OXFORD — Talawanda’s boys’ basketball team made it three in a row on Tuesday, Dec. 27, defeating Monroe, 52-47. Talawanda used a nine point advantage in the third quarter to turn a close game into a win.
Down by two points at halftime, 25-23, the Braves took control of the game offensively and held the Hornets to six points in the third quarter. Monroe battled back in the final period, but the Braves held on to post the win.
“We played a very efficient game offensively against Monroe,” coach Eddie Glaser commented. “I felt we could have defended better than we did. We missed some foul shots late that made the game closer than it should have been. Overall, a great team win.”
Evan James led the Braves offense with 13 points. He added three rebounds and two assists.
Kelvin Reisenfield added 10 points and three rebounds. Ty Hornsby led the team with seven rebounds, while Josh Dewitt had six boards and nine points.
The Braves winning streak came to an end at the Madison High School holiday tournament. Talawanda dropped games to Cincinnati Christian, 66-48, and Miami Valley, 74-61.
Talawanda’s defense struggled in both games, according to Glaser.
“Defensively, these were our two worst performances and the points given up showed that. We battled, but you can’t win games against good teams playing sub-par defensively.”
Justin Boggs led the team in scoring against Cincinnati Christian with 11 points He also added four assists, three rebounds and two steals.
James and Hornsby each had eight points. Andrew O’Donnel led the team with six rebounds and had six points.
DeWitt and Boggs were the top scorers in the Braves loss to Miami Valley, both with 22 points. DeWitt also pulled down 11 rebounds.
Reisenfeld added 10 points and Hornsby also had five rebounds.
Talawanda was set to play at Mount Healthy on Tuesday, Jan. 3, before returning to their home court on Friday against Edgewood. They are back on the road on Saturday, traveling to Northwest. Both games will be key in the Southwest Ohio Conference standings. Northwest opened the SWOC schedule 3-0and Edgewood was 2-1 after three games.
Lady Braves suffer second loss, now 7-2
Talawanda’s girls’ basketball team suffered just its second loss of the season in their only game last week. The Lady Braves travelled to Summit Country Day to take on the unbeaten Silver Knights.
Talawanda discovered why the SCD squad was 9-0 coming into the match-up. The Lady Braves found themselves down by 10 at the end of the first quarter, 18-8, and could not get back in the game. SCD maintained the double-digit lead and went on for a 60-33 win.
Emma Wright led Talawanda with 12 points including 3, three-pointers. She also had seven rebounds. Addie Brown added eight points and Katlynn Woodruff had five rebounds.
Talawanda returns to their home court on Wednesday, Jan. 4, to take on Edgewood in Southwestern Ohio Conference action. The match-up will be a key one in the SWOC standings with both teams unbeaten in SWOC play.
Talawanda will come into the game with a 7-2 record overall. Edgewood is 8-1 on the season.
The Lady Braves will travel to Northwest on Saturday to start a five game stretch away from their home court. They will not play a home game until Monday, Jan. 23.
