CAMDEN — Playing in front of the home crowd for the first time this season, Preble Shawnee’s boys’ basketball team left little doubt about what the outcome would be.
The Arrows pounded the ball inside early to 6-foot, eight-inch junior Logan Hawley then used a great defensive effort in the third quarter to bury visiting Franklin-Monroe, 62-33, on Friday, Dec. 9 in a Western Ohio Athletic Conference game.
“I thought we did a great job coming out and following the scouting report. The guys came out aggressive. We wanted to get after it, get into them,” Shawnee coach Jake Turner said. “I thought we did great job early on and played with a lot of energy. We made it tough for them. We got some easy ones (baskets) from our defense.”
Hawley was the key early on. He scored nine of his 16 points in the first quarter as Shawnee raced to an 18-4 lead five minutes into the game and led 25-12 after the opening quarter.
“The big thing tonight we were preaching get the ball in the paint and get to the rim,” Turner said. “We went to Logan (Hawley) early, he got hot, he had a great night, and we need him moving forward and start playing like that and he can. He’s capable. He’s a good player. Hopefully he got a lot more confidence after tonight. He’s made a lot of improvements from last year to this year. I’m very proud of him. He’s put a lot of work and he fell in love with the game and it’s starting to pay off for him.”
Junior Mason Shrout added nine of his game-high 25 also in the first quarter.
The Arrows extended their lead to 38-19 by halftime and all but ended the game with a 16-2 third quarter.
“We came out and said it was an important first four minutes and let’s try to finish this game,” Turner said. “Let’s put them away and I thought our guys came out focused and locked in with the same energy we had at the start of the game. That’s our big thing, we’re saying four quarters, 32 minutes.”
The Arrows scored 15 straight point to open the third quarter to take 53-19 lead and the starters didn’t touch the floor in the fourth quarter.
After playing its first three games on the road Turner said it was nice to play in front of the home crowd.
“A great crowd tonight. First home game. I was hoping for a big crowd. I know they were excited to finally be back home and have that opportunity to play in front of your hometown people,” he said.
Hawley finished with seven rebounds and five blocks, while Shrout added five rebounds, three assists and six steals.
The Arrows dropped a 58-48 decision to Ponitz on Tuesday, Dec. 6 then capped off the week with a 67-43 win over visiting Middletown Madison on Saturday.
In the win over Madison, Shrout finished with a triple double, with 24 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists. He also added four steals.
Hawley added 13 points and six rebounds and Isaac Blankenship tossed in 13 point and grabbed five rebounds.
Shawnee (4-1, 2-0 WOAC) is scheduled to play at National Trail on Friday, Dec. 16 and will host Stivers on Saturday, Dec. 17.
In their lone game of the week, the Lady Arrows went on the road to defeat Franklin-Monroe 50-36 on Thursday, Dec. 8.
Shawnee led at each stop 14-11, 24-19 and 36-26.
Cambell Jewell led the way with 13 points, eight rebounds, five steals and four assists. Bella Agee added 13 points and seven rebounds and Harlee Howard tossed in 10 points to go along with six rebounds, two steals, two assists and two blocks.
Korrie Woodard had seven points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Autumn Smith had four points and pulled down nine rebounds coming off the bench.
Shawnee (4-2, 3-0 WOAC) was scheduled to host Talawanda on Monday, Dec. 12 and will host National Trail on Thursday, Dec. 15.
