Sports

The Fairfield Lady Lions fell behind early and were unable to recover as they dropped their season opener Monday at Portsmouth Notre Dame, 8-1.

Four Highland County girls basketball players, all seniors, received mention Monday on the Division III and IV Girls Basketball All-Ohio teams by the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association.

The Fairfield Lady Lions softball program has enjoyed a rich and storied history of excellence. Its resume includes 24 Southern Hills Athletic Conference titles (including seven consecutive), 35 sectional tournament championships, 11 district championships (five in the last eight years), one regional title and a state final four appearance in 1982.

March is absolutely the best time of the year. Enjoying the NCAA tournament, enjoying the best day of the entire year (Reds opening day), and soon being able to enjoy the Masters is a sports fan’s Heaven. March signifies the movement from winter to spring and it is the beginning of the beloved mowing season (wow, I am getting old).

The Lady Mambas recently took second place at the 2024 Beavercreek March Madness Tournament held at Bales Arena in Beavercreek. It was the Lady Mambas first tournament of the seasonand they finished 3-1 on the weekend in the 13U division placing second out of eight teams. Pictured are (back row, l-r) Jayla Haithcock, Karis Hudson, Jayden Hatfield, Libby Webster, Lyrric Hanson, Jayona Kibler, La’Niah Smith, Hayden Rideout, Maddie Easter, Mckenize West, Aurora Stringfield and head coach Derrik Haithcock Sr. The Lady Mambas beat the Ohio Stars, 40-15, Ohio Premier, 46-14, Drew Mitchell Elite, 35-23 before losing in the championship game to Kentucky Storm Elite, 46-38. The team is made up of girls from Hillsboro, Dayton, Washington C.H., Whiteoak, Greenfield, Manchester and Paint Valley,

Remember when we were all freaking out about playing time and how much depth this team was filled with? I’d like to go back to that time about now because there are some real concerns with this roster going into the week before the regular season.

Hillsboro fourth grade boys basketball team Ballin’ Hard won the Beavercreek March Madness AAU basketball tournament held March 15-17. The Hillsboro team lost its first game of the weekend but came back to win the second and third games to claim the championship. Pictured are Henry Sanders, Jude Yuellig, Alex Jamison, Cannon Ford, Julian Yuellig, Ryder Winland, head coach Brad Haithcock, LeBron Haithcock, Lincoln Frazier, Grayson Butler, Caysen Ford, Jax Warrington, Jack Fauber and coach Nick Fauber.

Lynchburg-Clay High Schol’s Autumn Wilkin will be playing golf for the Shawnee State Lady Bears next fall. Wilkin is a three-time All-Southern Hills Athletic Conference golfer (2021, 2022, 2023) and earned spots on the honorable All-Southeast District team (2022, 2023). Pictured (l-r) are Doug Wilkin (father), Autumn Wilkin and Trisha Wilkin (mother).

Lynchburg-Clay High School’s Addison West will be playing basketball for the Ohio Christian Lady Trailblazers next season. West is a two-time All-Southern Hills Athletic Conference player (2023, 2024), was named honorable mention All-District 14 (2023) and 2nd team (2024). She earned spots on the Ohio Prep Sports Writers Association 2nd team in 2023 and 1st team in 2024 and was named honorable All-Ohio in 2023. West ended her career with 1,075 career points. Pictured (sitting) are Amy West (mother), Addison West, Matt West (father); (standing) Jackson West (brother), OCU coach Lauryn VanHoose and Lillian West (sister).

Lynchburg-Clay High School’s Jade Massey will be playing soccer for the Wilmington Lady Quakers next fall. Massey is a two-time All-Southern Hills Athletic Conference player (2022, 2023). She was honorable mention All-District (2021), 2nd team (2022) and 1st team (2023). She was named 1st team All-Ohio (2023) and was the SHAC and Southeast District Player of the Year for 2023. Pictured are (sitting) Brittany Massey (mother), JadeMassey, Jaime Massey (father) and (standing) JJ Massey (brother).