By RICK SPRUNGER
MONROE — It was a tough night for the Southern Wells Lady Raiders.
The Raiders traveled to Adams Central Thursday night and came home with a 59-25 bruising administered by the Jets.
Southern Wells fell to 7-11 overall and 0-5 in the Allen County Athletic Conference with the loss.
Adams Central improved to 6-14 in all games and 2-4 in the conference.
“When you don’t do the things that you work on in practice, you can expect a tough night,” said a frustrated Southern Wells coach Jessica Killingbeck after the game. “When you don’t bounce pass, you don’t block out, you don’t attack the gaps, you don’t ball fake, what else would you expect?”
The game got away from Southern Wells in the first half.
Adams Central broke away from an early 6-6 tie and, from the 2:05 mark of the first quarter until the 1:38 mark of the second, outscored the Raiders 25-3.
During that time, the Jets scored on seven offensive rebounds while Southern Wells was 1-for-8 from the field with 12 turnovers, including six straight ballhandling gaffes to end the first quarter.
Kenzie Paxson finally broke the long drought with a rebound basket to end the second quarter with the score 31-11.
The Raiders then came out in the third quarter, hit their first two shots, and scored six quick points to draw within 31-17.
“We started bounce-passing, and good things happened,” observed Killingbeck after watching Ashlie Needler wrap an easy bucket underneath and two free throws around a 15-footer by Zoe Needler.
But then the bottom dropped out.
Adams Central ran off 24 unanswered points from the 5:03 mark of the third quarter to the 5:40 mark of the fourth, while Southern Wells was missing eight straight shots and two free throws and committing eight more turnovers.
“We knew they would pressure us,” continued Killingbeck, “but we didn’t throw bounce passes, and so our passes were being deflected, or we didn’t catch it. And we weren’t making contact on our boxouts. We were just putting our hands up (on rebounds) and hoping to catch it.”
As might be expected, Adams Central coach Kyle Roe had a different perspective.
“We played well,” said Roe after watching his team snap a four-game losing streak. “We focused on rebounding this week. We teach our guards and post to keep the ball alive.”
Between Southern Wells’ 29 turnovers and its rebounding woes, Adams Central was able to take 28 more shots at the basket in the contest and hit a higher percentage to boot.
The Jets connected on 25 of 65 shots from the field for a .385 shooting percentage.
Southern Wells was just 10-for-37 for .270.
Gracie Garwood, the only senior on the Adams Central roster, paced the Jets with 18 points on 7-for-20 shooting, including a trio of three-pointers, and pulled down nine rebounds.
Hailey Heller, a freshman, joined Garwood in double figures with 10 points.
No Southern Wells player reached double figures.
Zoe and Ashlie Needler topped the Raiders with eight points apiece.
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ADAMS CENTRAL 59,
SOUTHERN WELLS 25
at Adams Central High School
SOUTHERN WELLS (7-11, 0-5 ACAC): Hailey Duncan 0-3 0-0 0, Avah Miner 0-5 1-2 1, Zoe Needler 4-8 0-0 8, Faith Blair 0-3 0-0 0, Ashlie Needler 3-10 2-4 8, Colleena Reeves 1-3 0-0 3, Kenzie Paxson 2-4 1-2 5, Breanna Leidig 0-0 0-0 0, Gracie Reeves 0-1 0-0 0, Caroline Ripperger 0-0 0-0 0, Karlee Warner 0-0 0-0 0. TOTAL: 10-37 4-8 25.
ADAMS CENTRAL (6-14, 2-4 ACAC): Addie Baker 1-3 0-2 2, Athena Schwartz 3-8 0-0 7, Grace Fisher 3-6 0-0 6, Alexa Brotherton 2-4 0-0 4, Gracie Garwood 7-20 1-2 18, Ava Stafford 3-10 2-2 8, Hailey Heller 4-7 0-0 10, Audrey Eisberg 1-4 0-0 2, Kate Fisher 0-1 0-0 0, Ellie Ogg 1-2 0-0 2. TOTAL: 25-65 3-6 59.
Southern Wells 6 5 6 8 — 25
Adams Central 14 17 19 9 — 59
Three-point shooting: Southern Wells 1-8 (Duncan 0-1, Miner 0-2, Z. Needler 0-1, Blair 0-1, C. Reeves 1-3), Adams Central 6-21 (Schwartz 1-3, Garwood 3-8, Stafford 0-3, Heller 2-5, K. Fisher 0-1, Ogg 0-1). Rebounds: Southern Wells 31 (A. Needler 7, Paxson 7), Adams Central 38 (Garwood 9, G. Fisher 6, Heller 5). Turnovers: Southern Wells 29, Adams Central 16. Personal fouls: Southern Wells 9, Adams Central 13. Fouled Out: None. Technical fouls: None.
Junior Varsity: Southern Wells 17, Adams Central 16.
