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Western’s girls basketball team used a dominant defensive effort to beat Twin Lakes 42-21 in the semifinal round of the Class 3A Benton Central Sectional on Friday night.
The No. 8-ranked Panthers (19-4) pitched a 10-0 shutout in the opening quarter to take control. The Panthers took a 24-16 advantage into halftime, then held the Indians (12-11) to just five points the rest of the way. The Panthers led 32-17 after three quarters.
“The first quarter was excellent,” Western coach Chris Keisling said, noting the big lead allowed the Panthers to spread the floor and conserve energy over the remainder of the game.
Western showed its usual offensive balance. Jessica Givens hit two 3-pointers and scored 12 points to lead the charge, Raven Black followed with 11 points and Allison Lindley had seven points. Black had a team-high seven rebounds and Lindley had six.
The Panthers committed just two turnovers.
“Everybody contributed,” Keisling said. “The young ladies did a fantastic job.”
Western will face No. 4 Benton Central (19-3) in the title game at 7:30 p.m. today. The Bison beat Hoosier Conference rival West Lafayette 55-41 in the opening semifinal, snapping the Red Devils’ 10-game winning streak.
Western is the defending sectional champion. BC ruled the sectional in 2009-11, going on to a state runner-up finish in 2011.
The squads met during the regular season with the Panthers taking a 43-41 win on the Bison’s home floor. Black’s buzzer-beating jumper gave the Panthers the win.
“We get the pleasure of trying to beat a really good team on their home floor twice, but I like our matchups,” Keisling said. “I think we have a heck of a shot of getting another sectional championship if we go in and play our game. We have to handle the ball, limit our turnovers, and we have to make sure we find [Caitlyn] Tolen and [Cassidy] Deno on defense. If we take care of business, I think we’ll have an excellent shot of coming out with a win.”
Tolen is an IUPUI recruit.
Lafayette Catholic 64, Tri-Central 41
The Trojans held a 14-12 lead after the opening quarter, but the Knights took control in the second quarter and maintained it the rest of the way in the Class A Rossville Sectional semifinal. Catholic scored 19 points in the second quarter for a 31-22 halftime lead. The Knights went on for a 48-33 lead after three quarters.
Cecelia Rayl and Hadley DeWeese led TC (5-17) with 13 points and six rebounds apiece.
Cameron Onken led Catholic (14-9) with 17 points and nine rebounds.
Around the area
In the semifinal round of the Class 2A Fountain Central Sectional, Delphi beat Clinton Central 46-23, and Seeger edged Carroll 31-30.
Girls swimming
Brown shines at state
Western junior Summer Brown turned in a pair of school-record performances in the preliminary round of the IHSAA State Finals at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.
First, Brown turned in a time of 1:49.84 in her heat of the 200-yard freestyle, lowering her own school record and earning the No. 2 seed for today’s final. Next, the Panther standout posted a time of :51.40 in her heat of the 100 freestyle, again lowering her own record. She earned the No. 8 seed in the 100.
The preliminary round featured 16 swimmers in each individual event. The swimmers with the top eight times in each event earned spots in the finals.
“Our only goal [Friday] was to make the top eight in both events. You have to swim really smart and a really hard race to make it in because there are so many girls so close to you. The school records are just icing on the cake,” Western coach Brad Bennett said. “She is going to be in a really great position to do really well in the 200 [as the No. 2 seed]. In the 100, she will be in an outside lane, which is going to make it hard for her to see the entire field, but it also has an advantage because everyone can’t see her, too.
“She is swimming really well and I think had a great feel for the water [Friday] and is poised to do well [today].”
In the 200 free, Carmel freshman Claire Adams earned the top seed with a time of 1:48.19. Adams and Brown swam in the same heat.
“[Brown] said she really liked the way she felt and really surprised herself with her time. She wasn’t expecting to go under 1:50. She was really happy about that,” Bennett said.
Penn senior Addisynn Bursch took the top seed in the 100 free with a time of :50.71.
Sports
PREP ROUNDUP: Western reaches BC final
Western swimmer Brown sets 2 school records at state finals
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Eastern dominates Taylor in softball
GREENTOWN — The third time turned out not to be the charm for the Taylor softball squad as Eastern improved to 3-0 on the season over its backyard rival Wednesday night, ousting the Titans from the Class 2A Eastern Sectional 15-0 in five innings.
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Barnes sets Taylor's career hits record
Taylor baseball standout Logan Barnes made his final game at George Phares Field one to remember.
Barnes pitched four solid innings to lead Taylor past Monroe Central 9-3 Tuesday. In addition, he went 2 for 3 at the plate, pushing his career hits total to a school-record 142. -
Kats drop heartbreaker
When the postseason arrives, emotions surge like a roller-coaster. One minute, it’s a long uphill, then a wild series of events offer a barrage of frights and thrills. And then, for one team, the ride ends and there aren’t any more tickets for another go around.
After two days of chills and thrills, Kokomo’s softball team ran out of tickets Tuesday night in the Class 4A Harrison Sectional. The Kats dropped a 4-3 decision to Harrison in eight innings, giving up a run in the top of the extra frame, and having a runner tagged out at home in the bottom of the frame.
“It was a great game,” Harrison coach Dick Mitchell said. “It’s always nerve-wracking to coach in one of them, but both teams played their hearts out. Nobody deserved to lose that game, but unfortunately somebody does.” -
Comets turn heads at track regional
Heading into Tuesday’s IHSAA girls track and field regional at Fort Wayne Northrop High School’s Spuller Stadium, event workers alike weren’t sure of Eastern High School’s location.
After the dust settled, they may feel compelled to get a map out and find out where Greentown is located.
Led by seniors Sarah Wagner, Brittany Neeley and Bethany Neeley, the Comets qualified for the state finals in six separate events to finish fourth as a team with 55.5 points, behind host and champion Northrop (78), Bellmont (68) and Carroll (Allen) 66. -
GASKINS: Hibbert’s block was thing of beauty
For the better part of the NBA season, ESPN devoted all kinds of time on SportsCenter episodes to replays of two dunks. Anyone who watches any ESPN at all surely knows the two to which I’m referring: 6-foot-11 DeAndre Jordan of the Los Angeles Clippers posterizing 6-3 Brandon Knight of the Detroit Pistons, and 6-8 LeBron James of the Miami Heat hammering home a dunk over 6-2 Jason Terry of the Boston Celtics.
Day after day, ESPN commentators lavished endless praise, which quickly grew tiresome. The dunks were strong, but Jordan and James were much taller and heavier than Knight and Terry and the dunkers also caught perfect alley-oop passes with the defenders in poor positions to defend. Still, ESPN commentators loved these plays.
I kept wondering if a great defensive play would receive the same kind of love. -
Coons, Walker, Glassburn reach Victory Lane
When the dust settled Sunday evening at the Kokomo Speedway, a pair of drivers who have visited Victory Lane in the past at the local oval found themselves there once again while a talented up-and-comer hit the hallowed ground for the first time.
Jerry Coons Jr. had his way in the sprint car feature and Craig Walker seemed to get faster as the laps wound down to win the Street Stock main event, however Kokomo High School sophomore Kory Glassburn had to scratch and fight before scoring the first feature win of his career in the Thunder Car A-main. -
Field is set for Indianapolis 500
After being bumped from the starting field while sitting on the qualifying line on pole day, Josef Newgarden turned the fastest time on bump day, assuring himself a spot in the Indianapolis 500.
The field of 33 cars will have one final opportunity to practice on Friday before next Sunday’s 97th running of the 500.
One year ago the Sarah Fisher Racing Team withdrew Newgarden’s entry on the first day of qualifying and had to qualify on bump day. This year the team decided not to make another qualifying run and got bumped. -
Athlete of the week
Cole led the small-school Comets to the Kokomo Sectional title, their first title since 1998.
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Kats regain tennis throne
At 10:51 a.m. Saturday morning, the bulk of Kokomo’s girls tennis team sprinted from the viewing hill to the east entrance of the tennis courts to mob No. 1 singles player Morgan Mohr as she came off the court following her 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Eastern’s Courtney Clark.
The No. 3 singles match was still raging, but the team match was already won. The Wildkats had reconquered the throne from two-time defending champion Eastern and were once again champions of the Kokomo Sectional. -
Eastern boys track claims first sectional title since 1998
The boys track and field coach at Eastern High School from 1987 until last season, Paul Nicholson’s parting message to his team was simple: “Don’t deny the gift.”
That motto left such a lasting impression on the Comets’ returning athletes that they had it screen printed on their 2013 season T-shirts.
With Nicholson in attendance to celebrate with them, new coach Austin Roark and the Comets outlasted host Kokomo to win their first sectional title since 1998 Thursday night, topping the Wildkats by 3.5 points, 124.5-121.
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