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Carrollton downs Beaver Local

Local Sports

STEUBENVILLE — It was a much-anticipated rematch with the reward of a district final berth to the winner. Beaver Local’s and Carrollton’s boys basketball teams hooked up in an intense, defensive-dominated four-quarter battle in their D4 district semifinal played before a large crowd in the Crimson Center Tuesday night. Fifth-seeded Carrollton took as much as a 16-point fourth-quarter lead and watched fourth-seeded Beaver Local roar back to pull within two possessions (54-50) before the Warriors hit four free throws in the final 1:20 to post a hard-earned 58-56 win over the ...

West Branch blasts Rockets

Local Sports

West Branch 65, Streetsboro 49 BELOIT — West Branch swept two basketball tournament games from Streetsboro in less than a week. The seventh-seeded West Branch boys ran past 12th-seeded Streetsboro, 65-49, in a Division IV sectional semifinal Tuesday. On Saturday, the West Branch girls beat Streetsboro 50-40 in a district final Saturday. The West Branch boys (16-8) will play fourth-seeded Cleveland Glenville (15-9), the defending Division IV state runner-up, in a district final at 7 p.m. Friday at Wooster Triway. Glenville advanced with a 79-68 win over 27th-seeded Mogadore ...

East Palestine turns to veteran Rick Shepas

Local Sports

EAST PALESTINE — East Palestine’s football program added an experienced head coach who once excelled at the highest levels of the high school football in Ohio on Monday. Rick Shepas, 60, was approved during Monday’s East Palestine Board of Education meeting. Shepas takes over for Michael Demster, who was not retained. Demster went 17-25 over four seasons and led the Bulldogs to an 8-4 record last season including a playoff win over Western Reserve. Shepas last coached high school football in 2004 after serving out a seven season stint at Massillon where he went 53-27 with a ...

Hill, Rhodes repeat as county’s best

Local Sports

LISBON — Beaver Local’s Owen Hill and Crestview’s Addison Rhodes made their senior seasons their best ones yet. They repeated as Columbiana County players of the year in balloting by coaches Sunday. Hill is joined by Lisbon senior AJ Ramgeet and Heartland Christian junior Collin ...

Lions get back to district final

Local Sports

COLUMBIANA — The Heartland Christian Lions purposely scheduled a challenging slate this year to prepare themselves for tournament play. Entering the Lions district semifinal with Cornerstone Christian, the hope was that the Lions were well-prepared for competition like the defending Division VII state runner-up Patriots program. The Lions displayed with an exclamation point that they were up to the test with a resounding 82-42 victory over the 14th-seeded Patriots on Monday night, advancing them to a district championship game for the third straight season at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. ...

Gregory honored for defense

Local Sports

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University forward and West Branch High School graduate Sophia Gregory was named the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year on Monday. Gregory follows last season’s Horizon League Freshman of the Year award by joining Lilly Ritz (2022-23) as one of only two Penguins to be named the conference Defensive Player of the Year. Gregory leads the Horizon League with 9.0 rebounds per game and 6.7 defensive rebounds per game, and she is the anchor for YSU’s defense that leads the conference in scoring defense, opponent field-goal percentage, opponent ...