Improvements continue, but some of the little things became the problem for the Crawfordsville girls basketball team in a 40-31 Sagamore Conference loss to Western Boone Tuesday.
The loss drops the Athenians to 3-14 overall and 0-5 in the conference, while the Stars move to 7-10 on the season and 2-2 in the league.
“On the positive side, we stayed with the team that won the (Sugar Creek) Classic, a team that is getting healthier and better,” Athenians coach Tyler Smith said. “Our defense was really good. We held them to 40 points. Offensively we will look back on a couple missed bunnies and put-backs. I feel positive about the defense, but this is one that probably got away.”
Both teams struggled to make shots fall. Crawfordsville made back-to-back baskets only once, and the Stars started 0-of-9 on the way to 13-of-46 from the field.
The Athenians led 10-6 in the first when WeBo scored 10 in a row and then fell into a double-digit deficit when the visitors went on a 14-2 run through the end of the second and into the third quarters.
The home squad fought back, however, and with 2:10 left in the game, were down 33-29 and had the ball.
The next minute is where the game got away, as a turnover became an intentional foul and then a basket followed. It was five straight points too late.
“We have to learn that there is a fine line between winning and losing,” Smith said. “We are still struggling with some of our basic sets. Sometimes we don’t get to the second pass on a cut, we need to run through our offense. We are so close.”
Leading the way for Crawfordsville was Shea Williamson. The sophomore was the lone shooting star, going 5-of-8 from the field, and had 12 points. Lauren Kellerman added 10. Overall, the Athenians were 12-of-39 from the field, 3-of15 from long range and 4-of-7 from the line.
“Shea was good all-around,” Smith said. “She set the pace.”
Kellerman had six rebounds to lead C’ville, Olivia Reed had three steals and two assists to go with six points and Maycee York had four blocked shots. The home team had 16 turnovers that became a dozen Stars points.
WeBo was led in scoring by Kara Brewer with 18 points. The senior is fourth in the conference at 13.1 points per game. Tori Wilkinson, second in the league with 11.1 rebounds, had a game-best nine, and Lauryn Florey, playing her third game of the season after surgery during soccer season, grabbed eight more. Overall, the Stars had a 43-26 rebound margin. They had 17 turnovers.
“Crawfordsville is an up and coming team,” WeBo coach Megan Alexander said. “They have a couple great sophomores and Kellerman is always a threat. We shot the ball really badly, so getting a win was good for us. We looked for home-run passes way too much, so we turned the ball over way too much in the first half. In the second, we went back to doing what we do best. We executed well and our third quarter was huge. We have Florey and Brewer back from injury, so that gives me more leverage off the bench. Credit our seniors. They have been through it, from a sectional championship to losing a sectional championship. Their experience shows. We are starting to come together.”
The Stars finish a three-game road trip Friday with a conference trip to Frankfort, and the Athenians are on the road Thursday with a trip to Riverton Parke.
JV
WeBo won the JV game 29-21. Jayda Roach led CHS with seven points, and Sam Wynkoop had seven for the Stars.
WESTERN BOONE 40 CRAWFORDSVILLE 31
Western Boone 7 14 11 8 — 40
Crawfordsville 7 9 5 10 — 31
Western Boone (7-10, 2-2): Conyer 1-4 0-0 2, Brewer 6-21 3-7 18, Reed 2-8 3-3 8, Wilkinson 1-6 2-4 4, Bascom 2-5 0-0 4, Florey 1-2 2-2 4, Voils 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-46 10-16 40.
Crawfordsville (3-14, 0-5): Reed 3-6 0-0 6, Kellerman 3-12 3-5 10, Williamson 5-8 0-0 12, Sinnet 0-4 0-0 0, York 1-7 0-0 2, Simmons 0-1 1-2 1, Hutchens 0-1 0-0 0, Balaz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-39 4-7 31.
3-Pt FGS: WeBo 4-20 (Conyer 0-2, Florey 0-1, Brewer 3-14, Reed 1-2, Bascom 0-1); CHS 3-15 (Reed 0-3, Kellerman 1-5, Williamson 2-4, Sinnet 0-3).
Rebounds: WeBo 43 (Florey 9, Wilkinson 8, Reed 6); CHS 26 (Kellerman 6, Reed 5, Williamson 4, York 4).
