collected 5 rebounds. Tanner Wyse had 5 steals; T.J. Gerken dished out 5 assists.

Archbold traveled to Wauseon, Thursday, Dec. 13, and was defeated 42-41 at the buzzer. The Streaks pressed early to get out to a 17-6 first-quarter lead, led by Wyse and Kammeyer, who combined to score 13 of the points.

In the second, foul trouble and turnovers hurt the Streaks as Wauseon outscored them 13-7. At the half the Streaks were still on top, 24-19.

The third quarter was more of the same as Wauseon stayed in its 1-3-1 zone and outscored the Streaks 11-5 for a 30-29 lead.

"Foul trouble plus poor shooting from the perimeter and free-throw line wiped out any chance of a victory," said Ziegler. "In close games, free throws make a difference, but we only made 9 of 19 for 47%."

The Streaks outscored the Indians 12-10 in the fourth as the lead went back and forth. Archbold was up by one point and Wauseon had the ball with 10 seconds left. The Indians took a shot, but the ball was blocked out of bounds with four-tenths (.4) of a second left, setting the stage for the Indian buzzer beater.

A Wauseon player in-bounded the ball under the Wauseon basket and found an open teammate for the gamewinning shot. "It was a disappointing loss, but hopefully we'll take some things from this game and learn from it," said Ziegler.

Kammeyer led the Streaks (3-1) with 19 points and 15 rebounds. Wyse scored 9. Stamm contributed with 9 rebounds.

Archbold hosted Anthony Wayne, Monday, Dec. 17. The Streaks improved their record to 4-1 with a 49-39 victory.

Archbold struggled early but gained momentum by the end of the first quarter, aided by a three-pointer at the buzzer by Wyse, to give the Streaks a 12-9 advantage. Kammeyer and Wyse combined for 8 of the 12 points.

Gerken scored all 10 of the second quarter points, including 4/5 from the free-throw line, to increase the half-time lead to 22-16.

The Streaks scored the first three baskets of the third to increase the lead to 35-21. Kammeyer and Wyse again combined for 10 of the 13 points in the quarter.

The fourth turned into a foul-shooting contest as the Streaks were sent to the line 10 times and converted six, while Anthony Wayne could only make 3/6. Archbold made enough free throws down the stretch to hold off the Generals.

"We did a much better job at the free-throw line tonight," said Ziegler. "We made 16 of 28 for the game, which is an improvement over the last several games."

Leading the Streaks were Kammeyer, with 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Gerken, who had 18 including 10/14 from the foul line.

"T.J. (Gerken) did a nice job getting to the basket and either scoring or creating fouls, while Kammeyer received many nice passes from his teammates," said Ziegler.