EATON — Eaton’s varsity girls’ basketball team capped off a three-game winning streak with at 40-29 win over Brookville on Thursday, Dec. 15. The win brings the Lady Eagles back to even on the season at 4-4 overall, 2-2 in the Southwestern Buckeye League.
After starting the season 1-4, the Lady Eagles bounced back with wins over Oakwood and Tri-County North.
Eaton took over in the fourth quarter against Brookville, turning a close game into a 40-29 win. The Lady Eagles outscored Brookville 17-5 in the final frame. Both teams struggled offensive in the first three periods and went into the final quarter with Brookville ahead 24-23.
The Eagles used late surge to pull away from the winless Blue Devils.
“Junior Kurstin Frost knocked down the biggest shots of her career to help us win,” Eaton coach Dave Honhart said. “We jumped out to a 7-2 lead and seemingly had Brookville on the ropes early. However, Brookville buckled down defensively and slowed down our scoring and they did a good job of working for good shots to turn it into a close, low-scoring battle.”
Eaton was leading 25-24 with just under four-minutes to go, when Frost helped her team gain control. Frost hit a pair of long two-pointers on back-to-back possessions to move the lead to 29-24. The first shot was in transition and assisted by Bailee Worley. The second came out of our halfcourt offense, according to Honhart.
“On the second shot, Brookville was called for a foul after boxing out to aggressively. We worked the ball and eventually found Bailee Worley for a three-point shot on a nice inside-outside assist from Becca Mowen,” Honhart said.
That run extended Eaton’s lead to eight and Brookville would not get closer than 5 points for the remainder of the game.
Eaton was led by sophomore Becca Mowen with a career-high 14 points. She was the only Eaton player in double-figures. Mowen also had six rebounds and four steals.
The Lady Eagles struggled offensively converting just 36 percent from the field, including 3-of-17 on three-pointers. But Eaton’s defense was able to hold Brookville to just 29 points. The loss dropped Brookville’s record to 0-6 on the season.
“I didn’t think we played with the same edge against Brookville that we had in our two previous games, but some of the credit has to go to the (them), who had a good game plan for us and competed hard all night,” Honhart said.
Earlier in the week, Eaton hosted Tri-County North and made it back-to-back wins, 67-47. In that game, nine different players scored the Eaton. And, the Lady Eagles scored 12 points or more in each quarter. Worley led the team with a career-high 18 points, including four threes and had six rebounds.
“We focused our defensive attention on limiting their outstanding freshman, Aubrey Stupp,” Honhart said. “Emily Dungan was our primary defender on her, and she did a great job.”
“It was a balanced attack,” Honhart added, with several players making contributions.
Mowen also reached double figures with 10 points and had seven rebounds. Sophomore Annika Gels led the team with eight rebounds and also had eight points. Sophomore Ashlynn Black added eight points, four assists and two steals. Sophomore Emily Dungan chipped in with seven points, six assists and four steals. Senior Megan Lipps scored seven points and gathered five rebounds. Freshman Ashley Early had five points and six rebounds.
Eaton is scheduled to return to action on Thursday, Dec. 22, when it hosts St. Henry.
The Eagles will then be off for the holiday break until Thursday, Dec. 29, when they will host National Trail. They resume SWBL play after the first of the year, traveling to Franklin on Jan. 5.
Bellbrook and Monroe are off to good starts early in the season and have the top two spots in the SWBL Southwestern Division standings. Bellbrook is 3-0 in the league with Monroe at 5-1. Eaton and Franklin are next in the standings at 2-2.
