Published: November 14, 2007 12:12 am            

PREP ROUNDUP: Panthers win girls swimming opener

Northwestern, Western pick up wins in girls basketball

No. 10-ranked Western topped No. 13 Kokomo 107-79 in a girls swimming dual meet Tuesday at Western.

Western dominated the matchup of state ranked teams by winning nine of the 12 events. Quadruple winners Chelsea Weber, Rae Andrews and Kait Flederbach led the charge.

Individually, Weber won the 200-meter freestyle (2:15.41) and 500 freestyle (6:04.91), Andrews won the 100 freestyle (:56.88) and 100 breast stroke (1:12.75), and Flederbach touched first in the 50 freestyle (:24.42) and 100 butterfly (:59.99).

In the relays, Andrews and Weber teamed with Callie Swigart and Morgan Oilar to win the 200 medley relay (2:01.09). Flederbach, Andrews, Swigart and Chelsea Scott won the 200 freestyle relay (1:51.55) and Weber, Flederbach, Oilar and Brittany Pinson won the 400 freestyle (4:04.48).

“This is one of the hardest lineups to figure out in terms of who is the best in what,” Western coach Brad Bennett said. “We had a lot of really good swims, and we had a lot of girls swim better then they did at the end of last year. Weber had an outstanding night, Oilar had an outstanding split time in the last relay to head off [Kokomo’s Katie] Hingst and Andrews and Flederbach had a couple of really nice swims.”

Hingst was a double winner for Kokomo. She won the 200 individual medley (2:18.01) and 100 backstroke (1:03.64). Also for the Kats, Brittany Gauger won the 1-meter springboard diving competition with a score of 205.40.

“We feel like we are off to a really good start,” Kokomo coach Brian Hindson said. “We have a lot of young swimmers, and we are looking very promising. They are close to their times from last year. Gauger gave our team a big boost by winning the diving.”

Northwestern 127, Carroll 59

Shelby Roberts, Ally Goodnight and Emily Thompson each won two individual events to lead the Purple Tigers to a convincing win in their season opener.

Roberts won the 200 IM (2:31.93) and 100 butterfly (1:08.39), Goodnight was tops in the 50 freestyle (27.3 seconds) and 100 freestyle (1:02.71) and Thompson won the 200 freestyle (2:14.61) and 500 freestyle (5:54.05).

The Tigers finished 1-2-3 in the 200 IM and in the 100 backstroke. Katie Wilkinson (2:47.43) and Hanna Gray (2:49.52) followed Roberts in the IM. Casey Reed (1:19.47), Claire Schoenian (1:20.58) and Abby Tice (1:23.21) swept the top three spots in the backstroke.

Also for Northwestern, Wilkinson won the 100 breast stroke in 1:20.97; Thompson, Wilkinson, Roberts and Rachel Schoenian won the medley relay in 2:10.20; Claire Schoenian, Rachel Schoenian, Rebecca Sloss and Goodnight won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:56.27; and Roberts, Goodnight, Rachel Schoenian and Thompson took first in the 400 freestyle relay in 4:22.19.

“They came out like gangbusters,” Northwestern coach Cindy Britten said of her swimmers and divers. “I was so proud of all of them. They are swimming really strong and they are far ahead of where we were last year at this time. I can probably attribute that to the kids being in the weight room in the preseason and now as the season is progressing. They are just working hard. I’m really, really pleased.”

Northwestern hosts Clinton Central Thursday.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Northwestern 73, Tipton 31

The Purple Tigers (2-0) put the game out of reach early. They led 27-5 at the end of first quarter, 46-13 at halftime and 61-24 at the end of the third quarter on their way to the 42-point win.

“In both of our games, we have had tremendous starts,” Northwestern coach Todd Miller said. “We got a big lead early by scoring the first 16 points. The girls have come out really focused. The intensity and hustle doesn’t drop off at all, and we are really proud of the girls for that. We knew that Tipton was going to make it a full-court game, and we had a lot of fast-break opportunities.”

Becki Lowden led Northwestern with 14 points. Natalie Appelhans and Lindsey Sewell each had 12 points and Becca Cardwell had 11.

Courtney Comer led Tipton (0-2) with nine points.

Western 58, Carroll 40

Western (1-2) bolted to a 24-5 lead by the end of the first quarter and never looked back.

“It was a much better game then the one we played on Saturday,” Western coach Steve Hoppes said. “We came back after a pretty tough game. Our shooting percentage was much better because we worked on shooting this week. Our girls’ confidence came back as we hit five [3-pointers] in the first quarter. We are an outside shooting team, and we are going to rely a lot with the outside shot.”

A.J. Finch led Western with 18 points and Brooke Lewis added 15.

Abby Reinke led Carroll (0-2) with 11 points.

Rossville 27, Eastern 24

Eastern connected on just 1 of 10 shots from the field in the opening quarter to set the tone for a cold offensive performance.

Rossville led 5-2 after the opening quarter, 13-11 at halftime and 21-16 after three quarters. Rossville took a one-point lead into the final minute. Eastern had a chance to take the lead, but was unable to capitalize.

“Give Rossville a lot of credit. They came in with a good game plan that made it hard for our post kids to score inside,” Eastern coach Mike Springer said. “They really clogged the lane up. They played a triangle-and-two and a box-and-one and just did a really nice job of planting a lot of people in the lane.

“Rossville made us shoot it from the perimeter and we did not shoot the ball very well. We were 10 of 43 [from the field]. … Defensively, we hold them to 27 points, and you’d think that is good enough to win the game, but we just struggled shooting the ball.”

Chelsea Wilson scored 10 points to lead the Comets. Kayleigh Lindsay followed with seven points.

Eastern (1-1) hosts Clinton Central Friday.

No. 2 Oak Hill 68, Taylor 45

Taylor (0-2) kept close to Class 2A No. 2-ranked Oak Hill in the first half, but the Golden Eagles pulled away from their 25-20 advantage to win going away.

“In the second half, their athleticism and defensive pressure took over,” Taylor coach Dennis Bentzler said. “I am not disappointed in our girls. Oak Hill is a great team. We just got to play more physical.”

Teri Oliver led Taylor with 22 points and Shelby Wall followed with 14.

Taylor hosts Tri-Central Friday.

Kenny Hetzler and Bryan Gaskins compiled this roundup.

        

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