February 25, 2021

Danville Warriors Take Sagamore Conference Championship

Danville’s Braxton Fulwider (#1) Runs Offense against Crawfordsville.

What has now been a common theme among Danville High School sports teams, another championship was won over the weekend by the Danville Boys Basketball program.

The Crawfordsville Athenians visited on Friday night, bringing with them their undefeated conference record to match the Warriors undefeated conference record. The winner of tonight’s game would be the 2020-2021 Sagamore Conference Champions.

The game did not start well for the home team as they struggled to get out of the gate offensively. Falling behind by eight points early in the contest, Coach Barber and the players would have to adjust quickly to match the intensity brought to the floor by the Athenians. As they have done successfully more often than not this season, the proper adjustments were made and the Warriors erased the early deficit to take a 40-35 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The second half would bring more of the same as these two teams battled it out and never let the other get too far out in front. Danville eventually reached a double-digit lead and held on down the stretch to win this one by the final score of 84-73. The Danville Warriors are the 2020-2021 Sagamore Conference Champions!

Crawfordsville will not have to wait long to try and avenge this crushing defeat as they and Danville drew each other for a match-up in the opening round of the Sectionals. The two teams will square off at 6pm on Wednesday, March 3 at Frankfort High School. The winner of this game will likely face Greencastle who takes on North Montgomery in their first-round match up.

In the win against Crawfordsville, leading the Warriors in scoring was Kobe Ward with 21, Brady Ruggles with 20 and Brayton McMahon with 17 points.

The Warriors also played a non-conference make up game against North Putnam the next night but dropped a close one to the Cougars by the final score of 69-65. Kobe Ward finished with 26 points in this game and Brady Ruggles added 16 on the night.

Danville has one more game before heading to the postseason as they host the Avon Orioles on Friday, February 26. The Junior Varsity game is at 6pm and the Varsity game will start around 7:30pm. ______________________________________________________________________

Danville Sets School and Sectional Records At IHSAA Swim And Dive Sectional Championship

Above: Junior Max Warner makes a clean entry into the pool as the anchor of Danville’s 400 yard freestyle relay team.

The Danville Boys’ Swimming and Diving Team placed an impressive second out of 11 contenders last weekend in the 2021 sectional championships, besting several larger high schools in the process but unable to overcome Plainfield. The team of 12 swimmers and one diver is coached by Abby Toole, Mary Neilson, and Tim Higbie. This year’s sectional meet was hosted by Avon High School.

Danville HS Senior Ty Simon is nearly unrecognizable under his cap, goggles, and mask as he awaits the start of the 100 yard backstroke.

Despite numerous quarantines and team setbacks throughout the unusual 2020-2021 pandemic season, the 200 yard medley relay team posted a new school record of 1:41.90. The relay team included seniors Luke Phillips at breaststroke, Chase Burke at backstroke, Hunter Eisele at freestyle, and junior Max Warner swimming the butterfly. After his impressive time in the relay, Warner went on to place first overall in the 100 yard freestyle, earning a spot at the state championship meet with a time of 48.61 over Plainfield’s Xander Straw, who hit the wall only a hundredth of a second behind Warner. Warner also placed second overall in the 50 yard freestyle, where teammate Hunter Eisele placed 8th.

The highlight of this year’s meet was another stellar performance by outstanding sophomore diver Holden Higbie, who set a new sectional record in one meter diving with a score of 558.00. Higbie will advance to the regional qualifier for the second year in a row, and is expected to once again make it to the state championship. “Holden has worked hard all season,” said coach Toole. “He had a strong performance at sectional finals and we are all excited to see him advance to state finals. Coach Tim is hoping Holden can better last year’s 5th place finish.”

In the backstroke, junior Garrett Vandermark and senior Ty Simon placed ninth and eleventh respectively behind teammate Burke, who placed sixth with a time of 58.92.

Junior and team co-captain Caleb Hudson placed third in the 200 yard freestyle, with a season best time of 1.52.93. Fellow junior Eli Phillips placed fifth in that event, with sophomore Isaac Means coming in at twelfth overall. The three distance swimmers also competed in the 500 yard freestyle, with Phillips and Means each posting personal bests.

Brothers Luke and Eli Phillips swam together in the 200 yard freestyle relay along with teammates Vandermark and Hudson, posting an overall time of 1:37.21 which earned them a solid fourth-place finish.

In another meet highlight, the 400 yard freestyle relay team of Burke, Hudson, Eisele, and Warner placed an impressive second behind Plainfield at 3.24.17.

Senior Daniel Hazelton placed 11th in the 200 yard individual medley behind teammate Luke Phillips, who placed sixth. Other finishes include Burke at 7th overall in the 100 yard butterfly, where Simon placed eleventh. Phillips and Hazelton also swam the breaststroke along with senior teammate Carson Sadler. Phillips placed seventh ahead of Hazelton at tenth and Sadler at sixteenth. A newcomer to the breaststroke, Sadler posted a personal best time in that event.

The state swimming and diving championships will be streamed live at IHSAAtv.org. No spectators are allowed due to pandemic health guidelines. Friday’s preliminaries will begin at noon. Saturday’s diving competition starts at 9:00 a.m. and championship finals are set to begin at 3:00 p.m.

Danville Junior Eli Phillips hits the wall after the lengthy 500 freestyle, where he achieved a personal record time of 5.11.27.

Senior Luke Phillips (left) reacts to teammate Chase Burke (right) after the team breaks a school record in the 200 yard medley relay. Teammate Max Warner (back) looks up at the scoreboard to await the final result.

Senior Chase Burke pictured en route to a seventh place finish in the 100 yard butterfly.

Senior Daniel Hazelton of Danville awaits the starting buzzer for the 100 meter breaststroke

Danville Grad Gets A Taste of ABA Game

Dillon Ware (No. 4) shares a laugh with Lyon No. 1, Mike Pugh, during a break in the game.

Dillon Ware (DCHS Class of 2020) seems to be enjoying being a part of Hendricks County’s first professional basketball team. Ware will participate in the rest of this season as No. 4 on the Indiana Lyons team.

Ware rises above the fray to try for a goal.

Ware has been averaging 9.5 points per game with a 70% field goal average.

The Lyons were ahead in last Saturday’s game against the St. Louis Spirits when the game was stopped in the 3rd quarter when one of the St. Louis players slapped one of the Lyons. The police were called and quickly arrived to gain control. The benches were cleared and the game went to the Lyons.

Lyons owners Tyrone and Deborah Brown issued a statement apologizing to the fans and the Danville Community.

“Our greatest desire is to provide a family-friendly atmosphere where our fans can come out and safely enjoy a few hours of fund watching our team compete with other teams in the ABA League. Tonight’s incident goes totally against our values and who we are as a team and organization.”

The Lyons next home game will be Sunday, March 7, against the Midwest Falcons. Home games take place in Bossitick Gym, 49 N. Wayne St., Danville. Doors open at 3 p.m., with tip-off at 4 p.m. _____________________________________________

BASKETBALL DCMS vs. Brownsburg East

The Lady Warrior seventh grade basketball team lost a nail-biter to Brownsburg East 27-24. Scoring for Danville were Ava Walls 11, Sylvie French seven, Maddy Wethington four, and Cassie Thompson two points.

DCMS vs. Western Boone

The girls’ basketball seventh grade Warriors defeated Western Boone 29-14. Scoring for Danville were Sylvie French 12, Allie Gunter eight, Malina Ane three, Maddy Wethington, Cassie Thompson, and Addie Bowers two points each.

The Lady Warrior eighth grade basketball team defeated Western Boone 20-12. Scoring for Danville were Lilly Armstrong six points and four rebounds, Haydenn Heffley four points, Emma Ancelet four points and seven steals, Shelby Harvey two points and two assists, Abby Jeschke two points and four rebounds, and Jill Pearcy two points. ______________________________________________