PREBLE COUNTY — Preble Shawnee’s girls basketball team opened the 2020-2021 season with an impressive road win over Northridge this past weekend in an SWBL Buckeye Division game.
Sophomore guard Campbell Jewell paced Shawnee with 12 points as the Arrows jumped out to a big first-quarter lead, never looking back en route to a 51-26 win.
Shawnee outscored the hosting Polar Bears 18-3 in the opening quarter and led 25-12 at the break.
The Arrows continued to add to their lead in the third quarter outscoring Northridge 16-6 to take a 41-18 lead after three quarters.
Shawnee (1-0, 1-0 SWBL Buckeye) was scheduled to travel to Dixie on Tuesday for another SWBL Buckeye contest and host league favorite Waynesville on Thursday.
Eagles fall at Arcanum
Eaton had two chances for the win in the final five seconds in a non-league game at Arcanum on Saturday, but both shot attempts were off the mark resulting in a 42-41 setback.
The Eagles fell to 0-2 with the loss.
Eaton had early leads of 4-0 and 7-4 before the Trojans rallied to take a 9-7 lead late in the quarter. A Lexi Miller basket with three seconds left tied the game at 9-9.
The Eagles grabbed a 5-point lead on two occasions in the second quarter, 16-11 and 18-13, before Arcanum rallied to get within 19-17 at the half.
The Trojans began the second half with a 5-0 run for a 22-19 lead.
Eaton responded with an 8-0 run of its own, with sophomore Lily Shepherd scoring four of those, for a 27-22 lead with just under four minutes left in the quarter.
The hosts then responded with an 8-2 run to close out the quarter and grab a 30-29 lead with the go-ahead basket coming off a steal and corner jumper with three seconds left.
Arcanum’s momentum continued into the fourth quarter as they extended their lead to 37-29 with 6:17 to play, capping a 15-2 run over the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth.
Eaton closed the gap to 40-34 with just over four minutes left on a three-pointer from junior Ali Mowen and a lay-up from Shepherd.
Another three from Mowen and a basket from senior Kylee Kidwell pulled the Eagles to within 40-39 with 3:13 left. An Arcanum basket made it a 42-39 game with 2:15 left.
Miller added a basket with just under two minutes to play to make it a 42-41 game.
Neither team was able to score for the remainder of the contest, although Eaton had its chances.
Eaton misfired on a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left, but came away with a steal to get the ball back with 15 seconds left.
A corner three was off the mark for Eaton with just under five seconds remaining, but the Trojans deflected the ball out of bounds with .8 seconds left, giving the Eagles another shot at the win.
Eaton’s final attempt, a three from the wing, rolled out of the basket as time expired.
Shepherd led the Eagles with 15 points and four rebounds.
Miller added 10 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Mowen contributed six points and four assists.
Kidwell chipped in with four points, four rebounds and three steals.
Sophomore Olivia Baumann led the team with eight rebounds, two blocked shots and added four points.
Eaton is scheduled to play at Brookville in a SWBL Southwestern Division game on Thursday. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. and is varsity only. On Saturday, the Eagles are scheduled to travel to Bradford for a 1 p.m. contest.
