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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

In a series once dominated by Lakota West, the Thunderhawks cruised to a 61-54 victory against their school district rival at Lakota East High School Wednesday.

The win gives Lakota East – No. 2 in the Cincinnati Enquirer Division I coaches’ poll – their third straight against the Firebirds. The win also marks the 100th victory for Lakota East head coach Nikki Drew.

Prior to the three-game winning streak, Lakota West – No. 4 in the Enquirer poll – had taken down the Thunderhawks in 18 straight contests.

This time, Lakota East earned the win despite playing without two key seniors, Whitney Wyckoff (Yale commit) and Tazzie Shaw (Marshall commit), who will both continue their basketball careers at the collegiate level.

“I told my players and staff that true character shows when you are put through obstacles and we talked about responding the right way, controlling what we can and the girls did that,” Drew said.

Wyckoff, who has led Lakota East in scoring for the past three seasons, was ruled out for the season by Drew after the senior suffered a knee injury in the 50-21 win against Oak Hills Saturday.

In place of the 5-foot-10 Wyckoff, freshman Cydney Franklin made her first varsity start. The 5-foot-4 Franklin finished with a career high 10 points. She also had four rebounds and two assists. (more…)

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Tags: Tags: Aleth Pashi, Bernice Satterwhite, Cydney Franklin, Lakota East, Lakota East basketball, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West, Lakota West basketball, Lakota West sports, Molly Blomer Alyssa Grevenkamp, Nikki Drew, Nikki Drew Lakota East, Shabazz Reeves, Summer Reeves, Tazzie Shaw, Tazzie Shaw Marshall, Whitney Wyckoff, Whitney Wyckoff Lakota East

The athletic departments at Lakota East and Lakota West high schools recently named their first athletes of the week of the winter sports season. Seniors Whitney Wyckoff and Dwight Hu received the honor at Lakota East, while senior Summer Reeves and junior Drew Gay were honored at Lakota West.

Wyckoff has helped the Lakota East girls’ basketball team get off to a 3-0 start this winter. The four-year starter is averaging 13.3 points, 4 rebounds, 3.7 steals and 2 blocks per game this season. She has scored more than 10 points in each of her games this season. Wyckoff will continue her basketball career at Yale University next season.

Hu is a senior, first board player on the Lakota East chess team. According to the school’s official athletic website, eastthunderhawks.com, “Dwight has a winning record against the best player from every other GMC team. Dwight models good sportsmanship and excellent chess to our younger players.”

Reeves has been a big reason that the Lakota West girls’ basketball program is off to 4-0 start this winter. Reeves is averaging 9 points per game, but recorded a game-high 17 points in the Firebirds’ 53-52 win against Withrow Dec. 2. She also combined with her twin sister, Shabazz, for 20 points in Wednesday’s 38-31 win against Ursuline.

Gay has been a big reason why the Lakota West boys’ bowling team is currently 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the Greater Miami Conference. According to the GMC website, Gay is currently third in the conference with a 220.4 average. Last season, Gay was named to the All-GMC First Team.

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Tags: Tags: athletes of the week, Drew Gay, Dwight Hu, Greater Miami Conference, Lakota athletes of the week, Lakota East, Lakota East athletics, Lakota East basketball, Lakota East chess, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West, Lakota West athletics, Lakota West basketball, Lakota West bowling, Lakota West sports, Summer Reeves, Whitney Wyckoff, Whitney Wyckoff Lakota East

Lakota East opened its Greater Miami Conference schedule by defeating Fairfield by the score of 74-33. Senior Molly Blomer led Lakota East with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

Fairfield senior Raeshaun Gaffney (University of Virginia commit) led her team with 21 points.

As a team, the Thunderhawks made 53.6 percent of their field goals. Fairfield made only 23.1 percent of its shots.

Lakota East senior Aleth Pashi added 10 points and eight assists, while committing one turnover. Fellow seniors Whitney Wyckoff (15 points, 4 steals, 3 blocks) and Bernice Satterwhite (12 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals) also performed well in the win.

Lakota East will be back in action next Saturday when it will host Oak Hills at 2 p.m.

Box score – Lakota East 74, Fairfield 33

Lakota East (3-0) – B. Satterwhite 5 1 12, Grevenkamp 3 0 6, K. Satterwhite 0 1 1, Pashi 3 3 10, Franklin 2 4 8, Wyckoff 7 1 15, Blomer 10 2 22. Totals: 30 12 74.
Fairfield (1-2) – Stewart 2 0 4, Spaulding 1 0 2, Reed 1 0 2, Gaffney 6 9 21, Ford 1 0 2, Rhodes 1 0 2. Totals: 12 9 33.

Halftime: Lakota East 37-13. 3-Pointers: L 2 (B. Satterwhite 1, Pashi 1).

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Tags: Tags: Aleth Pashi, Bernice Satterwhite, Lakota East, Lakota East basketball, Lakota East Sports, Molly Blomer, Raeshaun Gaffney, Whitney Wyckoff, Whitney Wyckoff Lakota East

Lakota East seniors Whitney Wyckoff and Molly Blomer scored 14 points a piece to lead their team to a 56-46 victory against Notre Dame (Ky.) Wednesday.

The Thunderhawks entered the game ranked second in the Enquirer’s Ohio area Division I coaches’ poll, while Notre Dame was ranked third in the Enquirer’s Northern Kentucky poll.

The matchup was special for the school’s two coaches, Nicole Levandusky and Nikki Drew, who both played college ball together at Xavier University.

• Game story from the Cincinnati Enquirer

“When I found out Nicole was coaching Notre Dame, I started scheduling them because I knew she would coach them up,” Drew said of Notre Dame’s second-year coach.

In her first year, Levandusky’s team lost its season opener to Lakota East by the score of 61-35.

Both coaches also played professionally. Drew was actually the first XU player to compete on a professional level when she went to play in France and Levandusky was the first XU player to be drafted in the WNBA when she was selected by the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001.

The Thunderhawks will be back in action this Saturday when they will visit Fairfield (1-1) at 2 p.m.

Lakota East will then have its home opener against Oak Hills (0-1) at 2 p.m. Dec. 10.

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Tags: Tags: basketball, girls' basketball, Greater Miami Conference photos, Lakota East, Lakota East basketball, Lakota East photos, Lakota East Sports, Lakota East sports photos, Lakota sports photos, Molly Blomer, Nicole Levandusky, Nikki Drew, Notre Dame Academy, West Chester photos, Whitney Wyckoff, Whitney Wyckoff Lakota East, Xavier University