Published: November 28, 2007 12:27 am            

PREP ROUNDUP: Comets beat Norse; move above .500

Western boys, NW girls pick up swim wins

The Eastern girls basketball team improved to 3-2 on the season with a 56-44 win over Northfield on the Comet court Tuesday. Chelsea Wilson led the way with 20 points and nine rebounds. Kayleigh Lindsay scored 14 and Rachel Bray added a dozen for the victors.

Eastern took control in the first half with a strong defensive effort that led to a 33-18 lead.

“We had lots of kids contribute a lot of positive things,” Eastern coach Mike Springer said. “We played really well in the first half. We put a lot of pressure on Northfield and were able to get them to have 20 of their 31 turnovers in the first half.

Springer noted some big hoops by the top scorers, and a lot of big plays from kids who don’t get a lot of points.

“I think the important thing was we had kids playing extremely hard and doing a lot of things that don’t show up in the scorebook,” he said. “We just had a very good team win.”

Eastern visits Cass on Saturday.

Cass 51, Manchester 45

The Kings trailed by three points at halftime, down 22-19, but rallied to take the lead in the third quarter en route to a narrow victory.

Taylor DeHaven led Cass with 25 points including a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line. Emily Watkins added a dozen points. DeHaven sparked the Kings in the third stanza.

“(DeHaven) had 13 of our 19 third-quarter points,” Cass coach Steve Ford said. “She did a nice job of making good decisions with the basketball, she was driving the paint, pulling up and taking the jumper, or driving to the basket and getting fouled and in some cases making a 3-point play out of it.

“I really thought Taylor carried us on offense, but the key was our defensive intensity really turned up a notch in the third quarter.”

Without that spark, Ford said it was an even game. Instead, the Kings turned the action their way.

“I think the aggressiveness on defense really transitioned over into our offense.”

Cass hosts Eastern on Saturday.

BOYS SWIMMING

Western 99, Harrison 86

The Panthers took first in just six events, but had enough depth to take their season opener in their home pool.

Western was particularly strong in the relay events. Russell Showers, Mitch Hill, Jordan Garibaldi and Jake Phillips combined to take the 200 medley in 1:58.58 while Garibaldi, Hill, Showers and Eric Cashler won the 400 free relay in 3:45.25. And Cody Cross, Phillips, Matt Flederbach and Cashler won the 200 free relay in 1:42.93.

Showers also won the 50 free (23.57), Flederbach won the 100 free (58.50) and Hill took the 100 breaststroke (1:11.65).

“It was a good first meet. Harrison’s always a really tough opener but our boys have been preparing for it and evidently did enough work to beat them,” Western coach Brad Bennett said.

Western’s next action is Thursday at Carroll.

GIRLS SWIMMING

Northwestern 125, Marion 60

The Purple Tigers cruised in the Marion tank, spreading the wealth among a host of winners. Ten Tigers snagged blue ribbons on the evening, led by triple winners Emily Thompson and Ally Goodnight.

Thompson won the 200 free (2:11.22) and the 500 free (5:48.37) and teamed with Jennifer Claudio, Karen Carr, Joanna Rozsahegyi to win the 400 free relay (4:36.13). Goodnight won the 50 free (27.72) and the 100 free (1:03.62) and swam with Nicki Hendricks, Tara Good and Lizzy Hubenthal to win the 200 free relay (2:05.01).

In addition, Shelby Roberts won the 200 IM (2:32.60) and the 100 butterfly (1:09.76), and Claire Schoenian won the 100 backstroke (1:16.98).

“It’s nice if we can get a good win like this with a big school like Marion,” NW coach Cindy Britten said. “(Our) girls swam really well. I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going up against but for the most part, got to do a little bit of adjusting and playing around with relays to give some of the younger kids a chance to swim and get some points. I was really proud of the girls. They did a really good job.”

Northwestern hosts Logansport on Thursday.

Pedro Velazco compiled this roundup.

        

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