WEST ALEXANDRIA — With three wins last week, including a pair over Preble County foes, Twin Valley South’s girls’ basketball team exceeded it’s win total from a year ago.
The Panthers bested rival Tri-County North 52-45 on Saturday, Dec. 16 and topped National Trail 49-33 on Thursday. South opened the week with a 39-35 win over Dixie.
With the wins, South improves to 5-3 overall and 2-2 in the Cross County Conference. The five wins in a season are the most for the program in at least five years, according to South coach Brody Rike.
Against North, South trailed 20-14 at the half, but took over in the second half for the win.
Senior Mylan Crews paced South with 22 points. Mckenzie Neal added nine and Evelyn Woodgear chipped in with eight.
North was led by Megan Polling, who scored 22, and Aubrey Stupp’s 17. Polling scored 11 of her points in the first half.
Rike said his team won the game at the free throw line, making 12-of-16 in the second half and 15-of-21 for the game.
Against Trail, South outscored the Blazers 32-17 in the second and third quarters to pull away.
Crews led the Panthers in scoring with 13. Kelsie Shafer and Neal each added 12.
Makena Laird and Lexi Benedict each had eight for the Blazers. Trail struggled shooting, going 0-for-18 from three-point line.
It was a defensive struggle in the first half with the game tied 4-4 at the end of the first quarter. South then took a 16-11 lead at the half.
The Panthers came out strong in the third quarter getting baskets from Crews, Madison Johnson, Neal and Shafer to take control of the game. The Panthers finished strong to get their first CCC win on the season.
South opened the week with against Dixie. The Panthers trailed 7-5 after the first quarter and managed to pull ahead 20-16 at halftime.
Crews paced South with 14 points. Shafer added nine and Woodgeard chipped in eight.
Rike said this game was “a battle down the final minutes.”
For Trail, the Blazers split their other two games last week.
Trail beat Northridge 46-31 behind Laird’s 18 points, five assists and four rebounds. Savanna Abner had 12 points, seven assists and four steals. Davlyn Werner added five points and seven rebounds.
Trail led 13-3 after the first quarter and 27-12 at the half. The Polar Bears closed the gap to 35-25 by the end of the third quarter.
“It was a difficult game for us as we struggled to hit shots from the field. However, our girls remained focused and pulled out the win,” Trail coach Michael Paige said.
The Blazers closed out the week with a 47-38 loss to Arcanum on Saturday.
JaLynn Byrd led the Blazers with 13 points. Evan Byrd added 11 points, three rebound and had two steals. Laird pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds.
South was scheduled to play at Dunbar on Tuesday, Dec. 19 and will host Stivers on Thursday.
Trail (3-3, 0-2 CCC) was scheduled to play Brookville on Dec. 19 and will host Bradford on Thursday, Dec. 21.
