AJ Stanfield gets some shopping assistance from Deputy Cory Kellum during the fifth annual Shop With A Cop program at Kenton’s Walmart on Saturday.

Slow starts to games have been Riverdale’s bugaboo so far this season and another one came back to haunt the Lady Falcons on Saturday afternoon against Kenton. The Lady Wildcats forced the Falcons into the 11 first quarter turnovers in jumping ahead 23-2 after eight minutes.

MOUNT BLANCHARD —Playing their third game in five days, Kenton coach Matt McCullough was worried his team might be getting a bit wary when the Wildcats traveled to Riverdale on Saturday night. The Wildcat mentor had nothing to be worried about as the Wildcats forced the Falcons into eight first-quarter turnovers and scored the first 20 points of the game on the way to a 74-43 non-league victory.

MOUNT VICTORY — A slow first half by the Ridgemont Gophers and five first-half three-pointers from Triad allowed the Cardinals to build up a 31-14 lead at halftime in a boys basketball contest on Saturday. While the Gophers more than doubled their first-half score in just the third quarter with 16, the halftime deficit proved too large to overcome as Triad took the 75-48 win.

Hardin County Clerk of Courts, Carrie L Haudenschield, was recently presented with a commendation from the Ohio Clerk of Courts Association (OCCA) at the association's Annual Conference, held in Columbus. Haudenschield received the recognition for attending and participating in the education seminars and monthly educational opportunities offered by the association throughout 2017.

ALGER — At this time of the year, baking cookies is a holiday tradition with many families. But for those who want the sweet treats for their Christmas meals but don’t have time to bake, they can rely on the “Cookie Man” to provide them with creations sure to bring a smile to the harshest critics.

Kenton Elementary School students (from left) Annie Harpel, Mandy Lavassaur, LeLind Holland, Keegan Kirk and Katie Lowe, all students in Lindy Howard’s third grade, work on their Indian fire crackers Friday morning.

Trailing by 10 points late in the third quarter, the Kenton Wildcats knew something had to change if they wanted to win their Western Buckeye League opener with Celina on Friday night. So the Wildcats turned up the defensive heat on the visiting Bulldogs to create a more uptempo game.

McGUFFEY — The Upper Scioto Valley Rams came to play on both ends of the court in Friday night’s boys basketball contest, making quick work of Hardin Northern by forcing turnovers and controlling the glass. The starting five for the Rams all finished in double figures as they helped their team to a 73-21 win over the Polar Bears in their Northwest Central Conference opener.

MOUNT BLANCHARD — It didn't take the Riverdale boys basketball team long to figure out why Pandora-Gilboa leads the Blanchard Valley Conference in points per game, rebounds per game and allows the second-fewest points per game in the conference.