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Salem entertains Northeast 8 bid

SALEM — Salem athletic director Matt Freeman said the school district was caught off guard when it found out that Carrollton, Minerva and Marlington were leaving the Eastern Buckeye Conference for a new league. Like West Branch, Salem heard rumors of the league’s probable demise a week before the official announcement came on Friday. “It seems like it’s no longer about geography or size of the school,” Freeman said. Salem’s athletic department and administration had a meeting with its coaches on Sunday and the path forward will be applying to the Northeast 8. ...

SPORTS BRIEFING

Golden Eagles fall short of Valley HANOVERTON — Valley Christian scored a 32-25 win over United in a low scoring boys basketball contest on Monday. Abram Ceresna had eight points for the Golden Eagles, 11-11, 7-7 in the Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference. Valley Christian is 11-8 and 10-4 in the EOAC. Valley won the jayvee game, 41-31. Ryan Miller scored 15 for United. United hosts Mogadore in the Div. VI sectional tournament on Feb. 26. VC: 14-12-2-4—32 UN: 4-4-12-5—25 VALLEY CHRISTIAN SCORING: K. Swingett 3-0-6, Tutwiler 1-0-2, Valentino 0-1-1, Miller 4-0-10, ...

Heartland repeats in OVAC

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Heartland Christian is pointed into the right direction heading into the tournament. The Lions repeated as OVAC Class A champions on Saturday with a 66-55 victory over Frontier at the ECO Center. Just like he did last season, Heartland senior Collin Kalaher was named the MVP as he scored 23 points in the win. Reagan Kalaher helped him out ith 13 points, while Corban Seuita added 11 points. Heartland led by four after the first quarter and seven at the half, but Frontier (12-6) cut the lead to four heading into the fourth quarter. Heartland is 17-4 and ...

Beavers put on a show

WELLSVILLE — Beaver Local brought its big guns to the Wellsville Buck Bailey Invitational and came away with a first place finish including seven individual titles. The Beavers scored 251 points to Minerva’s 225 to win the tournament. Jordan Bates (106 pounds), Jeryck Boyd (113), Leo Wilkes (132), Matthew Tomaino (144), Bobby Buchheit (150), Jake Hughes (165) and Robert Marra (215) all took home titles for the Beavers. Salem’s Will Harmon (157), Columbiana’s Jensen Nordquist (190) and Leetonia’s Dylan Bennett (285) all placed second. TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Beaver 251, 2. ...

Long leads Beaver Local into districts

STEUBENVILLE — Beaver Local junior Cole Long scored wins in the 100-yard backstroke in 54.20 and 200 individual medley in 2:00.84 to advance on Saturday at the Div. II sectional swim meet at Steubenville Natatorium. He also was a part of Beaver’s 200-yard freestyle relay team which won in 1:36.03 and the winning 400 freestyle relay (3:29.44). In girls action, the 200-yard freestyle relay team won in 1:51.51. Only the winner of each event automatically advanced to the district meet set for Friday at Ohio University. There will be 29 at-large qualifiers in individual events ...

EBC down to three teams

The Eastern Buckeye Conference likely suffered a fatal blow on Friday as three members announced their departure. EBC members Minerva, Marlington and Carrollton announced as part of a joint statement that they will join Claymont, Fairless, Sandy Valley, Tuscarawas Valley and Tuslaw in the formation of a new league. The plan is for the league to be ready by the 2028-29 school year but the EBC could dissolve before then as remaining members West Branch, Salem and Alliance look for new league options. The future for the remaining three teams are uncertain, although West Branch has ...