COVINGTON — It’s been more than three decades, but Preble Shawnee’s girls basketball team is heading back to the district finals.
The No. 7 seeded Arrows pulled the upset of the Covington Division III sectional tournament by shocking top-seeded Arcanum, 70-62, on Saturday, Feb. 19 in the district semifinals.
It will mark the Arrows first trip to the district finals since the 1988-89 season.
Despite losing to the Trojans 67-43 back on Dec. 2, 2021, the Arrows came in relaxed, focused and confident.
“Obviously, I thought it was very, very good game,” Shawnee coach Maggie Neanen said. “Our kids were focused. Our kids were jacked. I felt like we were mentally in a good head space with them. We knew we could do it. We didn’t play scared at all.
Neanen said leading into the game the team focused on what went wrong in the first meeting and tried to correct those mistakes.
“We really studied what did we do wrong last time against them. Our four out, one in (offense) has worked well in the tournament,” she said.
Shawnee was led by junior guard Campbell Jewell’s 32 points (17 from the foul line). Liv Thompson, who got in early foul trouble, finished with 17, but it was the defense Neanen said was the key to the game.
“Cam, stepping up. When Cam is locked in Cam is dangerous. And I think this is the most locked in she’s ever been. Liv got in foul trouble early and everyone had to step up,” Neanen said. “I think honestly, our defense. We shut them down the first half. Not second half so much but first half for sure.”
Arcanum boasts three players who scored more than 1,000 points in their careers and the Trojans struggled to get their offense going early as the Arrows grabbed the lead midway through the first quarter and didn’t trail after falling behind 3-0.
Shawnee led 18-11 after the first quarter and 41-27 at the half.
“We’ve come out flat the first two (tournament) games, so to even come out and get that lead, I was like, Okay, we’re at least in it tonight,” Neanen said. “We’re going to put up a fight. Getting a double digit lead, I didn’t feel confident at all because (Hailey) Unger is such a good shooter. But it was big for the girls getting up like that.”
The Arrows shot 10-of-22 from the field and 15-of-21 from the line in the first half. Arcanum was 8-of-22 from the field and 8-for-15 from the line.
Shawnee’s lead was trimmed to six (46-40) with 3:52 remaining in the third quarter.
But a 12-2 run over the final minutes of the third quarter and first 3:30 of the fourth pushed the lead back to 58-42. The lead never got below eight for the remainder of the game.
For the game, Shawnee was 18-of-44 from the field and 27-of-35 from the line. The Trojans were 20-of-50 and just 11-of-19 from the foul line.
Kahlen Kulms finished with nine points and Korrie Woodard chipped in with six.
Shawnee (18-6) will now meet East Clinton in a district final matchup on Saturday, Feb. 26 at Springfield High School. The start time had not been set as of press time, but will be either 11 a.m., 1 p.m. or 3 p.m.
“I’m speechless,” Neanen said. “I didn’t know whether to cry or to pinch myself but I am so proud. So proud of the girls.
Arrows take down Trail to win sectional
Shawnee had three players score in double digits as the Arrows shot down National Trail 58-44 in the sectional final on Wednesday, Feb. 16.
Woodard finished with a game-high 16 points and eight rebounds. Harlee Howard scored 15 and had six rebounds and Thompson added 13 points and three steals.
Shawnee fell behind 6-0 early and was down 13-7 after the first quarter. The Arrows outscored Trail 13-6 in the second to to take a 20-19 halftime lead.
Shawnee held a 35-31 lead heading into the final quarter and was up 39-35 with 5:30 to play.
The Arrows then went on a 19-2 run to put the game out of reach.
Trailing 48-38 with 2:30 left in the game, Trail coach James Byrd removed his starters from the game allowing his bench players to get some playing time, all but conceding with his top two scorers out of the game — one due to fouling out and the other due to an injury sustained moments before. Shawnee outscored Trail 10-0 during that stretch before clearing its bench.
Trail ends the season with a 14-8 record.
Skyler Ward led the Blazers with 13 points. Micaiah Byrd added 11.
“It was a great season for our team,” Byrd said. “Not the way we wanted to go out but still a great season. My four seniors have been awesome and they competed hard for me till the end. Skyler has been a very important part of the program the last four years with her scoring and defensive abilities. J’da (Jackson) has improved more than any player I have coached from one season to the next. She is a special player and our team will miss her. Rylee Minner is just an absolute joy to coach. She is a great teammate and will be missed. Her smile is infectious and when she is hitting those 3s it really lifts us. Jenna Petitt only played for me two years but was absolutely awesome to coach. She plays so hard for her teammates. I wish I had her 2 more years. These ladies help Trail basketball to one of the better season in the last 10 years. Shawnee was better than us tonight.”
