Page 9 - Dresden Buzz 01/23/2026

JANUARY 23 - FEBRUARY 5, 2026 SPORTS | PAGE 9

PORTS Taking a look back at sports highlights throughout

Muskingum County for January 7 - 19, 2026.

West Muskingum boys basketball increase MVL standings after

taking down four straight conference opponents BY MATTHEW DOTSON | DRESDEN BUZZ

The Tornado's Carter Smith flies high to stop a shot from the Ceramics. Matthew Dotson

Vs Crooksville (1/16) the last eight minutes of the game and their way to the front with a 16 – 11 lead Vs New Lexington (1/9)
The Tornadoes hit the road to nearby added a couple more to win 75 – 46. at the end of the first quarter. Coshocton The New Lexington Panthers traveled
Crooksville on Friday to face the Ceram- For the game, senior Kyle Porter had fought hard to stay in the game as they North to face the Tornadoes on Friday
ics on their home court. West Musking- 21 points, two rebounds, one assist, and stayed right on West M’s heels til the night. West dominated the court, rush-
um took control of the ball right away, five steals. Sophomore Noah Morrison end of the first half, with West leading ing out to a 17 – 5 lead in the first eight
tuning up the Ceramics for a lead of 28 had 17 points for West, five rebounds, the game 30 – 24. minutes. The Panthers were tamed by
– 8 by the end of the first period. Crooks- three assists, and two steals. Seniors Returning to the court, the Torna- the speed of the West offense as they
ville couldn’t catch their breath before Carter Smith and Cade Porter each had does kept their charge in motion, fight- pushed them into halftime leading 35 –
the end of the first half as the pace con- 11 points for the Tornadoes. ing back and forth with Coshocton, and 11.
tinued, leaving them at a 48 – 22 disad- West Muskingum will be traveling to still leading 50 – 41. Unscathed by the Storming into the second half, the Tor-
vantage going into halftime. McConnellsville on Friday, January 23rd, Redskin’s defense, West pumped out nadoes pumped out another 20 points
The intermission brought some levity to face the Morgan Raiders. Tip-off is set 14 points in the last period to win the to increase their tally to 55 – 20. New
for the home team as they kept in stride for 7 PM. matchup 64 – 49. Lexington made little headway against
with the Tornado offense in the third Kyle Porter led the scoring for West the second string in the last quarter, and
quarter, only falling behind in scoring by Vs Coshocton (1/13) with 27 points, 10 rebounds, and two West won the game heavily by a score of
one point, which didn’t help the moun- West Muskingum High School hosted assists. Carter Smith had 11 points, 11 59 – 26.
tain of a gap between the two scores as the Coshocton Redskins on Tuesday. The rebounds, three assists, and one steal.
West M led 61 – 34 after three periods. two teams were fairly matched in the
West held onto their lead throughout first period, with the Tornadoes working