By RYAN WALKER
PONETO — Southern Wells’ first lead was the only one it needed to escape Heritage 36-35 with 15 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter Tuesday night.
Collena Reeves hit the first of her two free throws with the Raiders down by one with 17.6 seconds to go. The second attempt clunked off the front of the iron, but Ashlie Needler swooped in for an offensive rebound and put in an easy bunny to gain the team’s only lead of the game and eventually win it.
That bucket clinched Southern Wells’ first victory in the Allen County Athletic Conference since the 2019-20 season when they beat Bluffton by four.
The Raiders (5-13, 1-3 ACAC) overcame a deficit as large of 12 late in the second quarter before Needler helped trim the margin down to eight at halftime.
Slowly but surely they got it to one possession after Kyah Thomas swished a jumper from the right side of the free-throw line and Kenzie Paxson scored in the paint.
The Raiders kept within striking distance, but never got ahold of the lead. They were down by two with 23 seconds to go and Patriots’ (1-16, 0-4 ACAC) freshman Trinitee Brown was fouled in a late-game desperation spot and a chance at the line to ice the game. Brown missed both and handed the Raiders the ball back down one possession.
Reeves, who did not have a point until stepping to the line in the big moment, nailed the first free throw that set up Needler’s game-winner.
On Heritage’s next and final possession, Grace Guenther was fouled taking a shot with 2.3 seconds on the clock. The first was no good, and Raiders’ head coach Jessica Killingbeck blew a full timeout to ice the senior forward. It worked, missing both freebies again.
The rebound attempt was tipped out of bounds and a final opportunity for the Patriots in a time crunch. The inbounds pass was about 10 feet from the right baseline side of the basket back to Guenther being heavily guarded and never stood a chance to attempt a shot.
Despite trailing the entire game, the last two possessions to take and hold the lead were enough to squeak past Heritage.
“I’m just super proud of them,” Killingbeck said after the game. “That’s the toughness that our coaching staff has been waiting for all year long. That last three minutes really showed the grit that these kids can have. They didn’t panic. They took exactly what we were trying to execute offensively and defensively. I’m just super proud, and it feels good to get that monkey off your back of not winning conference games for so long.”
Southern Wells could not have done it without its two forwards.
Paxson and Needler accounted for all but one of the team’s made field goals and both hit the double-double mark before the fourth quarter. Paxson finished with a game-high 16 points on a perfect 8-8 shooting and 12 rebounds. Needler had 15 points and added 12 rebounds.
The two single-handedly kept Heritage off the boards and Southern Wells on the scoreboard.
“Kenzie and Ashlie feed off of each other, so when Ashlie scores, Kenzie’s pumped. When Kenzie scores, Ashlie’s pumped,” Killingbeck said. “That kind of energy motivates the rest of the team. Those two played really, really well with each other tonight, and it’s the post-game that we’ve been trying to get all year.”
Killingbeck gave a lot of credit to Paxson and her guards. She shared that Paxson has been frustrated with finishing around the rim, and has been working hard all season to fix it.
Her 100 percent rate from the floor was also attributed to guard play, who is also working on feeding Paxson and Needler in the post. She noted Erika Beavans as playing well on both ends of the floor, along with Collena Reeves for their efforts.
“We’ve been talking about getting that ball dragged down to the corners so we can get a good entry look, and I thought our guards did a better job of trying to get the ball in the post tonight and getting better angles,” Killingbeck said.
The Raiders clearly have an edge with their forward play and scoring in the paint, and perhaps this was the best example this season of it.
Southern Wells will visit Jay County starting at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 20.
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SOUTHERN WELLS 36,
HERITAGE 35
At Southern Wells
HERITAGE (1-15): Danica Fuller 3-8 2-2 9, Grace Guenther 3-9 2-6 8, Natalie Otte 3-10 0-0 7, Kaydance Wallace 2-8 0-0 5, Trinitee Brown 1-5 0-2 3, Olivia Lybarger 0-4 0-0 0, Audra Bickel 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 12-44 4-10 35.
SOUTHERN WELLS (5-13): Kenzie Paxson 8-8 0-1 16, Ashlie Needler 7-18 1-4 15, Kyah Thomas 1-6 0-0 2, Collena Reeves 0-3 1-2 1, Gracie Reeves 0-1 0-2 0, Erika Beavans 0-3 0-2 0, Kaylea Coffel 0-1 0-0 0, Aubrey Meyer 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16-41 2-11 36.
Heritage 16 9 6 6 –– 35
So. Wells 6 11 10 9 –– 36
Three-point FG: Heritage: 4-15 (Wallace 1-3, Brown 1-4, Fuller 1-4, Otte 1-1, Lybarger 0-3), Southern Wells Rebounds: Heritage: 27 (Fuller 7, Guenther 4, Wallace 4, Otte 4, Brown 3, Lybarger 3, Bickel 1), Southern Wells 32 (Needler 12, Paxson 11, C. Reeves 3, Thomas 2, Beavans 2, G. Reeve) Turnovers: Heritage: 15, Southern Wells 20. Fouls: Heritage: 12, Southern Wells 13. Fouled Out: None. Technicals: None.
JV: No JV game.
