CAMDEN —The Preble Shawnee boys’ basketball team lost its second game of the last three, after starting the season with six wins in seven tries. The team suffered its second loss in the SWBL, 64-52, at home to Waynesville on Friday, Jan. 8.
Waynesville jumped out early, grabbing a 17-5 lead after the first quarter.
The Arrow offense responded in the second quarter, scoring 24 points and cutting the visitors’ lead to two going into halftime. The Spartans led 31-29 at intermission.
The Spartans expanded the lead to five after the third quarter, at 48-43.
Preble Shawnee had a chance to cut the lead to two points late in the fourth quarter with Waynesville leading 54-50. The Arrows missed the front end of the one and one and the Spartans answered with free throws of their own to extend the lead to six.
The Arrows got back to the free throw line on the next possession, but missed both shots. In the closing minutes the Arrows left four points at the charity stripe while Waynesville made 10 straight free throws.
As a team, Waynesville shot 21-30 from the free throw line.
Logan Fruhwirth scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help lead the visitors to victory.
Thomas Buell recorded 17 points and 16 rebounds to the lead the Arrows and Tyler Worley scored 12 points and dished out five assists in just three quarters of play.
The Arrows’ struggles continue since sophomore Levi Lewis went down with injury. In the three games without Lewis, the Arrows scoring has dipped by 11 points per game and transition points have dropped by eight points per game.
Shawnee Coach Jason Crider was also frustrated with the lack of game plan execution. “I thought that was the first game in nine games we didn’t execute anything we worked on in practice. I was really frustrated by that.”
Crider believes the return of Lewis will help but hinted at other changes. “At 6-3, I don’t think we need to blow up the team, but I think we need make some changes, give some JV guys a chance.”
It was just the second win for the season for Waynesville who came into the game with a 1-7 record.
Preble Shawnee falls to 6-3 on the season and 3-2 in the SWBL Buckeye Division. They travel to division leading, 11-1, Northridge on Tuesday, Jan. 12, before hosting SWBL Southwestern opponent Monroe on Friday, Jan. 15.
The loss hurts the Arrows’ chances at an SWBL Buckeye title but the team still has to play league leaders Northridge twice.
“We can flip it right back if we can beat Northridge on Tuesday,” Crider said.
The Arrows then travel to Twin Valley South on Saturday, Jan. 16, on a night which will feature a JV girls game before and a JV boys game. The match-ups between both varsity teams will take place with the girls playing the first game and the boys’ game scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m.
