By ANDREW FEEBACK
In a game that was over very early, the Southern Wells Raiders rolled to a 66-20 win against the visiting Eastern Greentown Comets Saturday night.
The Raiders ran their record to 11-3, while the Comets remained winless at 0-13.
Southern Wells was never threatened, scoring the game’s first 14 points and racing out to a 45-5 halftime lead.
There’s usually not a whole lot to be gleaned from a lopsided win against an overmatched opponent, but Coach Kyle Penrod liked how his team took care of the ball throughout the game.
“Turnovers have been something that got us,” he said, referring to earlier games. “Sometimes it’s actually easier to turn the ball over when you’re comfortable with your lead. You can be a little lazy, maybe think you can do more than you should because you can get away with it. I thought we did a good job of not turning the ball over.”
The Raiders finished with only eight turnovers to go along with making 27 of 58 shots from the field.
Penrod also felt his team did a good job spreading out its scoring and getting shots for many different players. Eleven different Raiders scored in the game, led by Kaylee Davis with 12 points and Ashlie Needler with 10.
“Kyah Thomas is a really good shooter, but we haven’t gotten her going,” Penrod said. “We tried getting her some extra shots, so she’s feeling good about her shot. We ran a couple new out-of-bounds plays and a couple new sets that we’re trying to work on.”
Eastern Greentown, meanwhile, had trouble getting shots at all. The Comets had six turnovers before they even attempted a field goal, and they finished the first half with only 12 looks from the floor.
Southern Wells ended the first half with 19 straight points over the last 5:35.
Kenzie Eagle had the only three-pointer of the game for the Comets in the game’s closing seconds.
Seven different Raiders made a triple as the team finished 8-26 from deep.
The Raiders will travel to Randolph Southern Saturday night.
With its next win, Southern Wells will be assured of finishing the season with a winning record for the first time since 2012-13.
That team won 16 games, and Penrod likes where this group is headed.
“I’m pretty happy with where we are,” he said. “We’ve got six regular season games left, and I think if we play well, we could win all six of them. I like our draw for the ACAC tournament too, so if we play well, we could be in the championship game fighting for a championship. I’m excited for the last half of the year.”
The Southern Wells junior varsity team defeated Woodlan’s freshman team 37-22. Cadence Watkins scored 14 points, Lillia Paxson added 11 and Lexi Pennington had seven for the Raiders.
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SOUTHERN WELLS 66,
EASTERN GREENTOWN 20
At Southern Wells
EASTERN GREENTOWN (0-13): Allie Hueston 0-1 0-0 0, Lainey Newlin 2-4 0-0 4, Gianna Beechy 3-5 0-0 6, Brooke Robinson 0-0 0-0 0, Annie Cramer 0-0 0-0 0, Elle Winger 0-0 0-0 0, Gianna Sinko 0-1 0-0 0, Finley Shrock 0-3 0-0 0, Marly Coan 2-7 0-0 4, Jillian Johnson 1-2 0-0 2, Kenzie Eagle 1-8 1-2 4. TOTALS: 9-31 1-2 20.
SOUTHERN WELLS (11-3): Erika Beavans 3-9 0-0 7, Kaylea Coffel 2-5 0-0 5, Cadence Watkins 1-2 0-0 2, Kaylee Davis 4-10 2-3 12, Aubree Meyer 2-2 1-2 6, Collena Reeves 3-7 0-0 7, Gracie Reeves 0-0 0-0 0, Kenzie Paxson 0-2 0-0 0, Remi Holmes 2-3 0-0 4, Callie Ripperger 1-4 1-2 3, Kyah Thomas 3-4 0-0 7, Lillia Paxson 0-0 0-0 0, Ashlie Needler 5-9 0-0 10, Ellie DeWeese 1-1 0-0 3. TOTALS: 27-58 4-7 66.
Eastern 3 2 6 9 — 20
S. Wells 20 25 7 14 — 66
Three-point Goals: Eastern Greentown 1-3 (Eagle 1-3), Southern Wells 8-26 (Davis 2-6, Coffel 1-4, Meyer 1-1, Reeves 1-4, Thomas 1-2, Beavans 1-5, DeWeese 1-1, Ripperger 0-3). Rebounds: Eastern Greentown 22 (Coan 8, Eagle 7, Newlin 3, Johnson 2, Shrock 1, Beechy 1), Southern Wells 20 (Needler 6, Thomas 3, Reeves 3, Holmes 2, Beavans 1, Coffel 1, Watkins 1, Davis 1, Meyer 1, Ripperger 1). Turnovers: Eastern Greentown 28, Southern Wells 8. Fouls: Eastern Greentown 9, Southern Wells 6. Fouled out: None. Technicals: None.
JV: Southern Wells 37, Woodlan 22.
