OXFORD — The Talawanda High School gym was busy this past weekend as both the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams played at home. The boys’ squad played an exciting, but disappointing game on Friday, Feb. 10, against Northwest. The girls’ team cruised to an easy victory on Saturday against Ross.
The boys had their best offensive game of the season scoring 71 points and putting four players in double-figures. Unfortunately for the Braves, they were unable to hold on to a fourth quarter lead and lost 72-71.
Talawanda scored 21 points in the second quarter and took a three-point lead into the locker room at halftime, 36-33. They increased the lead to five, 50-45, going into the fourth quarter.
In the final period, the Braves matched their 21-point production from the second quarter. However, Northwest scored 27 points in the final frame to overcome the five-point deficit and take a one point win.
Ty Hornsby led the Braves in scoring with 24 points. He was followed by Evan James, 13; Kelvin Reisenfield, 12; and Justin Boggs, 10. Josh Dewitt led the team with eight rebounds and also had seven points. James also dished out five assists.
The Braves played at Cincinnati Christian earlier in the week, dropping a 68-43 decision. James led the team with 17 points in that game. Hornsby scored 10 and Boggs added eight.
The boys play their final regular season game on Friday, Feb. 17, at home against Ross. The will open the Division 1 post-season on Saturday, Feb. 25, 6:30 p.m., at Fairfield High School. The will take on Oak Hills.
The Lady Braves played their final home game, capping off the regular season with a 53-21 win over Ross. Talawanda finishes the regular season with a 16-6 overall record, 10-2 in the Southwest Ohio Conference. They finish second in the standings behind Edgewood, who defeated Harrison on Saturday to claim the conference title at 11-1.
Talawanda jumped out to a commanding lead early in the win over Ross. They held the Lady Rams to just three points in the first quarter, while putting up 24. By halftime Talawanda led 32-7.
Emma Wright led Talawanda with 21 points including five 3-pointers. She also had six rebounds, three assists and five steals. Addie Brown also reached double-figures in scoring with 15 points. She pulled down nine rebounds and had four assists.
Wright (16.3 ppg) and Brown (13.7 ppg) are among the top scorers in the SWOC.
Katlynn Woodruff reached double-figures in rebounds for the 17th time this season with 11. The Talawanda senior also had nine rebounds in two other games. She leads the conference with an 11.2 average.
Talawanda will travel to Lakota East High School on Wednesday, Feb. 15, to take on the number six seed Ursaline (15-7 at the time of the draw). The Lady Braves are the number 14 seed in the Division I bracket. The winner will take on #21 Hamilton on Tuesday, Feb. 21.
Lakota West is the number one seed in the bracket, at 18-2 coming into the draw.
