SHAWNEE-The state ranked Indians came in undefeated, and looked to stay that way when they hosted Spencerville on Saturday afternoon. The Bearcats hung tough all afternoon,before a late Indian rally gave them the 49-41 victory.
The opening quarter belonged to the hosts, as turnovers started to pile up for the visitors.
Shawnee opened the contest on an 8-0 scoring run, before a bucket by Lilyan Goecke to get the visitors on the board. Shawnee scored the last six points, including four from Hailee Conrad to lead 14-2.
Spencerville responded with an 11-6 quarter to trim the Shawnee lead. The Bearcats largest deficit was at 14, at 20-6, before Goecke and Kirsten split a pair from the line to trim it to 11, at 20-9. Wurst connected with two more baskets to cut the deficit to 20-13 at the halftime intermission.
Spencerville trimmed the deficit, and put some pressure on the hosts. Bearcat rally continued, as Goecke hit a pair from the line and a basket from Claire Hoback cut the deficit to 20-19.
Goecke hit two more from the line to tie the game at 21 per side. Shawnee got the lead up to 25-21 on a pair of shots, but a three pointer from Claire Hoback cut it to one, at 25-24. The Bearcats claimed their first lead of the night on a made shot from Emme Prine to lead 27-25.
Shawnee counterpunch, with a three pointer from Best to lead 28-27, before a free throw from Gabi Croft tied it at 28.
Both teams found momentum in the final quarter as the game came right down to the wire. A Goecke transition layup gave them a 30-28, before Shawnee answered with a 7-0 scoring that gave them a lead of 35-28, that forced a Spencerville timeout.
The Bearcats trailed 39-30, before baskets by Hoback and Prine cut the lead to 39-34. Goecke gave the visitors some hope with the bucket and the band aid as the and one opportunity trimmed it to 42-37.
Shawnee got some late baskets from Best as the Indians picked up the 49-41 to remain unbeaten on the season. Best led all scorers with 21 points.
Spencerville will be back in action on Tuesday when they visit New Knoxville. Shawnee will be back in action on Tuesday when they host Delphos Jefferson.
Spencerville 2 – 11 – 15 – 13 – 41
Shawnee 14 – 6 – 8 – 21 – 49
Spencerville (41)
Lilyan Goecke (13) Kirsten Wurst (11) Claire Hoback (8) Emme Prine (5) Chloe Orr (3) Gabi Croft (1)
Shawnee (49)
Zoe Best (21) Hailee Conrad (11) Grace Freilberger (7) Kelly Cooper (4) Ania Pearson (4) Cecelia Worsham (2)
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