Bearcats edge out Lady Bulldogs for 1st win

Published:  Thursday, December 10, 2009 (3 months ago)
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By BEN BABCOCK
The Delphos Herald
Benny_babcock11@hotmail.com

SPENCERVILLE — The Spencerville Lady Bearcats came into their home non-conference girls basketball game Tuesday night at Spencerville High School with a winless 0-2 mark on the year.
That would change after the final buzzer sounded as the Bearcats squeezed out a 61-59 win over the visiting Elida Lady Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs started off solid in the beginning of the game as they led early in the first by a score of 5-1 thanks to great defensive pressure. In that short spurt, the ’Dawgs were led by senior Chelsy Simpson and junior Julie Stirn (14 points overall). Simpson (6 markers) had three and Stirn the other two. The host Bearcats answered fast with a quick 12-1 run that put them up 13-10 by the end of the period.
Leading the way was senior captain Devon Keysor (game-high 23) who had six points in the quarter and shot 4-6 for the foul line.
The second quarter saw the visiting ’Dawgs come back and take a lead of the slimmest margins into the lockerroom as they lead the Bearcats 28-27.
“We played to win early on in the game but needed to hurry through with it,” said Elida’s head coach, Steve Fersch.
Jenn Eilerman (8 markers) lead the ’Dawgs in scoring at the half with six. As for the Bearcats, they were paced by the post presence of Keysor, who had 13 at the half and continued to get fouled in the second quarter just like the first as she shot 3-of-4 from the line in the second.
“I am very proud of our girls; they battled back and played very well tonight. We rebounded and boxed out very well tonight and that was a key part to our win,” said Spencerville’s head coach, Darren Sharp.
The third quarter was much of the same; a back-and-forth battle as the quarter ended in a deadlock 45-45.
The Bulldogs of Elida started the fourth quarter off hot as they outscored the Bearcats 10-3, led by Stirn’s four. Three other Bulldogs added two. Spencerville once again battled back as they shut down the ’Dawgs’ offense with full-court pressure defense and went on a 13-4 scoring run to end the game with a 2-point win.
“We played hard and our girls deserved to win the game. Give a lot of credit to Elida as they battled hard throughout the game and were very competitive,” added Sharp, who gained his first win as head coach of Spencerville.
Spencerville moves to 1-2 and Elida falls to 1-2.
Spencerville will travel to Ada on Thursday to take on a Northwest Conference foe in the Bulldogs. Elida will play Wapak in their Western Buckeye League opener.
Spencerville won the junior varsity game by a score of 42-38. Osha Owens of Elida led all scorers with 15 points. Rachel Kahle topped the Bearcats with 13.

VARSITY
ELIDA (59)
Lindsay Peters 0-1-1, Kaylin Duffy 1-0-2, Julie Stirn 5-4-14, Kelsey Smith 1-4-7, Kayla Smith 1-0-2, Chelsy Simpson 1-4-6, Kayla Downton 3-0-8, Jenn Eilerman 3-1-8, Amber Saddler 3-1-7. Totals 18-15-59.
SPENCERVILLE (61)
Andrea Lee 0-0-0, Courtney Miller 2-2-6, Alison Moeller 0-0-0, Brittany Kill 1-7-9, Brooke Moeller 2-2-7, Claire McConnell 0-0-0, Vanessa Barnes 0-0-0, Jenn Post 0-0-0, Devon Keysor 7-8-23, Amanda Brenneman 5-5-15. Totals 17-24-61.
Score by Quarters:
Elida        10    18      17     14 - 59
Spencerville   13    14      18     16 - 61
Three-point goals: Elida, Downton 2, Eilerman; Spencerville, Keysor, B. Moeller.

JUNIOR VARSITY
ELIDA (38)
Bo Kim 3-1-10, Tanesha Manley 0-0-0, Jena Wensole 1-0-2, Bridget Sevitz 3-0-7, Osha Owens 7-1-15, Asia Bevis 1-0-2, Ericka Smith 0-0-0, Katrina Meeks 1-0-2. Totals 16-2-38.
SPENCERVILLE (42)
Alyssa Mullholland 1-4-6, Rachael Kahle 5-3-13, Hanna Keller 2-0-4, Jenna Post 0-2-2, Abby Freewalt 3-3-9, Vanessa Barns 3-2-8, Abbie Lee 0-0-0. Totals 14-14-42.
Score by Quarter:
Elida       7    15     5      11 - 38
Spencerville  2    11    16     13 - 42
Three-point goals: Elida, Kim 3, Sevitz; Spencerville, none.