NEW MADISON — Preble Shawnee’s trip into the “Battleground” at Tri-Village didn’t turn out the way the Arrows, who were riding a six-game winning streak, was hoping for on Saturday, Feb. 5.
With a chance to move into a first-place tie with the host Patriots, the Arrows suffered their worst defeat of the season, falling 79-51.
With the loss, Shawnee falls to 13-3 overall and 5-2 in the Western Ohio Athletic Conference. Tri-Village moves to 16-3 overall and 10-0 in the WOAC and clinched the conference’s first-ever championship.
A slow start had the Arrows playing from behind the entire game. Shawnee trailed 18-8 after the opening quarter and 35-20 at the half.
In the second half, Shawnee was outscored 44-31.
A total of 49 fouls were called in the game as the Arrows had three players foul out and another end the game with four.
Tri-Village had three players end with four fouls and two others with three fouls.
Sophomore Mason Shrout led the Arrows with 22 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Senior Ethan Woodard scored 13 points and added four rebounds and two assists.
Shawnee connected on 13-of-43 shots attempts (30.2 percent) for the game, including going 6-of-16 from 3-point range. The Arrows were 19-of-26 from the foul line.
The Patriots were 27-of-51 (52.9 percent) from the field, including 6-of-17 from three. Tri-Village made good on 19-of-33 free throw attempts.
Shawnee opened the week with a pair of wins. The Arrows beat host Talawanda 64-46 on Tuesday, Feb. 1 and knocked off visiting Carlisle 61-49 on Wednesday.
In the win over the Brave, Shrout finished with 18 points, 17 rebounds and four assists. Woodard scored 15 with four rebounds. Senior Xavier Adams tossed in 14 points with six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Freshman Isaac Blankenship came off the bench to scored 12 points.
In the Carlisle win, Shrout led the way with 27 points and eight rebounds. Adams added 15 points and six rebounds. Woodard contributed nine points and five assists.
Shawnee was scheduled to play at Twin Valley South on Monday, Feb. 7 and host Newton on Tuesday before closing out the week with a trip to Dixie on Friday, Feb. 11.
