By CHRIS BROOKS, sports editor, wellsvillesports.com
BOLIVAR — Right before the holiday break, the Bolivar-Richburg Wolverines were beginning to fly under the radar. With wins in each of their first five games, the Wolverines were looking to pick up their hot start from where they originally left off. Last year.
It began on Tuesday with another dogfight alongside Campbell-Savona, this time on their home hardwood. For most of the first half, the two foes delivered punch after punch. And it wasn’t just a common trend in the opening half, it would carry over into the next 16 minutes where it became anyone’s game.
Fortunately for the Wolverines, they were able to maintain their position in the lead and close out the evening behind some key free throws and clutch lay-ins down the stretch, as they marched forward towards a sixth straight victory by a 57-48 count over the visiting Panthers.
“It was another dog fight. They made things difficult again, and what was going on in the first half happened again in the next,” said Wolverines coach Justin Thomas. “Credit to Campbell-Savona. We thought we had some openings to get away from them, but they just kept going and battling to earn what they had. Fortunately, we managed to hit some big shots down the stretch to get the win.”
Almost immediately off the hop, both teams engaged in early back-and-forth warfare before Bolivar-Richburg (6-0) started to find an early opening through the Campbell-Savona defense, scoring eight straight points jetfueled by back-to-back three-pointers off the hands of Aydin Sisson and Landon Barkley.
The Panthers would find a way to dig in however behind a pair of runs towards the hoop for the finish, but in return, the Wolverines would find their way in the other end to respond, keeping what would be a 17-11 first quarter lead intact going into the next session.
The visitors would remain right on Bolivar-Richburg’s tail from the second quarter on, as they closed out the first half by chipping the deficit down from six to three after an early run inched them closer. The pace would remain the same all the way to the finish, where the Wolverines were able to hang on behind some key free throws and clutch offense down the final stretch in the fourth quarter to hold off Campbell-Savona’s last push.
Bolivar-Richburg saw Sisson and Barkley lead their offense, as the two combined for 29 of the team’s 57 points, with Sisson leading the way behind a team-high 19 points, while Barkley followed with 10 points. Evan Pinney added some additional help for the offense, netting eight points while on special teams, Waide Karnuth gave the Wolverines a solid presence in the middle on defense, garnering eight rebounds and four blocks.
The Wolverines will go for seven in a row on Friday when they hit the road to battle Andover/Whitesville, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in Andover.
Campbell-Savona 11 11 14 12 – 48
Bolivar-Richburg 17 8 15 17 – 57
CAMPBELL-SAVONA: Ethan Ribble 5 3-5 14, Lucas Feldman 9 4-4 24, Blake Ryan 2 0-0 4, Collin Klemann 2 0-0 4, Jackson Kibler 1 0-0 2. Totals: 19 7-9 48.
BOLIVAR-RICHBURG: Aydin Sisson 7 4-6 19, Landon Barkley 3 3-4 10, Reiss Gaines 2 0-0 4, Waide Karnuth 3 1-3 7, David Baldwin 3 0-0 6, Evan Pinney 3 0-0 8, James Margeson 1 0-0 3. Totals: 22 8-13 57.
3-point goals: C-S 3 (Feldman 2, Ribble), B-R 5 (Pinney 2, Sisson, Barkley, Margeson).
Total Fouls: C-S 15, B-R 10. Fouled out: Ribble (C-S).
Wrestling
BOLIVAR — The new year for the Bolivar-Richburg grapplers started with a massive boom on their home mat, Tuesday evening. With the Knights of Addison in town, the Wolverines wasted no time getting the early jump they wanted, starting with five straight victories out of the gate to build their lead and never losing it, en route to a 45-10 triumph.
The match would begin in the heavyweight division, led by Zach Mitchell, Caden Allen and Trent Sibble, as all three Wolverines grapplers recorded pinfall wins to get the action started. Mitchell would go on to record the quickest pin of the night in the very first match at 189 pounds, pinning his opponent in just 26 seconds.
After forfeit wins by James Gleason (102 pounds) and Teegan Sibble (110 pounds) for the Wolverines, Addison would then work their way onto the board with their first of two lone wins, one in competition from Kaden Sands at 118 pounds, as he performed dominantly over Gary McDowell to score a 13-0 major decision win.
Immediately after, Trey Buchholz went right back to work for the hosts with another win on the mat, this time in what was the night’s closest battle alongside Addison’s Jacob Howe. After a quick and late reversal gave him the lead entering the final eight minutes, Buchholz would go on to hold the line in the final period, despite a late attempt at a reversal by Howe to try and overtake the lead.
In the end, Buchholz claimed a narrow 4-3 decision.
Three straight double forfeits were traded between both squads before Tavyn MacDonell and Parker Worth helped end the night on a solid note with two more pinfall wins for the Wolverines, with MacDonell recording his win with a single second remaining in the first period while Worth scored his win near halfway in the second period.
Bolivar-Richburg will now hit the road to visit Fillmore/Keshequa next Tuesday night at 6:15 p.m. in Fillmore.
Results
102 – James Gleason (B-R) by for.
110 – Teegan Sibble (B-R) by for.
118 – Kaden Sands (ADD) def. Gary McDowell (B-R) by major dec, 13-0.
126 – Trey Buchholz (B-R) def. Jacob Howe (ADD) by dec, 4-3.
132 – Double for.
138 – Double for.
145 – Double for.
152 – Kora Jones (ADD) by for.
160 – Tavyn MacDonell (B-R) def. Spencer Westervelt (ADD) by pin, 1:59.
172 – Parker Worth (B-R) def. David Putnam (ADD) by pin, 2:39.
*189 – Zach Mitchell (B-R) def. Newt Jones (ADD) by pin, :26.
215 – Caden Allen (B-R) def. Camden Mahnke (ADD) by pin, 1:25.
285 – Trent Sibble (B-R) def. Brice Combs (ADD) by pin, 2:11.
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