EATON — Eaton’s girls’ basketball team closed out the home portion its schedule falling to an Edgewood team that made 13-of-27 three-pointers, 59-53, on Saturday, Feb. 5.
The day also marked the final home game for seniors Juli Couch, Anna Kramer, Kyla Mize, Allison Mowen and Karma Mohamed, a foreign exchange student from Cairo, Egypt.
The Eagles rallied from an early 15-point fourth quarter deficit to close within three with just over a minute to play.
”We were all disappointed with the final result. We always want to win, and especially on Senior Day,” Eaton coach Dave Honhart said. “But there was a lot to be pleased with about the way we played. I thought we had good energy and resilience all day. Edgewood shoots half their shots from the 3-line and they are very good at creating open 3’s with drive and kick and ball movement. They can be very streaky as we saw.”
The Cougars missed their first six 3-point attempts then knocked down 13 of their next 18.
”Most of them we did a pretty good job of contesting. Our number one point of emphasis on the day was to get into their shooters by contesting and bothering their rhythm,” Honhart said. “There were a few times we could have done a better job of that, but mostly we contested well. They just had a great shooting day, and you just have to tip your hat to them. It can be hard to stay in the game mentally when a team is on fire like that. Kadence Kimberlin had only hit six threes all season and she made four. Jessica Moore got on fire in the second quarter. Lexi Livingston had only made two all season and she starts the second half by drilling a corner three. It’s a credit to our players that we kept answering and kept fighting back. I kept telling them Edgewood would eventually cool off if we kept contesting, and they eventually did. It just took quite a while.”
Eaton led 10-6 after the first quarter and trailed 30-25 at the half. Back-to-back 3’s to begin the third quarter gave the Cougars a 36-25 lead. The lead grew to 53-38 early in the fourth.
”When we finally did get them to cool off, we did a great job of taking advantage of it, fighting our way back from down 15 to down three with a minute to go. We just ran out of time,” Honhart said. “At that point, Edgewood started playing keep away and we were trying to trap and turn them over, which is tough to do with the way that they pass. Eventually we had to resort to fouling and they are a good free throw shooting team, which showed as they made 3 of 4 and we couldn’t answer at the other end when we had to hurry up and take the best early shots we could find. To me this is one where we ran out of time. It’s also a credit to Edgewood. They are a very good team. They beat Valley View by 16 and Oakwood by 14. They handled getting outrebounded by 16 with strong shooting and by taking good care of the basketball. They have so many people that can score the ball that it makes it tough to really key on anyone.”
Eaton was led in scoring by junior Lily Shepherd with 14 points and added four rebounds and three assists.
Mowen finished with 13 points and six assists.
Kramer added nine points and three rebounds.
Junior Kendall Miller contributed seven points.
Junior Olivia Baumann, who missed the previous five games due to an injury, grabbed a career-high 22 rebounds and tossed in five points.
”For us, it was good to have Olivia Baumann back. She went out and made up for lost time on the boards, grabbing a career high 22 rebounds,” Honhart said. “Allison Mowen did a nice job of dishing out six assists and knocking down four of her last five three point attempts. Lily Shepherd had 14 points and three assists against one turnover. She has come a long, long way as a passer, which is something she’s been working hard on. It was nice to see Anna Kramer hit a couple of threes as she’s been putting in a lot of time working on her shooting.”
Honhart praised the leadership of the current senior class.
”As far as our five seniors, Juli Couch, Anna Kramer, Kyla Mize, Karma Mohamed, and Allison Mowen, they have done such a great job of taking our program culture and enhancing it by the way they work and the way that they interact with their teammates,” Honhart said. “While they are all very good basketball players, what I will remember most about them is how they define what it means to be a good teammate, on and off the court. On the court, they share the ball and would probably all rather get the assist than then basket. Off the court, they connect with all their teammates and treat them all with respect. They are a drama-free group that made sure we competed with each other every day in practice and not against each other. I am hopeful they can help us earn second place in the league and then go on a nice playoff run. Madison and Benjamin Logan will have something to say about that, but I look forward to the opportunities.”
Eaton (8-13, 6-6 SWBL West) was scheduled to play at Middletown Madison on Monday, Feb. 7 with the winner claiming sole possession of second place behind division champion Valley View.
The Eagles, the No. 7 seed, will open sectional tournament play on Saturday, Feb. 12 against No. 3 seed Benjamin Logan. The game is scheduled for a noon tipoff at Tecumseh High School.
