Lake wrestlers, basketball teams stay busy heading into holidays

What better way to ring in the holiday season than with some takedowns and reversals?

The Lake boys’ wrestling squad got in the holiday spirit by competing in the two-day 65th North Canton Holiday Wrestling Tournament, hosted by Hoover High School Dec. 19-20. The Blue Streaks finished just outside the top 10 with an 11th-place showing of 98.5 points, just 0.5 points behind Ripley. Louisville was named the overall team champion with 214.0 points, comfortably ahead of runner-up Ashland (175.0).

Three Lake wrestlers placed, led by Lukas Jordan, who wrestled at 157 pounds. Jordan lost to eventual champion Mavrik Gregory of Mount Vernon in the semifinals by a score of 4-0. In the third-place match, the junior rebounded, pinning Steubenville’s Charlie Abbott in 0:53 to claim third place.

Other Lake grapplers to place were senior Cole Carson, who finished eighth at 150, and junior Andrew Cassetty, who placed sixth at 106.

Girls basketball

For the week leading up to Christmas, it appeared Lake was overrun by dogs – specifically Bulldogs. No matter, however, as the Blue Streaks were up for the challenge.

First, the Blue Streaks hosted Green Dec. 19 in a Federal League matchup. After consecutive conference losses to McKinley and Jackson, Lake was looking to right the ship, and the Bulldogs provided that opportunity. The Blue Streaks broke open a close game to win convincingly, 38-20.

Despite a 36-36 tie in rebounds, the Blue Streaks harassed Green on defense, finishing with a 15-4 edge in steals. That showed in the second quarter, when an 8-0 Lake run extended an 8-6 lead to 16-6.

The Bulldogs (1-6, 0-5) pulled back to within five at 23-18, but another Blue Streaks run put Lake back in command at 29-18 in the third quarter. Lake outscored Green 15-2 down the stretch to close out the game and improve to 3-2 in the Federal.

Four days later, Lake visited Stow-Munroe Falls in a nonconference contest. Also known as the Bulldogs, Stow-Munroe Falls proved to be more bark than bite as the Blue Streaks won easily, 53-38.

The Blue Streaks, who led 3-2 early, went on a run that forced the Bulldogs to call a timeout with 1:38 remaining in the first quarter. It did little to stem the tide, as Lake held an 18-8 advantage at the end of the period.

Lake extended its lead to 33-18 by halftime as Stow-Munroe Falls (2-6) never could make a dent in the deficit. With the victory, the Blue Streaks improved to 5-5 overall.

Boys basketball

The Lake boys’ team was also in action Dec. 19 against Green in a Federal League contest, and like the girls, the Blue Streaks emerged victorious, defeating the Bulldogs 64-49.

The win snapped a three-game losing streak that began Dec. 12 with a loss to McKinley. It was also Lake’s first conference victory of the season, improving the Blue Streaks to 1-2 in league play. Green dropped its third straight game to fall to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in the Federal.

On Dec. 23, Lake visited Canal Fulton Northwest for a nonconference matchup and fell to the host Indians 70-62. No other details were available as Lake’s overall record moved to 4-4.