Prep roundup for Monday, Aug. 21

Aug. 21—Visiting Muncie Central came back to beat Kokomo 3-2 Saturday afternoon in the opening North Central Conference boys soccer game for both schools. Kokomo led 2-1 at halftime but Muncie Central scored twice after the break to turn the game.

"All of their chances came the same way: We don't have a presence in the midfield, in front of our back line, and we got countered, which is basically the theme right now," Kokomo coach Aaron Blessing said. "We're not cohesively defending when we're out of possession. [The Bearcats] did that very well. They'd get the ball, look forward and counter. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, but that put us under pressure a lot."

Muncie opened the scoring in the eighth minute. Kokomo's Flory Bidunga, operating as a center forward, tied the game with a goal in the 28th minute. He turned his defender at the top of the box and weaved inside for a goal from close range.

The Kats went ahead 2-1 on a penalty kick by Javier Carrera in the 35th minute. Bidunga played a ball to him from the left side of the box and Carrera was fouled in the box trying to cut past his defender and into shooting position. He took the penalty himself and scored. The Kats led by a goal at halftime but found fewer chances in the second half.

In his first game with the Kat soccer squad, Bidunga was involved in both Kokomo goals.

"He's good on the ball, he's comfortable. He's physical, which is unsurprising based on the way he plays basketball," Blessing said. "He created a goal, he's in front of the box being dangerous and they had to pay attention to him whether it was the run of play or a set piece. He did a good job and he worked. We've got to get more support around the ball, wherever he is, or whatever the forward is."

Kokomo (0-2) visits Harrison on Tuesday.

NW 3, CARROLL 1

Matty Polk scored a goal and dished an assist to lead the Tigers past the visiting Cougars.

Also for Northwestern (2-2), Dylan Rubinocci and Cam Markley scored a goal apiece.

For Carroll (2-1), Eli Falkenberg scored off Owen Wise's assist. Cohen Miller had six saves in goal.

MAC 7, WABASH 1

Maconaquah won on the road for a 1-0 start in the Three Rivers Conference.

Nolan Jones and Isaac Lorenz scored two goals each for the Braves (3-0 overall), Alex Hicks and Joe Manueles scored once each and Colton Beebe's direct kick ricocheted in the box and went in for a goal. Bennett Isenburg had three assists, Beebe had two and Ethan Zeiser and Louis Mendoza had one each.

Kevin Nord, Ryan Ousley, Corey Nord and Kyler Hanson led the Braves' defensive effort.

BLACKFORD 4, EASTERN 2

Elijah Shafer scored twice for the Comets in the home loss.

Eastern 'keeper Lincoln Mentis had 10 saves.

BOYS TENNIS

WESTERN WINS INVITE

Western went 2-0 to win New Castle's invitational and cap a perfect opening week of the season.

In the semifinal round, Western beat Hoosier Conference rival Hamilton Heights 5-0. No. 2 singles player Evan Trauring, No. 3 singles Jonah Raab and the No. 1 doubles team of James Paden and Evan Butcher all won by 6-0, 6-0 scores. No. 1 singles player Miles Bowley won 6-0, 6-2 and the No. 2 doubles team of Brady Thompson and Kaleb York won 6-1, 6-0. It was Thompson's first varsity win.

In the final, the Panthers beat the host Trojans 3-2. Bowley's 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 1 was the clinching point. Trauring won 6-3, 6-1 and Paden and Butcher won 6-4, 6-1 at No. 2 doubles.

The Panthers are off to a 4-0 start. They went 11-11 with eight 3-2 losses last season.

"We had a lot of 2-3 losses last year. We've already clinched two of them this year, [Lafayette] Jeff and New Castle. They were good teams with a lot of impressive players so we had to really rise to the occasion in those matches," Western coach Judson Quinn said. "It's nice because we've had our seniors step up big time in some big matches."

NW WINS INVITE

Northwestern won Lewis Cass' invitational despite playing without Nos. 1 and 2 singles players Blake Wise and Ian Woods.

Northwestern defeated Tippecanoe Valley by forfeit. From there, the Tigers beat Cass 4-1 and beat Carroll 4-1.

"Really proud of this team," co-coach Matt Woods said. "Blake was out of town and Ian was out sick so we had to have some guys step up. In sports we talk about the 'next man up' mentality and they set a perfect example of that [Saturday].

"It's not easy playing without your 1 and 2, but these guys are fighters."

Normal No. 3 singles player Landon Begley moved to No. 1 singles and went 2-0. He beat his Cass opponent 8-3 and beat his Carroll opponent 8-3. Tim Royer moved to No. 3 singles and also went 2-0. He took an 8-3 win against Cass and an 8-0 win against Carroll.

"Landen played really well and frustrated his opponents. He normally plays 3 and to play the way he did getting thrown into the top spot was impressive. He keeps getting better every day," Matt Woods said. "Tim played some of the most consistent tennis I've seen him play so far."

Also against Cass, Hayden Cook and Conner Gaier teamed for an 8-4 win at No. 1 doubles and Eythen Fogg and Berkley Henry won 8-3 at No. 2 doubles. Also against Carroll, Cook and Gaier won 8-4 at No. 1 doubles and Fogg and Corbyn Sparling won 8-6 at No. 2 doubles.

The Tigers closed the opening week of the season with a 5-0 record.

KOKOMO GOES 1-1

Kokomo went 1-1 in Plymouth's Crossroad Classic.

First, Carroll of Fort Wayne beat Kokomo 3-2. The Kats' points came at Nos. 1 and 3 singles with Caleb Taflinger winning 6-4, 6-3 at No. 1 and Mitch McClelland winning 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-2 at No. 3.

"Carroll is always a ranked program and we were a couple points away in a tiebreaker to sweep singles for the win," Kokomo coach Travis Taflinger said, noting Andrew Guerre dropped a three-setter at No. 2. "Caleb and Mitch played outstanding against very good opponents. Mitch is a grinder who hits his spots and plays smart tennis. He may be a freshman, but he is off to a great start."

Kokomo bounced back to beat Leo 3-2. The Kats swept the singles points with Caleb Taflinger winning 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 at No. 1, Guerre winning 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 and McClelland winning 6-4, 6-4 at No. 3.

"Leo is another great program," Travis Taflinger said. "Our singles swept with Caleb earning a tough comeback win, Andrew rolling his opponent and Mitch picking up another well-earned win. Our doubles guys played much better the second match and had some chances, but just couldn't finish off some key sets for the win.

"Overall, it was a great day for our program as we continue to build and compete with quality teams."

PERU WINS INVITE

Peru defeated Twin Lakes, Triton and Centerville for a perfect 3-0 record in winning its invitational.

Peru defeated Twin Lakes 4-1 behind a dominant singles sweep — Ian Potts won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1, Jayleb Walsh won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2, Jacob Boswell pitched a 6-0, 6-0 shutout at No. 3. Also for Peru, Jackson Boswell and Lucas Musser won 6-3, 6-4 at No. 1 doubles.

Peru beat Triton 5-0. Potts, Walsh and Jacob Boswell all won 6-0, 6-0 in singles play. Jackson Boswell and Musser also won by double bagels and Jadin Pallante and Karter Schwartz won 6-1, 6-3 at No. 2 doubles.

The Bengal Tigers capped their day with a 3-2 victory over Centerville. Peru's points came from a singles sweep as Potts won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1, Walsh won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2 and Jacob Boswell won 6-3, 6-1 at No. 3.

VOLLEYBALL

KOKOMO INVITE

Kokomo hosted a nine-team invitational and came away with a third-place finish. The VolleyKats beat Muncie Central and Maconaquah and dropped matches to Whiteland and Harrison. Kokomo took Whiteland to a decisive third set where the Warriors prevailed 17-15.

Regan McClain led the VolleyKats' attack with 20 kills over the four matches. Helen Qiu had 13 kills, Dani Tate had 12 and Abby Hansen had 11. Torre Willis set up the hitters and finished with 61 assists on the day. Taylor Reed sparked the defense with 25-plus digs.

Maconaquah went 1-3 and finished eighth. After dropping matches to Kokomo, Muncie Central and DeKalb, the Braves beat Indianapolis Pike 25-22, 25-7.

N. MIAMI INVITE

Northwestern went 2-2 in North Miami's invitational. Wabash beat Northwestern 25-20, 25-17 and Caston beat the Tigers 25-20, 27-25. The Tigers bounced back to take victories against Winamac (25-10, 25-14) and Rochester (25-23, 25-20).

"It took us a little bit to get started," Northwestern coach Brittany Perry said. "I'm proud we were able to power through the end of the day and win our last two games. We played a lot and we learned a lot."

GIRLS GOLF

CENTER GROVE INVITE

Tipton shot 420 and finished 15th in an 18-team field at Hickory Stick G.C. No. 2-ranked Carmel (296) took first place and No. 3 Center Grove (306), No. 1 Westfield (310), No. 10 Franklin (312) and No. 6 Noblesville (312) rounded out the top five.

"A really solid day at a tough course that played really long against some of the state's best player and teams," Tipton coach Jason Bales said. "They played [the invite] at 6,000 yards — that is tough. I thought we made great strides, all of us."

Kennedy Lancaster led Tipton with a 6-over 77, which was good for 12th place. Josie Butler was second low for the Blue Devils with a 91.

"Kennedy is really playing well — 77 here is a feat — and to be that mix of ladies in the top 15, amazing. She was solid tee to green, made some quality putts and scrambled well when she needed to," Bales said. "Josie too had a good day. I know she'd like a couple shots back, but that 91 would be low to mid 80s at some other rounds. Just a great day overall."

FOOTBALL

N. WHITE 38, TAYLOR 12

Taylor dropped its season opener on the road against North White.

GIRLS SOCCER

NW 4, ARGOS 0

Northwestern jumped to a 3-0 halftime lead and went on to beat host Argos 4-0 for its first win of the season.