Sturgill earns state bowling berth

PORT CLINTON — Columbian's Atreyu Sturgill tied for third overall Thursday at the Division I district tournament at Star Lanes at the Harbor to snag a boys state tournament berth.The top two teams and top two individuals not on those teams qualified for the state tournament, set for March 6-7 at H.P. Lanes in Columbus.Sturgill, a junior, rolled a three-game series of 686 (220, 210. 256) to tie Ashland's Max Oeken for third in the overall individual standings.Runner-up Niko Lockhart (717) of Clay claimed the other individual state berth.Celina bested Ashland 4,359-4,283 for district crown, with both earning trips to state. Sturgill was Columbian's lone competitor at the district tournament. Stockaders take control earlyOLD FORT — Old Fort dominated the first half and coasted from there Thursday in an 81-15 romp past Fremont St. Joe in a Division VII sectional final.Dimitri Carter hit five 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 22 points — all in the first half — to help the Stockaders jump out 35-4 in the first period and 66-12 by intermission.Isaac Gallagher added 16 points and nine rebounds for Old Fort (15-8) and Henry Beisner had 12 points and six boards.Colten Hoerig backed them with 11 points and Grant Havens scored seven.Griffin Vassar led the Crimson Streaks (1-22) with five points.Old Fort advances to next Thursday's 7:30 p.m. district semifinal against Sandusky St. Mary at Oregon Clay. Rams rally, but fall to GalionGALION — Upper Sandusky stormed back from an early 18-point deficit, but Galion blocked a game-tying 3-point try at the buzzer Thursday to clip the Rams 60-57 for a Division IV sectional title.Galion (7-16) raced out 20-2 in the opening period en route to a 23-6 advantage at the first stop.The Rams clawed to within 31-26 by halftime and, after a brief lead in the third quarter, found themselves trailing 45-40 when the fourth period began.Josh Heilman hit a 3-pointer and drew a foul with 2.5 seconds left to get the Rams within 60-57. He intentionally missed his foul shot and teammate Jacob Romich had his game-tying attempt blocked at the buzzer.Heilman and Ashton Clark each scored 17 points for Upper Sandusky (8-15) and Luke Schoenberger had 12.Park Tinch's 15 points topped the Tigers. Dominic Capretta and Christian Bare both scored 12 points and Colton Flynn added 10. Penton-led Vermilion drops RedmenBELLEVUE — Noah Penton shook off a cold start at the line to end with a career high in points Thursday, leading Vermilion past Bellevue 58-47 for a Division IV sectional title.Penton missed his first five foul shot attempts, then made his last seven. That and six field goals gave him 21 points to help the Sailors overcome an early 9-5 hole at the end of the first quarter to get the win.Brock Meyers and Jerimiah Lopez each scored 11 points for Vermilion (10-13) and Luke Richardson added eight. Mason Cooper grabbed eight rebounds.Sam Bollinger topped the Redmen (13-10) with 15 points.Ike Brown chipped in 10 points and nine rebounds, and Reid Claus and Elijah Turinski both tallied seven points. Lake douses ClydeMILLBURY — Carter Behlmer poured in 30 points and three teammates also scored in double figures Thursday, propelling Lake past Clyde 80-61 in a Division VI sectional final.Preston Snyder backed Behlmer with 17 points, Xavier Scott tossed in 12 and Jace Ayers tallied 10.Jack Sobczak netted another nine points for the winning Flyers (18-5).JeCori Roberts keyed Clyde (10-13) with 16 points.Oscar Webb scored 14 more points for the Fliers and Chase Castle ended with 13. NR can't catch TrojansGREENWICH — South Central broke away after the first quarter to turn a close game into a 67-43 Division VII sectional final win Thursday against New Riegel.New Riegel (6-17) ended the first quarter clinging to an 11-9 lead, but South Central (11-12) outscored the Blue Jackets 20-12 in the second period to take control.The Trojans pushed their advantage to 40-31 by the end of the third quarter before locking up the win with a 27-12 surge in the fourth.Weston Jue and Bryan Chaffee each scored 12 points for South Centrl and Wyatt Hall had 11.Alec Hohman paced New Riegel with 10 points, seven rebounds and three steals.Cameron Hohman added 10 points, Aiden Faeth netted nine points and Brayden Schalk dished five assists.