By RYAN WALKER
The Southern Wells girls’ basketball team evened its record at 4-4 on the season with a 53-22 rout over visiting Muncie Burris Wednesday night.
“Great effort, great all-around effort from everybody,” head coach Jessica Killingbeck said after the game. “There’s not really one person that sticks out in my mind. Everybody played well. Everybody did their part. We talked about being fundamental and doing the little things, and I thought they came out and did that tonight, especially on the defensive end.”
The Raiders have been on the winning side three of the last four tries with wins over Lakewood Park, Elwood, and now Muncie Burris. The four victories are one shy of last season’s five, and around this time last year, they had just two wins.
With conference play approaching, Killingbeck’s team is looking to be more of a threat than last year when they went winless in the Allen County Athletic Conference. She believes her team has been working hard on the fundamentals and being more active in practice by asking more questions to get better.
“The biggest thing I think is that they’re playing for each other. We don’t just have one person that’s trying to go out and do everything. We played across the board as a team. I think that’s probably the biggest thing,” she said.
Even though they won by 31 points, Southern Wells had a sluggish start offensively, missing their first few shots and turning the ball over in the first four minutes of the game. But the 2-2 tie would break with senior Avah Miner’s three ball, along with another, to help end the first quarter at 10-2.
Muncie Burris would get on the board on the first possession of the second quarter, but Collena Reeves responded quickly after with a jump shot that would spark a 7-0 run. That run ended on an Ashley Needler steal and assist to Miner for two, and she would follow that up with a bucket and a foul, converting the three-point play and taking a few more steals that turned into points. She ended up with eight points, seven rebounds, and was picking off passes left and right.
The sophomore had been out with an injury, but Killingbeck is thrilled to have her back contributing to the team.
“She played great,” she said. “We’re super happy to have her back healthy. That’s huge for us. She’s a huge contributor for us. She’s so strong. Defensively, she does a great job of reading, and offensively she just reads things so well and just has a knack and a feel for the game.”
The Raiders only allowed four points in the quarter — the first shot of the quarter and another around the four-minute mark — having a 22-point advantage.
It was all Southern Wells going forward, Miner hitting another three-ball, Gracie Reeves hitting a couple of shots, and Needler adding another bucket. The Raiders outscored the Owls 25-16 in the second half.
Killingbeck has been pleased with her team so far in the early going of the season and appreciates wins, but she has the ultimate goal still on her mind.
“Our thing has been the whole season since day one that this is for February (sectionals). We’re getting ready for February. We want to get wins, but what really matters at the end of the day is that, hopefully, we’re cutting down the net,” she said.
The Raiders won the junior varsity game 14-2, playing just two quarters. Leading scorer was Emma Parks with five points and Gracie Reeves added four.
Southern Wells will open conference play at home against Bluffton starting at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3.
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MUNCIE BURRIS 22, SOUTHERN WELLS 53
At Southern Wells High School
MUNCIE BURRIS (0-6): Amber Callender 2-2 0-0 4, Sydney Jackson 4-11 0-2 8, Grace Murray 1-4 0-0 2, Molly Davis 1-5 0-0 2, Acacia Russell 1-10 2-2 4, Ava Bertrum 1-4 0-0 2, Lucy Hart 0-0 0-0 0, Nevaeh Anderson 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 10-36 2-4
SOUTHERN WELLS (4-4): Avah Miner 4-10 1-2 12, Ashley Needler 3-11 2-3 8, Hailey Duncan 2-3 1-2 5, Zoe Needler 0-0 0-0 0, Faith Blair 5-10 0-0 11, Collena Reeves 2-4 2-2 6, Kenzie Paxson 2-5 3-4 7, Gracie Reeves 2-3 0-0 4, Breanna Leidig 0-0 0-0 0, Karlee Warner 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 20-48 9-13 53
Muncie Burris 2 4 10 6 –– 22
Southern Wells 10 18 11 14 –– 53
Three-point Goals: Muncie Burris 0-0, Southern Wells 4-10 (Miner 3-7, Blair 1-4, C. Reeves 0-1). Rebounds: Muncie Burris 15 (Jackson 6, Anderson 2, Davis 2, Callender 2, Murray 1, Hart 1), Southern Wells 27 (A. Needler 7, Z. Needler 6, Miner 4, Blair 4, Duncan 3, C. Reeves 1, Paxson 1, Leidig 1). Turnovers: 23, Southern Wells 19. Fouls: Muncie Burris 10, Southern Wells 7. Fouled Out: Molly Davis. Technicals: None.
