Fulton County Ohio Media

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With a share of the NWOAL boys’ basketball title already guaranteed, the Swanton Bulldogs took the home court on Friday night, not in any mood to see “Co-Champions” listed along-side their name with any other league opponent.   Despite letting a 12-point third quarter lead slip away, the Bulldogs delivered in the end, beating the Archbold Blue Streaks 45-39 to ensure this 2022 NWOAL Championship trophy will reside inside a glass-enclosed case only within the halls of Swanton High School.

This was the first title for the boys’ basketball team since the 2015 season and second since way back in 1986.  In both those years, another school was able to make the same claim.  Bulldog fans have to go back 40 years, to 1982, to find the last time Swanton sat alone atop the NWOAL standings when season ended.

Everyone expected a close contest knowing the Blue Streaks were capable of beating any team in the league and were in a must-win situation.  As they have for most of the season, the Bulldogs got off to a quick start taking a 12-5 lead in the first quarter, getting five points from Cole Mitchey and four from Sam Betz.  League scoring leader Nic Borojevich got hot in the second quarter hitting for nine points and Swanton got a put-back at the buzzer from Betz to give them a 27-18 lead at halftime.  Archbold was able to stay within range, getting eight points from Alex Roth and six from DJ Newman.

Early in the third quarter, the Bulldogs extended the lead to 12 points.  However, as has been their tendency in many games this season, they allowed their opponent to rally and close the gap.  While the Swanton offense went cold, Archbold outscored the home team 10-5 with Newman hitting for eight straight points, chopping the deficit to 32-28.

The Blue Streak surge continued into the fourth quarter with Archbold twice tying the game, once at 32 all then at 34-34.  With just over three minutes remaining, Luc Borojevich, who had been held scoreless to that point, drained a three-pointer from the corner to give the Bulldogs a lead they would never relinquish.  Archbold managed to pull back within one at 37-36, but tight defense and clutch free throws by Mitchey and Nic Borojevich put the game and the NWOAL Championship on ice.

“It was all them.  I didn’t make one play out there,” said Swanton head coach Bruce Smith, giving all the credit to his players for the title-clinching victory.  “You go from hoping you can win to thinking you can win to actually expecting to win,” he added, explaining the progression of the mindset the players developed over the course of the season.  “They’re (Blue Streaks) a very very good basketball team and we had to play well to beat them and we did.  We did enough to win.”

Swanton was led in the scoring department by Nic Borojevich who had a game-high 21 points.  Mitchey scored 14 points, Betz added seven and Luc Borojevich had three.

Newman’s 19 points led Archbold and Roth had 12.  Gavin Bailey, Jayden Seiler, Ashton Kammeyer and Tyler Hurst scored two points each.

The Bulldogs improve to 18-2 on the year and remain undefeated in the league at 6-0.  They will travel to Bryan next Friday for their final game of the regular season.  The Blue Streaks drop to 3-3 in the league and 12-7 overall following their win over Napoleon Saturday night.  They will host Wauseon next Friday night.

Pictured:  2022 NWOAL Boys Basketball Champion Swanton Bulldogs

Click on the link above to access all photos from the game. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for free courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

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Cole Mitchey (pictured) scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half to help the Bulldogs hold off the Toledo Christian Eagles 56-47 in a home non-league boys basketball game.  Nic Borojevich matched Cole’s point total of 19 with 12 coming in the first quarter.  Luc Borojevich added 11 points, Hayden Callicotte had three and Sam Betz and Nathan Pawlowicz had two apiece.

Click on the link above to access all the photos from the game. Photos can be downloaded for no charge courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

Jerry Donaldson, a resident of Delta and an assistant bowling coach for the past nine years for the Delta High School Panthers, bowled a 300 game in the Thursday Night Mixed League at the Swanton Sports Center. Jerry rolled his perfecto in the first game of the night then followed up that gem with games of 224 and 201 for a stellar 725 series. Coming into the evening, he carried a 201 average while bowling for “The House” team.

It was the sixth career 300 game for Jerry and the first at the Sports Center since it reopened under new ownership in 2013. He had rolled a 300 there prior to its closing in 2010, coincidentally on the same pair of lanes, five and six.

Ironically, the Swanton Sports Center is the home venue for the Delta Panthers bowling team and Jerry’s perfect game comes just two days before the Panthers host the Northwest Ohio Athletic League (NWOAL) end of the year tournament for the boys and girls team this Saturday.

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The Delta Lady Panthers have come a long way since their opening season loss to the Swanton Lady Bulldogs on their home court.  At the time, first-year coach Kelsey Gillen was tasked with taking over a program that had graduated all five starters from a State Regional Tournament qualifying team.  Basically, the program, with only one senior on the roster, is rebuilding from the ground up.

Monday’s 46-16 victory over the Bulldogs in Swanton was another indication of how much growth and improvement Delta has made the course of the season that has seen the Panthers win several games and be very competitive in most of the others.

The game was close in the early going when the Panthers held a 6-5 lead in the first quarter.  From there, however, Delta ran off the next seven points to close out the frame with a 13-5 advantage and outscored Swanton 10-5 in the second for a 23-10 lead at the half.

The defense of the Lady Panthers put the game away in the third quarter by shutting out the Lady Bulldogs 12-0 and then took the fourth 11-6 for the impressive 30-point win.

Khloe Weber led Delta with 12 points.  Grace Munger scored seven points, Kate Friess and Alani Haas added six each, Sophia Burres, Jersey Irelan and Olivia Smith had four apiece and Olivia Turi had three.

Katie Floyd scored eight points for Swanton.  Allison Fagerman added five points, Alaina Pelland had two and Olivia Gowing had one.

Pictured:  Khloe Weber scores from down low.

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The Swanton Lady Bulldogs held the visiting Delta Lady Panthers to just 14 points in the first half of their game Monday night.  However, those 14 points looked like an offensive explosion compared to only two Delta managed to score, both on free throws, in the second half.  Swanton, on the other hand, put up 27 second half points and cruised to a 45-17 victory after leading by just three at the end of the first half.

Jessica Finfera led Swanton and all players with 14 points.  Peighton Manning was right behind with 12 points, Olivia Gowing and Ava Keiser each scored seven, Megan Haselman had three and Miranda Yeager added two.

Mackenzie Mercer scored seven points for Delta.  Jacyln Kolhofer, Elizabeth Schlatter, Kendal Sprow and Ashlyn Lamb all had two and Mariah McGarry had one.

Pictured:  Peighton Manning drives in for two points.

Click on the link above to access all photos from the game. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for no charge courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

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Trailing 10-9 after the first quarter, the Swanton Bulldogs outscored the Delta Panthers 9-2 in the second quarter and went on to defeat the Panthers 46-37 in the “Jungle” in a NWOAL boys Junior Varsity match Saturday night.  Swanton added three points to their six-point halftime advantage in the third and kept pace with Delta’s hot shooting in the fourth quarter for the win.

 The Bulldogs’ and the game’s high scorer was Keyon Johnson-Couch with 17 points.  Ryan O’Shea had 12 points, nine of those coming on shots from behind the arc.  Charlie Wood added 10 points, Drew Smigleski had four and Jake Robinson finished with three.

The Panthers’ top scorer was Luke Reinhard with 14 points including 11 in the fourth quarter.  Jude Gibbons score 10 points, Wyatt Gibbons had five, Brady Morr, Valentin Aybar and Walter Hallet added two points each and John Brasher had one.

Pictured:  Keyon Johnson-Couch hits for two of his 17 points.

Click on the link above to access all photos from the game. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for free courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

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The Swanton Bulldogs played a nearly flawless first two quarters, essentially putting on a basketball clinic, as they raced out to a 34-point lead during the first half on their way to a 66-40 road victory over the Delta Panthers in an NWOAL boys contest.  In fact, the 44 points scored by the Bulldogs in the half was enough to win the game as the Swanton offense was knocking down baskets from almost any where on their side of the court.  They made 15 two-point shots and hit 11 three-pointers on the night.

 “We got contributions from a lot of different guys and that helps,” said Swanton coach Bruce Smith commenting on the nine Bulldog players that scored in the game.  The defense was just as impressive, holding the Panther offense to just 13 first half points, the final three coming on a buzzer beater by Bryce Gillen.  “This is game 18.  You ought to be doing something right by this time,” said Coach Smith regarding his team’s overall performance.

Despite the overwhelming 31-point halftime deficit, Delta came out strong in the third quarter, scoring the first seven points of the second half to finish a 10-0 run that started at the end of the first half.  Swanton regrouped and battled back to win the quarter 14-13, taking a 58-26 lead into the final frame. 

With the insurmountable advantage, no Bulldog starter saw any action in the fourth quarter as Coach Smith emptied his bench.  “They (reserves) come to practice every day just like the staters do,” he said.  You like to get a game like this where everybody feels like they contributed.  It was nice to see that.”  It was not long before Delta coach Matt Brighton followed suit and replaced all the Panther starters.

Nic Borojevich led Swanton with a game-high 17 points including four three-pointers.  Luc Borojevich scored 15 points while hitting three shots from behind the arc and Sam Betz had 13 points, also with three makes from long range.  Kayden Davis had six points, Cole Mitchey added five, Charlie Wood had four while Lathan Pawlowicz, Ryan O’Shea and Drew Smigelski had two points each.

Leading the way for Delta was Justin Ruple and Nolan Risner with nine points apiece.  Bryce Gillen scored eight points, Jude Gibbons and Josh Tresnan-Reighard had five each and James Ruple and Alex Hodge each scored two.

The victory moves Swanton’s league record to 5-0 and 16-2 overall.  Delta drops to 1-4 in the league and 6-10 overall.

Pictured:  Nic Borojevich lays in two of his game-high 17 points.

Click on the link above to access all photos from the game. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for no charge courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

Carson Santchi, a Senior at Swanton High School, was recently informed he had won the Bowling Green State University (BGSU) Presidential Scholarship which will provide full tuition for the next four years. 

There were over 1,000 applications for the BGSU Honors Program for the 2022-2023 academic year and only 300 were accepted.  From there, Carson was invited to a two-day, Friday and Saturday, event at the university to compete for various scholarships.

Day one was a presentation and a meet and greet session with other students, alumni, professors and past scholarship winners.  On day two, Carson and about 100 other high school students were selected to be interviewed by a three-person panel.  The following Monday, he received a call from one of the presentation speakers that he had won the prestigious scholarship.

As a student at Swanton, Carson has been a four-year member of the Marching Bulldogs and is currently on the Swanton Bowling Team.  He is currently undecided as to what area of study he will pursue.  Congratulations to Carson Santchi.

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On the Delta Panther Bowlers Senior Night, the Panther boys defeated the Evergreen Vikings 2342-1996 and the Lady Vikings beat the Lady Panthers 2053-1941 at the Swanton Sports Center.

In the boys’ match, Brody Waugh led the Panthers by rolling games of 213 and 197 for a 410 series.  Other Delta series scores were Caden Leonard with a 387 series including a 200 game, Gabe Syverson with a 371, Kaden Hawkins with a 300 and Paul McQueen (171) and Dylan Stricker (141) combined for a 312.  Delta also bowled a 562 series in the three Baker games including games of 206 and 201.

Derek Cobb paced the Vikings by bowling games of 195 and 218 for a match-high 413 series.  Other Evergreen series scores were Michael Laver with a 348, Mason Lutrell with a 306, Zachary Laver with a 303 and Brandon Cobb (124) and Zach Steinmetz (119) bowled a combined 243.  Evergreen bowled a 383 series in the three Baker games.

Delta’s victory moves their record to 5-7 on the season while Evergreen falls to 1-10.

In the girls’ match, Kennedy Coolman led the Lady Vikings with games of 191 and 157 for a 348 series.  Other Lady Viking scores were Keigan Shuster with a 344, Joleen Warner with a 301, Delaney Burghardt with a 293 and Carley Kanneman with a 280.  Evergreen bowled a 488 series in the three Baker games.

Maddy Johnson led the Lady Panthers with a 162 and 200 for a 362 series.  Other Lady Panther series scores were Lexi Brown with a 365, Ciarra Flickinger with a 351, Karysn Gillen with a 211 and Serena Shelhart with a 198.  Delta bowled a 454 series in the three Baker games.

With the win, Evergreen improves to their record to 4-6 and Delta drops to 2-8.

Click on the link above to access all photos from the matches. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for free courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.