By ANDREW FEEBACK
FORT WAYNE — Ten different players scored for the Southern Wells Raiders girls’ basketball team in Saturday’s 69-26 win over the host Fort Wayne Canterbury Cavaliers.
The Raiders (6-1) picked up their sixth win in a row even though they didn’t shoot particularly well, going 28-73 overall.
“Always good to get a win — you can’t ever be dissatisfied with that,” coach Kyle Penrod said. “We missed a few easy ones early on, but we started putting them in as the game went on.”
Ashlie Needler scored 17 points, while Kenzie Paxson had 11. Kaylea Coffel and Erika Beavans both added eight.
Southern Wells never trailed but struggled to make shots and take care of the ball early. The Raiders had seven turnovers in the opening quarter but finished the game with only 13.
Canterbury (0-7) had trouble even getting into its half-court sets most of the time, and the Cavaliers finished the game with half as many shot attempts as the Raiders.
The Raiders were up 39-11 at halftime thanks to a 15-0 surge in the final minutes.
It wasn’t the Raiders’ best day shooting from long range, as they were just 1-22 beyond the arc and didn’t make one until their final attempt late in the game.
The inside play of Needler proved to be a decisive edge, as the Raiders repeatedly went to her underneath and finished with a 40-27 advantage on the boards.
No Cavaliers reached double figures and were led by Grace Chaille’s eight points. Canterbury finished with 34 turnovers — 24 of them coming before halftime.
The Raiders were a bit slow out of the gate but seemed to settle in as the game progressed.
“Just got to focus at the beginning of games, and not blow easy ones when you get them,” Penrod said. “As the game went on, we did a good job of that.”
No junior varsity game was played.
Southern Wells will return to action with its seventh road trip in eight games when the Raiders head to Adams Central on Saturday night.
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SOUTHERN WELLS 69, CANTERBURY 26
At Canterbury
SOUTHERN WELLS (6-1): Erika Beavans 2-8 4-4 8, Kaylea Coffel 4-10 0-0 8, Cadence Watkins 1-2 0-0 2, Kaylee Davis 2-10 0-0 4, Aubree Meyer 1-2 0-0 2, Colleena Reeves 2-9 2-4 6, Gracie Reeves 0-0 0-0 0, Kenzie Paxson 4-8 3-4 11, Remi Holmes 2-6 0-0 5, Callie Ripperger 2-3 2-3 6, Kyah Thomas 0-4 0-0 0, Ashlie Needler 8-11 1-4 17. TOTALS: 28-73 12-19 69.
CANTERBURY (0-7): Manhattan Morrisey 2-4 0-0 4, Grace Chaille 3-12 2-4 8, Johanna Kostopoulou 0-0 0-0 0, Sydney Coley 1-5 0-4 3, Victoria Kim 0-0 0-0 0, Jazmyne Justice 1-3 0-0 3, Maryn Minnick 0-0 0-0 0, Malika Ahmad 2-6 0-0 5, Simone Dikeolakos 0-1 1-2 1, Alexa Coble 0-1 0-0 0, Jocelyn Roth 1-4 0-0 2, Kate Laurie 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 10-36 3-10 26.
Southern Wells 15 24 17 13 — 69
Canterbury 5 6 8 7 — 26
Three-point Goals: Southern Wells 1-22 (Holmes 1-3, Beavans 0-4, Davis 0-5, Coffel 0-2, Thomas 0-3, Reeves 0-3, Ripperger 0-1, Meyer 0-1), Fort Wayne Canterbury 3-10 (Ahmad 1-3, Justice 1-3, Coley 1-4). Rebounds: Southern Wells 40 (Paxson 9, Needler 7, Coffel 4, Reeves 4, Beavans 3, Watkins 3, Davis 3, Ripperger 3, Holmes 2, Meyer 1, Thomas 1), Fort Wayne Canterbury 27 (Roth 7, Justice 5, Ahmad 5, Coley 3, Morrisey 3, Dikeolakos 2, Chaille 1, Coble 1). Turnovers: Southern Wells 12, Fort Wayne Canterbury 33. Fouls: Southern Wells 10, Canterbury 13. Fouled out: None. Technicals: None.
