The Connersville Lady Spartan varsity basketball team advanced to the sectional semifinals following a 50-30 first round win over the Hamilton Heights Lady Huskies in Yorktown on Tuesday.
The Lady Spartans opened the first quarter with an 11-3 first quarter run. The Lady Huskies had a 6-0 run in the second quarter to cut the Connersville lead to 4 points 15-1. The Lady Spartans closed the first half with an 8-2 run to take a 23-11 lead into the break. The Connersville defense held Hamilton Heights to 30 points below their season average.
“Our top goal [on Tuesday] was lock down defense,” Connersville Head Coach Shana Williams said. “We’ve talked about how great our defense had been lately. We’ve keeping teams under their averages.”
Three Lady Spartans were in double figures with senior Ahniyah Bennett contributing 20 points to lead all scorers. Senior Serenity Pennington had 10 points for the Lady Spartans with sophomore Kendyl Bottomley scoring 10. Junior Kinze Van Meter scored 2 points. Senior Addie Jones had 5 points and contributed defensively along with senior Maddie Harrison with valuable contributions off the bench.
“I’m so proud of Maddie Harrison and Addie Jones,” Williams said. “Maddie came off the bench and had 8 rebounds [at halftime]. I know Addie is not happy because her shot wasn’t falling, but she’s our general, and we feed off that. I’m so proud of both of them.”
Hamilton Heights freshman Riley Suarez had 18 points to lead the Lady Huskies in scoring. Junior Kamryn Rhoton had 7 points for Hamilton Heights with freshman Zoey Curry collecting 5. Absent from Tuesday’s game was freshman Bayleigh Eisele, who contributed 17 points in a 50-47 regular season win over Connersville at Hamilton Height in December. Williams talked about the need going forward for the Lady Spartans to play with composure while holding a lead.
“A team like [Hamilton Heights] can score very quickly,” Williams said. “You’ve got a value every possession. Us taking our time shows more maturity, and what we’ve learned from our from our losses throughout the season.”
The Lady Spartans will play the host Lady Tigers in the 7:30 p.m. semifinal in Yorktown on Friday. Yorktown sits at 9-12 on the season and average 49 points per game, offensively. Yorktown surrenders 43 points per game to opposing offenses. The Lady Spartans score 54 points per game while holding opponents to 54 points per game. The 2024-25 Lady Tigers defeated Connersville 49-42 in the semis following a Lady Spartan bye at the Spartan Bowl last season. Yorktown and Delta (15-8) received byes at the Selection Show on Sunday, January 25. The 16-7 Jay County Lady Patriots defeated New Castle 55-46 in Game 1 on Tuesday, and will play Delta in the 6:00 p.m. semifinal on Friday. Friday’s winners will play for the Claa 3A Sectional 24 championship in Yorktown at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.
“We have two days to get some practice, go over some things, and be ready to come back here on Friday,” Williams said.
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