From Larry Bird to Shannon Sharpe, Connor McGregor to Pedro Martinez, the history of competitive athlet-ics is flooded with folks who don’t just let their abilities do the talking. In fact, those guys were always talking.

SOUTHERN VALLEY - In a difficult week that included two matchups with quality upp-class teams, the Southern Valley girls leaned on their defense to try and sweep the pair. The Eagles settled for a split.

Hi-Line’s Syrus Snow (left) and Southern Valley’s Mason Noel (right) were among those that competed for the Bulls and Eagles at the Gibbon Bill Foster Invite. Complete results can be found on Page B5.

BARTLEY - The Southwest girls and Hi-Line boys basketball teams rode big first halves to victory in matchups at Southwest High School last Tuesday. The Hi-Line boys team put up 33 points in the first half, then idled to the finish of a 54-27 victory over Southwest.

Southwest’s Mitchel Stritt (left) and Cambridge’s Hunter Perks (right) competed at the Sandhills/Thedford Invite in Dunning Saturday. Results can be found on Page B4..

ARAPAHOE - In a lowscoring affair, the Arapahoe boys basketball team enjoyed the advantage in the first half, but the Hi-line Bulls shut the Warriors down after halftime and escaped Arapahoe with a 41-31 win Friday night.

BARTLEY- It was a battle between a pair of teams still fi n d i n g t h e i r w a y t h i s s e a s o n , but the Bertrand Vikings were able to take down the Southwest Roughriders 53-28 in Bartley on Friday.

CAMBRIDGE - The Cambridge boys basketball team picked up a pair of victories over the weekend, running past Sutherland Friday before using a strong fourth quarter to hold off Maxwell Saturday to improve to 11-3 this season.

CAMBRIDGE - The Cambridge girls basketball team put a three-game win streak on the line over the weekend and fought its way through some offensive struggles to post a pair of wins and claim the No. 2 seed at the upcoming RPAC Tournament, which begins Saturday.

BARTLEY- Friday evening the Southwest girls basketball team battled against the Bertrand Vikings and came away with a big win, 44-26. The Roughriders raced out to a big lead, 15-4 including Bailey Truksa's two three-pointers to get them rolling.