Western’s girls basketball team came out firing Tuesday night to grab control early, then cruised to a 67-38 victory at Carroll. The Panthers sizzled in the opening eight minutes, taking a 23-6 lead at the end of the first frame.

“First quarter, we came out and really did a nice job of moving the ball against their zone,” Western coach Dave Merica said. “A.J. Finch had three of her four 3-pointers in the first quarter, and Brooke Jackson hit a big 3 in the first quarter.”

After a lackluster second quarter that saw Western lead 31-14 at the break, the Panthers scored 19 more in the third quarter to open up a 50-26 advantage and put the game away early.

“Halftime, we came out and made a few adjustments and kind of separated ourselves,” Merica said. He added that the Panthers “really passed the ball well.”

Finch finished with a game-high 22 points as Western moved to 3-0 on the season. Nicole Rogers added 10, Kiley Camp nine and Sable Staller eight.

Quinci Eller led Carroll (0-1) with 13 points. Jessica Yoder added eight.

Western hosts Peru Friday.

Eastern 42, Rossville 20

The Comets set the tone in the opening quarter, hitting three 3-pointers and building a 17-7 advantage. They extended their lead to 26-11 by halftime and 34-13 after three quarters on their way to their first win.

Chelsea Wilson scored 10 points and cleared 11 rebounds to lead the winners. Carly Miles had nine points and seven steals and Brookelyn Smith offered eight points.

Eastern visits Clinton Central on Friday.

Tipton 57, Northwestern 55

Freshman Brooke Juday hit a buzzer-beater to lift the Blue Devils past the visiting Purple Tigers.

“It was close down to the wire,” Northwestern coach Todd Miller said. “It was 55-all and we had the ball, but we turned it over. They had three seconds to go most of the length of the floor and they hit about an eight-footer at the buzzer to win the game.”

Northwestern led 14-11 after the opening quarter, Tipton led 26-22 at halftime and the scoreboard read 44-all after three quarters. The Blue Devils built a 55-46 lead in the final stanza, but the Tigers used a 9-0 run to forge a 55-all tie and set the stage for Juday’s buzzer-beater.

Juday and Audrey Wilson scored 15 points apiece to lead the Blue Devils. Shelbi Boughton added eight points.

Rachel Lowden scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Tigers. Krysta Rhea followed with 13 points and Sarah Lubben had eight points, seven steals and five assists.

“We had some great bench play,” Miller noted. “I was really proud of Krysta Rhea. She came in and scored 13 points for us. And Abby Cline came in and had eight rebounds and four points.”

Tipton (2-0) visits Madison-Grant on Friday. Northwestern (0-2) hosts Southwood the same night.

GIRLS SWIMMING

Kokomo 120, Western 66

The Katfish finished 1-2-3 in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly to highlight a strong showing in the season-opening meet. Overall, they won 11 of the 12 events.

“I’m ecstatic,” Kokomo coach Donita Walters said. “My girls are working hard and they are adapting well to a lot of newness and change. They are going to turn some heads, I think, this year. As long as they keep it up, we’re good to go.”

Quadruple winners Katie Hingst and Lexi Laird led the Katfish. Individually, Hingst won the 200 freestyle and 100 breast stroke and Laird won the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke. In addition, they contributed to the winning 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays.

Alex Ungerer also had a nice meet for the Red and Blue. She led the 1-2-3 sweep in the 50 freestyle, took second in the 100 freestyle and contributed to the winning 200 medley and 200 freestyle relay teams.

“She really impressed me,” Walters said. “She had a nice 50 and she made a couple relays for us.”

Jenna Gilbert (100 butterfly); Annika Taber (100 freestyle) and Brittany Gauger (diving) scored Kokomo’s other individual wins.

Gaenna Rogers provided Western’s lone win when she touched first in the 500 freestyle.

“It was a good first meet,” Western coach Brad Bennett said. “We’ve got 29 girls on the team this year and 16 of them are new swimmers so I really had a hard time trying to figure out who went where. For a lot of those girls, that’s the first time they’ve ever swam in a swim meet and we had some really nice performances by some girls.”

Western hosts Frankfort on Thursday. Kokomo hosts Harrison on Tuesday.

Northwestern 120, Carroll 61

Quadruple winner Shelby Roberts and triple winner Ally Goodnight led the Purple Tigers to a win in the season opener.

Individually, Roberts won the 200 individual medley (2:27.76) and 100 butterfly (1:05.84) and Goodnight won the 50 freestyle (27.50 seconds) and 100 freestyle (1:01.63). Roberts contributed to the winning 200 medley and 400 free relays and Goodnight anchored the 400 free relay.

Also for Northwestern, Hannah Ault won the 200 free (2:28.23), Stephane Bretl won the 100 backstroke (1:17.95), Katie Wilkinson was tops in the 100 breast stroke (1:19.60) and Bailey Muhlenkamp topped the 1-meter diving program with a score of 168.10.

Abby Tice, Wilkinson, Anna Sloss, Ault and Tara Good contributed to the Tigers’ winning relays.

“We had a great meet,” Northwestern coach Cindy Britten said. “I had some first-time swimmers swimming and I am just really proud of all the girls. They did an outstanding job. Our numbers are down a little bit this year and that allows more of the kids to swim more events and they just did a good job.

“Carroll is a good meet for us to start the year,” she added. “Roger Nelson does a good job with the girls over there. It’s always a good meet for us.”

Stephanie Strawcutter finished as a double winner to lead the Cougars. She won the 500 freestyle (6:42.74) and contributed to the winning 200 free relay team.

Northwestern visits Clinton Central on Thursday.

Bryan Gaskins and Pedro Velazco compiled this roundup.