LEWISBURG — Four games into the girls’ high school basketball season, Jessica Cherry is already seeing a big improvement from her Tri-County North team.
Having won just once a year ago, the Panthers doubled that mark during the second week of the season with a 59-35 win over host Brookville on Tuesday, Nov. 29.
Freshman Aubrey Stupp led North with 30 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots. Cassie Stinson added 13 points and grabbed five rebounds and Megan Poling chipped in with seven points.
North jumped out to an 8-0 lead but couldn’t shake the host Blue Devils, who battled back to tie the game at 10-10 after the opening quarter. North led 26-21 at the half and extended the lead to 39-31 after three.
Cherry said her team came out sloppy in the third quarter, but after a time out and few adjustments they began to pull away.
“We are shooting the ball well along with averaging nine steals per game. It was a nice win for us,” Cherry said.
In its next outing, on Thursday, Dec. 1, North was looking to shock the Cross County Conference as it traveled to perennial league power Miami East.
For three quarters, the Panthers hung with the host Vikings, but ultimately came away on the losing end, 53-37.
“We battled hard against them,” Cherry said. “We played great defense in the first half half. Our outside shooters weren’t shooting as much as we like and but were still aggressive getting the ball inside.”
North trailed by just four points at the half, 21-17, but saw Miami East extend its lead to 37-28 by the end of the third quarter.
North trimmed the lead to four by the midpoint of the fourth quarter, but the Vikings were able to pull away and secure the win.
Stupp finished with 19 points, five rebounds and a pair of blocks. Stinson added eight points and six rebounds.
North (2-2, 0-1 Cross County Conference)was scheduled to play at Springfield Northeastern on Monday, Dec. 5, for its only game this week.
The Panthers will travel to Eaton on Monday, Dec. 12. The game was originally scheduled to be played at North, but was moved due to a gym conflict at North.
