Kokomo and Western battled for the lead nearly all the way before the Katfish emerged with a 97-89 win in a girls swimming and diving meet Tuesday night at Russiaville.

Quadruple winners Jenna Gilbert and Lexi Laird led KHS in the season-opening meet. Individually, Gilbert won the 200 and 500 freestyles and Laird won the 50 free and 100 backstroke. Laird, Jessica Simmons, Gilbert and Kelsey Griffin teamed to win the 200 medley relay and Gilbert, Sara Johnson, Griffin and Laird composed the winning 400 free relay team.

Griffin finished as a double winner, garnering an individual win in the 100 butterfly.

“I really had some outstanding performances,” Kokomo coach Donita Walters said. “Kelsey Griffin was our performer of the meet. The ladies chose her for stepping up to the plate in the 100 fly. Obviously, Lexi Laird and Jenna Gilbert were quadruple winners. They continue to impress as they did last year.”

Also for Kokomo, an all-newcomer team of Brittany Edwards, Shaylynn Carroll, Simmons and Lexi Young won the 400 free relay. Walters pointed to that performance as a key to the Katfish’s victory.

“Brittany Edwards, a freshman, stood out. She took some huge seconds [in the 200 free and 100 backstroke] and filled some big shoes in the relays,” Walters said, adding the squad’s other freshmen had nice debuts too.

“I saw some things I liked … but there’s a lot of things we have to work on,” she added.

Western had some strong performances too. Erin Weber won the 200 individual medley (2:37:71) and 100 breast stroke (1:20:92) and Tori Berger won the 100 free (1:03:78). In addition, the Panthers swept the top three spots in the 1-meter springboard diving program with Amanda McKinney (143.95) edging Jenna Bradway (143.85) for first place.

Also for Western, Lauren Price had a solid runner-up finish in the 500 free, helping the Panthers forge a final tie before the Katfish pulled away for the narrow win.

“In all, it was a really strong opening night,” Western coach Brad Bennett said.

Northwestern 115 1/2 Carroll 69 1/2

Triple winner Shelby Roberts led a balanced attack for the victorious Tigers, winning the 200 individual medley (2:31:89) and 100 butterfly (1:08:44) and contributing to the a winning relay team. Stephanie Colter, Beth Wilson, Roberts and Anna Sloss won the 200 medley relay in 2:13.37.

Also for the Tigers, Hannah Ault won the 200 freestyle (2:32:15) and 500 freestyle (6:51:16), Sloss touched first in the 100 free (1:07:10), Wilson won the 100 breast stroke (1:22:88) and Shelby Barnett won the 1-meter diving program with an unofficial score of 155.

“Everybody did a great job,” NW coach Cindy Britten said. “This was our first meet of the season and I was just really proud of the girls. Things have been really hectic [with] a lot of kids out for injuries or sicknesses. Some girls had to step up and swim in different events than they’re used to swimming. Hannah Ault and Abby Tice both were outstanding in swimming back-to-back events. I commend them for their job.

“Cassie Closson swam the fly, then turned around and swam the 500. I know other girls do that, but Cassie is a little freshman and that’s her first time swimming those two events. I thought she did a really good job.”

For Carroll, Olivia Wenisch won the 50 free (28.28), Lauren Nesbitt won the 100 backstroke (1:14.03) and the Cougars won the 200 and 400 free relays. Wenisch, Hannah Brewster and Emily Fritz swam on both relay teams.

Girls basketball

Northwestern 57, Tipton 48

Northwestern took a four-point lead into halftime, then outscored Tipton 19-8 in the third quarter to gain complete control of the game.

“We made a couple adjustments at halftime,” NW coach Todd Miller noted. “We felt like the pace of the game was in our favor — it was a pretty up-and-down game. We felt like [the Blue Devils] started wearing down a little bit there at the end of the third quarter and we kind of made a big run. We were up 18 at one point. They fought hard to the end, but we held them off.”

The Tigers (1-1) dominated the paint. Kylie Ballard scored a game-high 19 points and Rachel Lowden recorded a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

“We played 11 kids and they all contributed at least a little bit so we were definitely pleased with our depth,” Miller said. “Tipton’s a quality team and we felt like we had a little bit of a size advantage. We definitely were able to take advantage of that — we got it inside pretty well.

“Sarah Lubben had a great all-around game. She had six points, seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals. She kind of did a little bit of everything for us.”

Krysta Rhea chipped in nine points for the winners.

For Tipton, Brooklyn Juday led the way with 15 points and Chelsea Ragins scored 12 points.

Eastern 37, Rossville 26

Tied 9-all after the opening quarter, the visiting Comets outscored the Hornets 10-0 in the second quarter to seize momentum.

“We played probably our best quarter so far defensively, holding them scoreless and gaining some separation. That was key for us,” Eastern coach Jeremy Dexter said.

Eastern led 26-20 after three quarters.

“The second half, we got stagnant at times on offense at times and [the Hornets] made a run at us. It was down to two at one point, but our kids were able to rebound,” Dexter said. “We never lost the lead and we were quickly able to regain control of the game. We hit our free throws to ice it. Carly Miles went 7 for 8 down the stretch.”

Miles finished with a game-high 15 points. Allison Bowman chipped in seven points and Kristen Dean grabbed 12 rebounds.

Western 41, Carroll 32

The Western Panthers turned up their defensive effort in getting a win over Carroll. Western was down 12-8 at the end of the first quarter, but went on a 14-6 run in the second quarter for a 22-18 lead at halftime.

“Our defense was outstanding,” Western coach Greg Crawford said. “Defensive movement was very good, and we took some offense away from Carroll. It was a big win for us.”

The Panthers (1-2) extended the lead to nine (32-23) at the end of the third quarter, and each team scored nine points in the fourth quarter for the final nine-point margin.

Nicole Rogers led Western with 20 points and Allison Lindley followed with 12. Quinci Eller led Carroll with 12 points.