OXFORD — Talawanda’s boys’ basketball team made it back-to-back wins on Friday, Dec. 23, defeating Harrison, 62-53. Earlier in the week, the Braves picked up their first win of the season defeating Eaton in convincing fashion.
In both games, the Braves jumped out to early leads. Against Harrison, the first quarter ended with Talawanda up 21-10. Harrison came back in the second period to cut the Braves’ lead to six, 36-30.
Harrison continued to cut into the Talawanda lead in the third period, trailing by just two going into fourth, 43-41. Talawanda closed it out in the final frame, to take the nine point win.
“We started the game very strong and got out to an 11- point lead at the end of the first quarter. We were defending well and our offense was the best it has ever been,” varsity coach Eddie Glaser said.
“Throughout the rest of the game, our offense carried us. We shot extremely well and this was by far our best shooting game of the season,” he added.
“Defensively, we seemed to lose our edge and allowed them to get open shots, which got them back into the game,” Glaser said. “Luckily, at the end of the game, we hit foul shots and caused them to turn the ball over multiple times. We were 6-6 from the foul line in the last couple minutes. That was key for us to extending our lead and making the game out of reach for Harrison.”
Evan James led the Braves with 21 points. He added six rebounds and six assists. Justin Boggs added 15 points and Kelvin Reisenfeld had 10. Talawanda shot 52 percent from the field, including 7-of-9 on three-pointers.
Talawanda picked up its first win of the season in convincing fashion, topping Eaton, 52-27. The Braves jumped out to an early lead and never let Eaton get back in the game.
The game was held on Tuesday, Dec. 20, at Talawanda High School.
Glaser commented, “Our team finally played to their potential this game. We stuck to the game plan perfectly and executed on offense. Even though I wasn’t thrilled with our turnovers and overall efficiency on offense, we did so many other facets extremely well.”
The Braves jumped out to an early 9-0 lead against Eaton and continued to build from there. By the end of the first quarter the lead was 15-4. The half ended with Talawanda up 26-11.
Eaton picked up some early momentum in the third quarter, scoring the first two baskets of the second half. But, Talawanda responded and outscored Eaton 10-8 in the quarter to increase their lead. The Braves closed it out in the fourth quarter, doubling Eaton score, 16-8.
Talawanda’s defense held Eaton to 27 percent shooting from the floor, with just one three-pointer. Eaton leading scorer, Trevor Pittman, who averaged over 17 points per game coming in, was held to four points. Pittman got into early foul trouble and his playing time was limited in the first half.
“This game gave our players a taste of how good we can be as a team when we play as hard as we can. Going into this game, I stressed to our players to only worry about how hard they are playing. Don’t worry about anything else. Our players did just that and it showed in the final score.”
The Braves were led by Justin Boggs with 13 points. He also have seven rebounds, two assists and four steals. Andrew O’Donnel added 10 points and nine rebounds. Evan James had a good overall game with nine points, two rebounds, two assists and three steals.
Talawanda was scheduled to play at Monroe on Tuesday, Dec. 27. They will then travel to Madison High School for a holiday tournament on Thursday and Friday, Dec. 29-30.
Lady Braves extend winning streak
The Lady Braves cruised to a 61-38 win over Mount Healthy on Wednesday, Dec. 21, extending their winning streak to six games. Talawanda is now 7-1 on the season, 3-0 in the SWOC.
The win keeps Talawanda atop the SWOC standings, along with Edgewood (6-1, 2-0) and Little Miami (6-1, 3-1). Talawanda is scheduled to play Edgewood in their first game after New Year’s on Wednesday, Jan. 4, at home.
The Lady Braves had three players score in double-figures, on their way to a 61-38 win. Gabby Lindley led with 16 points and added four assists. Addie Brown added 15 points and Emma Wright scored 14. Wright also contributed nine assists and pulled down five rebounds. Katlynn Woodruff led the team with 13 boards, her fifth game this season with double-figure rebounds.
The Lady Braves will travel to Summit Country Day on Thursday, Dec. 29, for a non-SWOC game. They will return to conference action on Wednesday, Jan. 4, against Edgewood, and then at Northwest on Saturday.
