PREBLE COUNTY — All five Preble County girls basketball teams were in action last week with mixed results.
Arrows riding 3-game winning streak
Since a season-opening 50-39 loss to Hamilton Badin, Preble Shawnee has won won three straight and all three have been in league play.
The Arrows, for the first time in at least a decade, beat Middletown Madison 63-54 on Tuesday, Nov. 28 in a Southwestern Buckeye League Buckeye Division game.
Shawnee placed three players in double figures. Junior Brenna Woodard scored a game-high 19 points, while classmates Nicole Sims (17 points) and Jenna Lovely (11 points, 14 rebounds) also reached double figures.
Shawnee jumped out to an 18-9 lead after the first quarter, but saw the visiting Mohawks begin the second quarter with a 12-2 run to take its first lead of the game, 21-20.
The Arrows regrouped to take a 33-27 lead into halftime, highlighted by a Woodard 3-pointer from beyond mid-court as time expired.
Shawnee was able to extend its lead to 47-40 with just over two minutes left in the third and led 50-44 heading into the final quarter.
Madison closed to within 50-49 a minute into the final quarter. From there, Shawnee’s defense took over. The Arrows held the Madison to three points over the next six and a half minutes as they pushed the lead to double digits, 62-52.
On Thursday, the Arrows beat visiting Milton-Union 44-34. Woodard paced Shawnee with 13 points, with 10 coming in the first half. Sims added 10 and Shelbie Brown chipped in eight.
Shawnee closed out the week with a 54-48 win over host Carlisle on Saturday, Dec. 2.
The Arrows (3-1, 3-0 SWBL) were scheduled to play at Miami Valley on Tuesday, Dec. 5 and will host Dixie on Thursday, Dec. 7.
Eagles drop pair
Eaton began SWBL play with a pair of the Southwestern Division’s top teams and came away with a couple of losses.
Eaton hosted Bellbrook on Thursday and played with the defending league champs for nearly half the first quarter, before the visitors cranked up the defensive pressure en route to handing Eaton a 74-27 loss.
Eaton trailed 9-7 with just over three minutes left in the first quarter, but Bellbrook closed out the quarter with a 10-0 run. Bellbrook continued its run to start the second quarter as they outscored Eaton 20-1 to take a 39-8 lead.
Eaton committed 41 turnovers in the contest.
Sophomore Bailey Shepherd led Eaton in scoring with 10 points. She also had five rebounds. Junior Becca Mowen added seven points and five rebounds. Freshman Kylee Pitsinger came off the bench to score six.
On Saturday, Eaton couldn’t overcome the turnover bug for a second straight game in suffering a 52-37 loss at Monroe.
Eaton turned the ball over 35 times, including seven in the decisive fourth quarter. The Eagles trailed 32-26 heading into the final frame, but was outscored 14-5 in the first four-plus minutes of the quarter to fall behind 46-31.
Shepherd had 10 points, 10 rebounds and six steals. Mowen added nine points, five rebounds. Sophomore Ashley Early had eight points and junior Annika Gels chipped in seven point and grabbed nine rebounds.
Eaton (1-3, 0-2 SWBL) is scheduled to host Talawanda on Thursday, Oakwood on Saturday, Dec. 9 and Tri-County North on Monday, Dec. 11. The North game will be varsity only and will begin at 6:30 p.m.
NT splits during first week
The National Trail opened the season with a 39-29 win at Dixie on Thursday, Nov. 28. Trail jumped out to a 14-4 lead after the first quarter and held on the rest of the way. The Blazers put the game out of reach by outscoring the Greyhounds, 14-7, in the fourth quarter.
Sophomore Davlyn Werner led the Blazers with 14 points, six rebounds and five steals. Sophomore Makena Laird recorded a double-double, with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Savanna Abner also poured in eight points and had eight steals.
The Blazers suffered its first lost of the season on Saturday, Dec. 2, falling to Northeastern (Indiana) 40-31.
The Blazers fell behind 17-9 after the first quarter and trailed 26-11 at halftime.
Abner with 11 points and four steals. Laird with 10 points and six rebounds.
Trail (1-1) was scheduled to play at Cambridge City (Indiana) Lincoln on Dec. 5, for its only game this week.
North drops CCC opener
Tri-County North didn’t have an answer for one of the Cross County Conference’s top teams last week.
North fell to Miami East 69-40 on Thursday, Nov. 30, despite getting 24 points, eight rebounds and four steals from sophomore Aubrey Stupp. Megan Poling added eight points.
North fell behind 22-11 after the first quarter and was down 44-17 at halftime.
North used a strong second half to pull away from Brookville on Nov. 28 for a 44-25 win.
Stupp led the way with 12 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and six steals. Poling added 12 points. Cassi Stinson scored four point and had five rebounds. Abby Rupp pulled down eight rebounds and scored four points.
North (2-2) is scheduled to play at Eaton on Monday, Dec. 11 and will be at rival Twin Valley South on Saturday, Dec. 16.
South sets record in win
According to coach Brody Rike, the Panthers had their scrappiest victory in program history Tuesday, Nov. 28, defeating Jefferson 58-20.
The Panthers had 29 steals on the night setting a new TVS record. Senior Mylan Crews led the Panthers with 18 points and 14 steals, tying her own TVS single-game steals record.
Senior Kelsie Shafer added 13 points for South and Abby Bingham dropped in three from behind the three-point line giving her nine points on the night.
Tianna Hayes led the Broncos with 10 points.
On Thursday, South began league play with a loss to Covington.
Shafer scored 12 points to lead South in a 53-25 loss.
South (2-2, 0-1 CCC) is scheduled to play at Miami East on Thursday, Dec. 7. The Panthers are set to play at Dixie on Monday, Dec. 11 and will visit National Trail on Thursday, Dec. 14.
