By RYAN WALKER
PONETO — The Southern Wells girls’ basketball team kept pushing back Daleville in a 42-37 victory at the Raiderdome Tuesday night.
The Raiders (6-8) had the lead for the entire game but had to fight off every Bronco (2-12) comeback that came at them — and they did just that.
“Our kids did a great job competing,” head coach Jessica Killingbeck said after the game. “We’ve just really been pushing them hard in practice to just get after each other, and I think tonight we took a step in the right direction — actually implementing that into the game.”
Ashley Needler’s made shot in the game’s opening minute put Southern Wells in the lead for the first and only time, as they never allowed for even a tie score. Faith Blair, about 45 seconds later, hit a three but was matched by Addisyn Gothrup’s first of many triples.
Gothrup’s make was the only one in the quarter for the Broncos, as the Raider defense was staying focused and forcing tricky angles for a 1-13 start and 13-4 score.
The second quarter was almost the same story. Daleville went cold in the paint at a one-for-five clip, but Gothrup went on to nail three more from beyond the arc to narrow the lead to just five.
“24 (Gothrup) is a solid player,” Killingbeck said of the Bronco freshman. “She just gets her shot off quick. She can create her own shot with her step back. It’s really hard to guard it when she has a quick release like she does.”
Killingbeck’s team was able to get some breathing room in the third to then extend to a nine-point lead. Zoe Needler’s six points helped an 8-2 run at one point.
Just when the Raiders were in the driver’s seat to take care of business, the Broncos would climb back with more three-pointers. Gothrup hit one at the 6:03 mark to cut the lead down to seven. Ashley Needler got a bucket to only then have a five-point swing with another Gothrup triple. Southern Wells though kept pushing back as Kenzie Paxson and Needler made a pair of shots.
With 3:10 remaining, Makenna Corbin continued the deep shots fest with one of her own, which cut it to six points, but Needler answered again to score her team-high 14 points. Two minutes of scoreless basketball later, the Raiders put together a solid performance to defend the Broncos’ attempts to come back.
Of course, the game couldn’t end without Gothrup hoisting a final three-pointer that went through at harmlessly at the buzzer, but that make was the theme of the night.
“It’s always frustrating. It always seems like everybody goes off on us,” Killingbeck said about the 10 three’s made by the opponent. “I don’t know if there’s anything that we could have done.”
Gothrup ended with a game-high 21 points on 7-13 from downtown.
Southern Wells will host South Adams at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6, with two-quarters of junior varsity beforehand. The game was originally scheduled to be played at the Starfire’s home gym, but a waterline leak forced the game to be switched.
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SOUTHERN WELLS 42,
DALEVILLE 37
At Southern Wells High School
DALEVILLE (2-12): Addisyn Gothrup 7-15 0-0 21, Makenna Corbin 2-8 0-0 6, Trishell Johnson 3-15 1-2 8, Maddie Etchison 1-8 0-0 2, Emma Voss 0-3 0-0 0, Amarah McPhaul 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 13-39 1-2 37.
SOUTHERN WELLS (6-8): Ashley Needler 7-13 0-0 14, Avah Miner 3-12 0-0 7, Hailey Duncan 2-4 0-0 4, Zoe Needler 3-11 2-2 8, Faith Blair 2-10 0-1 5, Collena Reeves 1-4 0-0 2, Kenzie Paxson1-4 0-0 2. TOTALS: 19-58 2-3 42.
Daleville 4 11 8 14 — 37
So. Wells 13 7 12 10 — 42
Three-point FG: Daleville 10-25 (Gothrup 7-13, Corbin 2-4, Johnson 1-5, Etchison 0-3), Southern Wells 2-17 (Miner 1-9, Blair 1-6, Z. Needler 0-2). Rebounds: Daleville 20 (Johnson 7, Etchison 6, Voss 4, Corbin 2, Gothrup 1), Southern Wells 44 (Player 0). Turnovers: Daleville 12, Southern Wells 10. Fouls: Daleville 4, Southern Wells 7. Fouled Out: None. Technicals: None.
No junior varsity game.
