MAC frontrunners face off

The weekend basketball slate starts off with a road trip for the Fort Recovery girls, currently in second in the Midwest Athletic Conference, followed by a long-awaited showdown between the two boys teams atop the MAC on Friday.

The Minster and St. Henry boys sit at 6-0 and 5-0 respectively in the MAC, two games ahead of the third-place teams in the loss column. The winner of Friday's matchup at Wildcat Gymnasium has a clear path to the conference title.

Minster (12-4) is coming off a 79-38 blowout win over Houston after a 13-point triumph over Marion Local last Friday. The Wildcats have won seven of their last eight after a loss to Ottoville on Jan 2.

Justin Nixon powers the Minster offense from the paint, shooting 53.7% from the field and averaging 15.4 points per game. Nixon is also tied for the team lead with 46 assists, alongside point guard Eric Schmidt and perimeter threat Brady Hoelscher, and averages 9.9 rebounds per game, including 47 offensive rebounds.

St. Henry (11-4) will answer with senior Logan Lefeld, who rules the paint for the Redskins. Lefeld averages 11.3 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while shooting 59% from the field. Lefeld has also been able to draw fouls inside, going to the line 74 times this season.

While Minster has won its MAC games by an average of 17.8 points, with the closest margin 12 points in wins over Parkway and Versailles, St. Henry's immaculate record has come in a series of narrow escapes. The Redskins came back in the fourth to sneak by Marion Local by two in their first MAC game of the year, nipped New Bremen by three in December, and held off Fort Recovery in the final minute last week for a one-point win.

St. Henry has three MAC games remaining after this week, while Minster has two. The winner of Friday's matchup will control its own destiny, with the loser a game back in the loss column as the season winds to a close.

Also on tap Friday is a matchup between Coldwater and Fort Recovery at Fort Site Fieldhouse, a trip to Versailles for New Bremen, a road game for Marion Local at Delphos St. John's and New Knoxville facing off against Parkway in Rockford. In the Western Buckeye League, Celina plays host to Defiance and Elida comes to Grand Lake Health System Court for a game against St. Marys.

FORT RECOVERY GIRLS TRAVEL TO COLDWATER

With the Minster girls two games up at the top of the MAC, second-place Fort Recovery would need help to overtake the Wildcats, even as it travels to Minster next week. In the meantime, the Indians need to take care of business tonight as they travel to the Palace to take on Coldwater.

The Cavaliers (6-8, 2-3 MAC) saw a four-game winning streak snapped in New Bremen Tuesday night and fell back under .500 in the MAC. Coldwater had the lead early in the fourth quarter before the Cardinals went on a 7-0 run to take control.

Fort Recovery (12-4, 5-2 MAC) had a week off after a contest against Trotwood-Madison scheduled for Monday was cancelled due to inclement weather. The Indians took care of St. Henry at home last Thursday to earn a 52-26 win.

Alli Vaughn leads the Indians with 12.2 points per game, while Kierra Wendel has scored 10.1 points per game. Vaughn has also racked up a team-best 90 rebounds, with Whitley Rammel at 88 and Paige Fortkamp adding 87.

Fort Recovery's defense has also had a strong season, averaging 10 steals per game, and a clutch defensive effort earned the Indians a big win over then-undefeated New Knoxville on Jan. 7.

Coldwater has largely relied on the dual threat of Riley Rismiller and Annelise Harlamert inside. Rismiller is shooting 48% from the field and averaging 19 points per game, while Harlamert adds 5.9 points per game.

Elsewhere in the MAC on Friday, New Bremen hosts Versailles at the Nest, Parkway travels to New Knoxville, Marion Local welcomes Delphos St. John's to the Hangar and Minster heads to St. Henry. In the WBL, Celina travels to Defiance to try to build off the momentum of its first win of the season and St. Marys goes to Elida.