Chance Short
chance.short@irontontribune.com

PROCTORVILLE — The 7th annual Tri-State Throwdown was another huge success at Fairland’s Carl York Center on Saturday.
The premiere showcase for girls basketball was represented well with some of the top teams in southern Ohio.
The Throwdown was put together by Fairland head coach Jon Buchanan and State Farm Insurance Agent Rickey Shifko as the sponsor.
“We used to run this event through NAPA, but when we lost the sponsor former player Pieter Lewis actually came up with the new name,” said Buchanan.
The new name rang home for Shifko and he added that “Coach Buchanan and (athletic director) Jeff Gorby asked me to sponsor the event and give out a player of the game award. As a local State Farm Agent, I try to do something local with every athletic program. And there is nothing for girls basketball as far as a premiere event so it has been a great opportunity for me.”
Shifko also sponsors a student-athlete every week with a t-shirt for accomplishments in the classroom and athletics.
Buchanan was pleased with the turnout and even took some pointers from Chesapeake Panther boys basketball coach Ryan Davis. Davis runs the premiere showcase for boys basketball in Southern Ohio with the ‘Beasts of the Southeast.’
The matchups proved to be good ones with numerous ranked teams in Ohio.
“I think 5 of the 8 teams are currently ranked if you count us for receiving votes. And that’s been the beauty of it, everyone that plays in it is good,” said Buchanan of the matchups.
There were four games:
Division IV No. 6 Portsmouth Notre Dame (11-1) vs No. 10 Trimble (11-3)
Portsmouth Notre Dame was able to top the Trimble Lady Cats in the first game of the day 66-58. The Lady Titans were led by Ava Hassel’s career high 37 points.
Division II Middletown Fenwick (6-7) vs Marietta (7-5)
Marietta ran away with the second game defeating Fenwick 54-40. Adi Hill led the Marietta Lady Tigers with 21 points while teammate Morgan Altenburger scored 19 points.
Division III No. 5 Alexander (8-2) vs Division IV Peebles (9-1)
Peebles knocked off Alexander in a close game 55-50 behind Jacey Justice’s game high 28 points. Justice is committed to Western Carolina to continue her athletic career.
Division IV Fairfield (9-4) vs Fairland (11-1)
Fairfield knocked off Peebles last week, but were unable to slay the Dragons. Fairland snuck by 59-55 thanks to Emma Marshall’s player of the game honors. The senior scored 14 points and added 6 assists.