The Connersville Lady Spartan varsity basketball team concluded the 2025-26 regular season at 16-7 following a split with the East Central Lady Trojans and the Lawrenceburg Lady Tigers in a pair of Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference contests at the Spartan Bowl.
The Lady Spartans failed to claim a share of the EIAC regular season championship in a 48-43 loss to East Central on Friday. Connersville rose to sixth in Class 3A in the Sagarin Ratings and currently sit at ninth.
The Lady Spartans opened Friday’s contest with a 15-10 first quarter. East Central closed the first half with a 16-5 run in the second quarter to take a 26-20 lead into the halftime break. The Lady Trojans held a 9-point lead at 37-28 heading into the fourth quarter and led 42-28 with 4:50 remaining in regulation.
East Central sophomore Natalie Stenger had 21 points to lead all scorers. Junior Audrina Dugan had 12 points for the Lady Trojans. Two Lady Spartans were in double figures led by sophomore Kyndal Bottomley with 19 points. Senior Ahniyah Bennett contributed 13 points for Connersville.
The Lady Spartans closed the game on a 15-6 run and got to within one possession at 45-43 with 0:15 remaining in the fourth quarter. Senior Serenity Pennington had 6 points for the Lady Spartans with senior Addison Jones contributing 3. Junior Kinze Van Meter rounded out the Connersville scoring with 2 points.
The Lady Spartans rebounded for a 52-38 win over Lawrenceburg in the regular season finale on Saturday. Three Lady Spartans were in double figures against Lawrenceburg with Pennington contributing 20 points to lead all scorers. Jones had 12 points for Connersville with Bennett collecting 10.
The Lady Spartans led 17-11 after the first quarter and took a 34-22 lead into halftime. Senior Aubree Labazzo had 19 points for the Lady Tigers with senior Kylie Kelsey contributing 11. Lawrenceburg opened the second half with a 7-2 run in the third quarter to cut the Connersville lead to 7-points as 36-29 heading into the fourth. The Lady Spartans closed with a 16-9 fourth quarter run. Van Meter had 6 points for Connersville with Bottomley contributing 4.
Connersville will have a rematch with the 14-6 Hamilton Heights Lady Huskies in Game 2 of the Indiana High School Athletic Association Class 3A Sectional 24 tournament in Yorktown at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The Lady Spartans fell to the Lady Huskies 50-47 in a competitive non-conference regular season contest at Hamilton Heights on Saturday, December 6.
Connersville averages 54.5 points per game on the season while surrendering 39.2 points to opposing offenses. The Lady Huskies score 61 points per game while giving up 50 points on average.
Pennington (13 ppg), Bottomley (11.8 ppg), Bennett (11.2 ppg), and Jones 10.9 ppg) all average double figures on the season. Bottomley leads Connersville in rebounding at 8.4 per game with Bennett contributing 3.7 assists. Pennington leads the Lady Spartan defense with 3.7 steals per game. Freshman Riley Suarez leads Hamilton Heights with 21.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. The Lady Huskies feature 4 freshmen in their starting lineup.
The game 2 winner will play the host Lady Tigers in the second semi-final at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The thirteenth ranked Jay County Lady Patriots will take on the twenty-seventh ranked Lady Trojans on New Castle in Game 1 at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The Game 1 winner will play the twenty-eighth ranked Delta Lady Eagles in Friday’s first semi-final. All six of the Sectional 24 participants are ranked in the Class 3A top 50 with Hamilton Heights coming in at 30, and Yorktown at 42.
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