March 6th News

By Shaun Spence

March 06, 2008, 8:33AM

Shaun Spence - ohioHSsports.com

Check back each and every weekday for the top prep headlines from across the state. Here are a list of summaries from some of the major stories around Ohio for Thursday, March 6th:

Boys Basketball: Youngstown Ursuline Falls to Pyamtuming Valley

The Irish fell in double overtime to Pyamuting Valley (23-1) last night, 76-68 at the Canton Fieldhouse. The Lakers were led by senior forward Steve Savel, Ashtabula County's scoring leader, who scored 25 points to go along with 13 rebounds. Savel's tag-team partner is COry Shonz, a fellow 1,000 point career scorer with Savel. Pyamuting Valley became the first Ashtabula County school to advance to a regional final in almost 25 years. The Lakers will play Cleveland Villa-Angela Saint Joseph in a regional final Saturday night at 7:30 at the Canton Field House. Star Beacon

Boys Basketball: St. Edward, Warren Harding Advance to Regional Final

Over 5,000 fans showed up on Wednesday night as Cleveland State hosted a regional semifinal double-header between Lakewood St. Edward/Elyria and Warren Harding/Mentor. St. Edward came back from a huge second half deficit to defeat the Pioneers 70-65. The Eagles were led by 6-9 center Tom Pritchard (24 points, 14 rebounds). St. Edward found themselves down by as many as 16 in the 3rd quarter, but managed to make a comeback. Elyria was led by senior guard Demetrius Dalton, who led all scorers with 38 points.

Warren Harding cruised to a 20 point halftime lead and routed Mentor, 88-61. The Raiders had 20 fast break points just in the first half. Mentor, normally a great shooting team, found themselves trailing in large part due to their 2 of 17 shooting from beyond the arc in the first half. Harding forward Chris Henderson had a game high 30 points and junior guard Shelton Brogdon chipped in 18. Warren Harding will meet St. Edward in a regional final at CSU on Saturday night. The Plain Dealer

Girls Basketball: Ms. Basketball Award Goes to Amber Gray

Lakota West senior Amber Gray was named the 2008 Ohio Ms. Basketball. Gray is a 6-foot-1 forward that is already commited to play for Tennessee, arguably the most prestigious college basketball program in the country. Gray averaged 18.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 3.5 steals a game in leading the Firebirds (25-1) to the Division I state tournament. Lakota West will play Youngstown Boardman on Friday in a state semifinal game. The Enquirer

Boys Basketball: Cincinnati St. Xavier Reaches Elite Eight

The St. Xavier boys basketball is now one win away from their third trip to Columbus in four seasons. The Bombers defeated Cincinnati Princeton last night, 70-56, at Xavier University. The Bombers nailed 87 percent of their free throws, hit timely three pointers, and got a lot of scoring from senior Walter Gibler as they defeated the Vikings. Gibler, a senior forward who started on last year's Division I runner-up team, scored 25 points to lead St. Xavier. The next step for the Bombers will be a regional final against highly regarded Cincinnati Withrow. The Enquirer

Girls Basketball: Columbus Mifflin Makes Run to Columbus

Despite missing their own conference title game, Mifflin had advanced to the Division II state tournament at Columbus this weekend. Mifflin (21-3) is scheduled to play Kettering Alter (23-3) in a semifinal game today at 3:00 in Value City Arena. Despite not having an all-state player, the Punchers continue to win by playing good team basketball. Coach Troy Traylor's doesn't have much height outside of 5-11 junior center Patricia Mack. The Columbus Dispatch

Boys Basketball: Toledo Whitmer Looks to Pull the Upset

Tonight's regional semifinal at the University of Akron pits one of Northwest's Ohio's top teams (Whitmer) against one of the state's best teams (Perrysburg). Ranked No. 3 in the state, Perrysburg is coming of a district championship at Liberty-Benton while Whitmer advanced to regional play by knocking off St. Johns Jesuit at the University of Toledo. Perrysburg (22-1) is lead by seniors Neal Linthicum (14 points per game) and David Boyce (8.3 points, 8.2 assists). Whitmer counters with senior guard Ryne Smith, a Purdue basketball recruit, and Kevin Koger, a Michigan football recruit. The Toledo Blade

Don't see news from your area of the state? Post a comment below with your local paper's web address and we'll feature your prep coverage throughout the week.