The Opening Drive: Week 7

“The Windup:” “The Opening Drive” Week 7 Script

We start “The Windup” today with a brand new edition of our “Opening Drive” segment.  This is where we highlight some of the sport stories making news in the Grant County area. 

The week started off well for Taylor Trojans Junior ForwardCasey Coons as he won the Capital One Academic-All American of the Year award.  The Chronicle-Tribune reports that the College Sports Information Directors of America chose Coons for the award.  He was selected from a pool of candidates from the NAIA, junior college and Canadian institutions.  The Taylor star is the first to receive the award and became the school’s 16^th Academic All-American in history.  Coons averaged 20 points per game which led the Trojans for the 3^rd consecutive year and ranked in the NAIA Division II Top Ten for free throw shooting at just over 87% on the season.  The junior already ranks 12^th on the all-time scoring list with almost 1600 career points.  He scored 20 points in the team’s final game on Wednesday as the #7 seeded Trojans lost to #2 Grace, 76-53, in the first round of the Mid-Central College Conference Tournament.

In high school swimming, Senior Diver Jacobey Jones’ night started off well on Tuesday in regional action but did not end the way it started.  The Oak Hill Golden Eagle finished in 10^th place with just over 330 points after 11 dives.  This finish comes after Jones sat in second place going into his third dive.  According to Oak Hill Diver Coach Bobby Hart, the public address announcer misidentified Jones’ third dive which through him off and could never regain his focus.  He finished just over 20 points behind the 8^th place finisher, Fishers’ Austin Smith, who qualified for the last state final spot.  Jones does plan on diving in college and currently has an offer from two-year school Lincoln College out of Illinois.  The state finals for swimming are tonight and tomorrow at the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis.

It may be hard to believe but the Indiana Wesleyan Men’s Basketball team has found itself back in the NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Top 10 in the latest poll.  The Wildcats jumped from 14^th to 10^th in the polls released early this week.  This is the first time since the December 12^th poll that IWU can find itself inside the top 10.  Led by Coach Greg Tonagel, the Wildcats have won 8 of its last 9 games and have a semifinal date with the Saint Francis Cougars on Saturday afternoon in the MCC Tournament semifinals.  The #1 ranked Lady Wildcats stayed atop the latest poll and now sit at 29-and-2 on the year after defeating county rival Taylor in the first round of the women’s MCC Tournament.  The women will also play Saint Francis in a semifinal match-up in Luckey Arena at 7 p.m. tonight.

That does it for the drive today.  Make sure you listen for the Fortress Sports Update airing throughout the week updating you on all the local Grant County high school sporting events. 

(Special thanks to our friends from the Chronicle-Tribune for their great local sports coverage.)