The game of runs in this Kenton County rivalry girls basketball game saw the visitors make the last one.
But the host Scott Eagles (8-4) made enough plays at the end to withstand it to beat the Simon Kenton Pioneers, 55-52. Scott has won four in a row and Simon Kenton (8-5) has split its last six games.
“It was great. I told them at halftime it was going to be a war the whole time,” said Eric Pouncy, Scott head coach. “In that last 2:16, they asked how many timeouts we had and it was funny because I said, ‘We have all of them because I haven’t used them.’ They were exhausted. But you couldn’t really tell so if they can continue to push and be conditioned like that throughout the year, that’s going to be great for us.”
Scott continues to use its depth to its advantage with 10 seniors shooting 44 percent from the field including 45 percent from three-point range. The leading scorer in senior guard Autumn Ponder led the way with 16 points. Senior forward Kayla Overman followed with a near double-double with eight points and 11 rebounds as nine different Eagles scored.
Simon Kenton played its third straight game without injured starting senior forward Emilee Eggleston. But others have picked up the slack shooting shooting 33 percent from the field including 21 percent from three-point range. Eighth grade point guard Brynli Pernell led the Pioneers with 16 points and freshman forward Haylie Webb had a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds with freshman guard Megan Gadzalla scoring nine.
More huge differences in this game came in rebounding and at the free-throw line. Scott won the rebounding battle, 39-29 and made 16-of-21 free throws for 76 percent compared to 10-for-22 for 46 percent for the Pioneers.
Neither team led by more than five points in the first half. Pernell made a fast-break lay-up with 45 seconds left int he first quarter to give Simon Kenton a 14-9 lead before Ponder made a three from the right wing with 31 seconds left to make it 14-12 Pioneers after one.
Another Ponder three with 5:30 left in the first half gave Scott a 19-18 lead. Senior Amberly Turner hit a free throw to put Scott up 24-20 before Gadzala made two free throws at the other end with 23.2 seconds left to make the halftime score of 24-22 Eagles.
The third quarter saw Scott score five in a row to go up 31-26 before Simon Kenton responded with eight in a row. Freshman Anna Kelch made a three from the right corner and sophomore Ryle Flynn made a free throw to put the Pioneers up 34-31. Scott responded with four in a row before a Webb score with 20.8 seconds left gave Simon Kenton a 36-35 lead entering the fourth quarter.
“We gave ourselves a chance,” said Brenden Stowers, Simon Kenton head coach. “The other 28 minutes of the game is what I’m trying to get them to understand. With younger, inexperienced girls, it’s going to be a battle every game, every practice just to get them to understand. But sometimes you don’t understand it until you go through it. It’s good for the girls to get these lessons. But at the end of the day, Scott did its job. They did what they’re supposed to do. We just fell short.”
Simon Kenton built a 42-37 lead with 6:45 left in the fourth quarter after seventh grade guard Bella Ober and Gadzala scored. But Scott saw Ponder hit her fourth three-pointer of the game to spark a 12-0 Scott run that senior guard Ava Coleman finished with two free throws. Coleman constantly had to bring the ball up against consistent Simon Kenton pressure.
“Everyone plays together. It’s not just one person who can score,” Coleman said. “We struggled with (on-ball pressure) some in the second half. But everyone handled the ball. It wasn’t just one person.”
Sisters Kayla and Kaia Peterson aided the cause with seven points and six rebounds respectively. Kayla Peterson, a senior, just verbally committed to play for NCAA Division III Marietta College located in southeast Ohio.
“I hope (our depth) is going to pay off here,” Pouncy said. “When someone is struggling one day, I can just throw someone in there. I tell them each day all 18 of you have to be ready because honestly, it’s just what I’m feeling that day who I’m going to throw in there. That’s kind of the mentality we’ve kept since I’ve been here.”
Kaia Peterson put Scott up 51-43 with 3:03 remaining before Pernell scored and hit two free throws with 2:16 left in the game to make it 51-47 Eagles. Following a Ponder score, Pernell hit a three from the top of the key then Webb made two free throws to make it 53-52 Pioneers with 20.9 seconds left. Scott ran some time off before Coleman made two free throws at the other end to make the final score with 7.5 seconds left and the Pioneers could not tie it.
“I think we did a pretty good job of keeping our heads,” Kayla Peterson said. “I really like how we’ve come together more on and off the court this year. I really like our energy as well.”
Simon Kenton did see junior guard Ava Slusser go down with an apparent injury with 1:13 left in the first half. Stowers did not want to speculate. But he said Slusser was in good spirits after the game and Eggleston will return shortly.
Both teams return to action Friday. Scott travels to Highlands (8-5) for a 7:30 p.m. game and Simon Kenton plays host to Notre Dame (9-1) at 6:30 p.m.
