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Lakota West junior guard Ali Barnes made seven of his 11 three-point attempts and scored 25 points in an 82-73 win against Sycamore Friday. It was the Firebirds’ fifth straight win.

Fellow junior Monty Boykins scored 20 points and pulled down six rebounds in the win. Teammates sophomore guard Tyler Williams (18 points, four assists) and senior forward Jackson Blue (10 points, 14 rebounds) made key contributions for Lakota West.

Meanwhile, Sycamore received strong performances from junior Joey Gruden (25 points, six rebounds), senior A.J. Williams (12 points, five rebounds) and junior Mason Morgan (14 points, 10 rebounds). Gruden made seven of his eight three-point attempts.

With the win, Lakota West improved its overall record to 13-6 and its record within the Greater Miami Conference to 10-3. The Firebirds are currently tied with Mason (16-3 overall, 10-3 in the GMC) for second place in the GMC – only one game behind Middletown (14-5 overall, 11-2 in the GMC).

The Firebirds, which will receive its postseason draw Sunday, has one more regular season game left that will be played next Friday at home at 7:30 p.m. against Hamilton (4-15 overall, 2-11 in the GMC). Meanwhile, Sycamore (6-13 overall, 2-11 in the GMC) will wrap up its season next Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Lakota East (7-12 overall, 4-9 in the GMC).

Lakota West 82, Sycamore 73

Lakota West (13-6 overall, 10-3 in the GMC) – Blue 3 4 10, Barnes 9 2 27, Stalker 2 1 5, Williams 5 3 16, Martin 2 0 4, Boykins 7 3 20. Totals: 28 13 82.

Sycamore (6-13 overall, 2-11 in the GMC) – Gruden 9 0 25, Hill 3 0 9, Farquhar 0 4 4, Faust 0 1 1, Gray 1 2 4, Brown 2 0 4, Morgan 7 0 14, Williams 5 2 12. Totals: 27 9 73.

Halftime: Lakota West 32-31. 3-pointers: L 13 (Barnes 7, Williams 3, Boykins 3); S 10 (Gruden 7, Hill 3).

Posted in: Sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: A.J. Williams, Ali Barnes, Joey Gruden, Lakota West, Lakota West basketball, Lakota West sports, Mason Morgan, Monty Boykins, Monty Boykins Lakota West, Tyler Williams, Tyler Williams Lakota West

The Lakota West boys’ basketball team won its second straight game against a Greater Miami Conference opponent when it defeated Sycamore by the score of 59-53 Friday.

Junior Monty Boykins, who finished with a team high 15 points, led the Firebirds. Teammates senior Kayaune Ross (14 points, 15 rebounds) and junior Ali Barnes (14 points, 3 assistss) combined to score 28 points.

Meanwhile, 6-foot-6 260-pound A.J. Williams, who is committed to play football at Michigan, finished with 17 points and 9 rebounds for Sycamore in the loss.

Next up for the Firebirds (2-0 overall, 2-0 in the GMC) is a road contest at rival Lakota East (1-2 overall, 0-2 in the GMC). Sycamore (1-3 overall, 0-2 in the GMC) will also play Tuesday, visiting Colerain (2-2 overall, 0-2 in the GMC) at 7:30 p.m.

Box score – Lakota West 59, Sycamore 53

Sycamore (1-3, 0-2 GMC) – Gruden 2 4 8, Hill 1 2 5, Farquhar 1 0 2, Brown 3 4 10, Morgan 4 3 11, Williams 8 1 17. Totals: 19 14 53.
Lakota West (2-0, 2-0 GMC) – Ross 4 4 14, Blue 2 0 4, Barnes 6 1 14, Stalker 1 0 2, Williams 1 3 6, Moo Young 0 2 2, Boykins 5 4 15, Grove 1 0 2. Totals: 20 14 59.

Halftime score: Lakota West 26-22. 3-pointers: S 1 (Hill); LW 5 (Ross 2, Barnes, Williams, Boykins).

Posted in: Sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: A.J. Williams, Ali Barnes, Kayaune Ross, Lakota West, Lakota West football, Lakota West sports, Monty Boykins, Monty Boykins Lakota West, Sycamore basketball

All four of the Lakota varsity high school basketball programs will be in action this weekend. The boys’ programs will play Friday night, while both girls’ programs will take the court Saturday afternoon.

The Lakota West boys’ program (1-0 overall, 1-0 in the Greater Miami Conference) will host Sycamore (1-2 overall, 0-1 in the GMC) at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The Firebirds won their season opener against Oak Hills (1-2 overall, 0-1 in the GMC) by the score of 56-47 Dec. 6.

In that win, Lakota West held a 19-point lead in the third quarter. The Firebirds struggled to finish the game, however, as the Highlands eventually tied score 42-42 with three minutes to play.

Led by junior guard Ali Barnes, who scored all of his seven points in the last three minutes, Lakota West closed out the game on a 14-5 run.

“As a team, we haven’t learned to believe in each other yet. That is our biggest problem right now,” Lakota West head coach Sean VanWinkle said after the game.

“We have a long, long way to go.”

Meanwhile, Sycamore has lost to Indian Hill (55-39) and Princeton (76-37). The Aves only win was against Milford (46-44).

Senior A.J. Williams, who has committed to play football at Michigan, leads Sycamore with 13.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Williams, who is 6-foot-6 260 pounds, could be a tough matchup for the Firebirds.

Meanwhile, the Lakota East boys’ program (1-1 overall, 0-1 in the GMC) is hoping to rebound from a 66-52 loss against Fairfield (4-0 overall, 1-0 in the GMC) last week when its visits Oak Hills at 7:30 p.m. Friday. (more…)

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Tags: Tags: A.J. Williams, Ben Laumann, Desiree Ash, Jake Richmond, Jillian Spurlock, Lakota East, Lakota East basketball, Lakota East High School, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West, Lakota West basketball, Lakota West High School, Lakota West sports, Sean VanWinkle, Stedman Lowry, Tazzie Shaw, Tazzie Shaw Lakota East, Tazzie Shaw Marshall, Whitney Wyckoff, Whitney Wyckoff Lakota East

After winning its conference opener last Friday, Lakota East (3-1 overall, 1-0 in Greater Miami Conference) will face the unbeaten Sycamore Aviators (4-0 overall, 1-0 in GMC) this Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Sycamore Junior High School, located at 5757 Cooper Road in Blue Ash. Lakota East has wins vs. Western Hills (28-6), at Winton Woods (38-37 OT) and vs. Hamilton (17-8). The Thunderhawks only loss this season was to La Salle (27-23). Meanwhile, Sycamore has wins vs. Withrow (38-24), vs. Springboro (28-21), at Springfield (33-20) and at Fairfield (24-0).

Lakota East: The Thunderhawks’ defense shutdown the Hamilton offense last Friday, allowing 115 total yards in a 17-8 win in the GMC opener for both teams. Unfortunately for Lakota East head coach Rick Haynes his triple-option offense continued to struggle, totaling 222 yards of offense in the win. Sophomore fullback Mikel Horton led Lakota East in the win with 120 rushing yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. In four games this season, Horton has rushed for 416 yards and seven touchdowns on 75 carries. Fellow sophomore Eric Eichler was making his first varsity start last week. Eichler didn’t complete a pass in four attempts and threw two interceptions, but rushed for 82 yards on 26 carries. Defensively, Lakota East has forced 13 turnovers and has six sacks in four games. As a team, the Thunderhawks are averaging 289 yards per game on offense and are allowing 243 yards per game on defense.

Sycamore: The Aviators are off to their first 4-0 start since 2007. Last Friday, the Aviators rushed for 299 yards as a team and limited Fairfield to only 48 rushing yards. Leading the team in rushing was senior quarterback Kyle Sess (138 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries) and sophomore running back Greg Simpson (135 yards on 19 carries). Sess actually leads the GMC with 667 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on 102 carries this season. In a 33-20 win at Springfield Sept. 9, Sess rushed for 297 yards and three touchdowns on 31 carries. One of Sycamore’s most talented receivers, senior A.J. Williams, has yet to catch a pass this season. The 6-foot-6 250-pound Williams, who will play tight end at the University of Michigan, is mostly used as a blocker for Sycamore. Defensively, senior linebacker Michael Gray already has three sacks and three forced fumbles. As a team, Sycamore is averaging 328 yards of total offense and allowing 299 yards on defense.

Bottom line: Both Lakota East and Sycamore feature run-heavy offenses and on defense have had success in stopping the run. That being said, the two GMC opponents appear to be evenly matched. The winner, however, could separate itself from the loser in the Cincinnati Enquirer coaches’ poll and in Ohio High School Athletic Association computer rankings. Right now, Sycamore is No. 8 in the coaches poll and No. 5 in region 4 rankings, while Lakota East is No. 9 in both rankings.

(WestChesterBuzz.com will provide a game story and photos from this game)

Posted in: Fall sports, Sports |

Tags: Tags: A.J. Williams, Eric Eichler, Greg Simpson, Kyle Sess, Lakota East, Lakota East football, Lakota East Sports, Michael Gray, Mikel Horton, Rick Haynes, Sycamore football

For the second straight game, Lakota East scored more than 70 points while holding its opponent to under 40. The latest blowout win for the Thunderhawks took place last night, Jan. 28, against Sycamore. The final score was 71-36.

Lakota East jumped out to a 24-7 lead in the first quarter before cruising to its school-record 15th consecutive victory. Currently, the Thunderhawks are now 15-0 overall and 9-0 in the Greater Miami Conference.

Lakota East is No. 1 in the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Coaches’ Poll, No. 35 nationally (No. 1 in the state) by MaxPreps.com and No. 7 in the Associated Press state poll.

Four different players scored in double figures for Lakota East in last night’s win including senior R.J. Leppert (12 points), senior Michael Boyd (16 points), junior Allante Foster (12 points) and junior Mark Minch (10 points). Seniors Jalen Goodwin (nine points), Jeff Cargill (seven points) Brian Evans (five points) also contributed.

Sycamore junior A.J. Williams, who has offers to play football at Bowling Green, Ohio and Toledo, according to Yahoo! Sports, scored 18 points.

With the loss, Sycamore falls to 7-8 overall and 3-6 in the GMC.

The Thunderhawks next game will be a home contest against Mason (12-3, 7-2 in GMC) on Tuesday, Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m. Lakota East defeated Mason Jan. 18 69-65 in overtime.

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Tags: Tags: A.J. Williams, Allante Foster, basketball, boys' basketball, Brian Evans, Jalen Goodwin, Jeff Cargill, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Mark Minch, Michael Boyd, R.J. Leppert, Sycamore