Aaron Kirchoff
Rushville Republican
RUSHVILLE —
Sectional 29 kicked off Tuesday as host Rushville entertained Batesville
in the opening game of the tournament. The Lady Lions used a 22-6 run that
spanned part of the first and second quarters to distance themselves from
the Lady Bulldogs en route to the 59-42 victory.
With the win, the Lady Lions (18-3) advance to face Lawrenceburg (9-11) in
the first semifinal game at 6 p.m. Friday. The Lady Bulldogs end the
season at 13-8.
A rebound bucket by Rushville’s Keragan Niehoff opened the scoring.
Batesville countered with three straight points from Brooke Bradford for
its first lead of the contest. After a Kelsi Ash free throw knotted the
game, Batesville regained the lead on a bucket by Madi Oesterling. The
Lady Lions then got buckets by Casey Yager and Sarah Cook to lead 7-5. The
Lady Lions never trailed again.
Batesville’s Chelsey Paul hit a free throw with 3:59 to play in the first
quarter. Rushville then went on the 22-6 run. Mackenzie Campbell scored
seven straight for the Lady Lions before a bucket by Brooke Rohlfing put
the score at 14-8 heading to the second quarter.
Rushville scored the first four points to lead by 10 before buckets by
Bradford and Rohlfing cut the Rushville lead to 18-12.
The Lady Lions scored the next 11 points to take control of the game.
Campbell hit back-to-back 3-pointers. Mikayla Dougherty hit from beyond
the arc and Niehoff’s drive to the bucket made it 29-12. Batesville got
back-to-back scores from Bailey Baumer before Campbell’s bucket closed the
first half with the Lady Lions on top 31-16.
Cook and Ash combined to score the first six points of the third quarter
as the Lady Lion lead ballooned to 21 points. The Lady Bulldogs answered
with five straight points to cut the deficit to 37-21 with 4:34 to play in
the third. With the lead at 39-23, the Lady Lions scored seven straight to
double the Lady Bulldogs at 46-23. A Bradford triple and bucket by AJ
Connelly cut the third quarter deficit to 46-28 as the teams headed to the
final eight minutes.
Batesville cut the deficit to 16 points on a free throw by Rohlfing, but
Rushville scored the next seven – capped by another Campbell 3-pointer.
Batesville was only able to get within 17 points the rest of the way as
the Lady Lions moved to the sectional semifinal 59-42.
Campbell led all scorers with 20 points. Ash and Cook were also in double
figures for the Lady Lions with 12 and 11 respectively. Batesville was led
by Baumer with 12. Rohlfing finished with nine.
Box score
Rushville 59, Batesville 42
Scoring: Rushville – Dougherty 1 1 0-0 5, Campbell 3 4 2-2 20, Niehoff 4 0
1-2 9, Ash 5 0 2-6 12, Cook 4 0 3-6 11, Yager 1 0 0-0 2. Totals 17 5 8-16
59. Batesville – Baumer 3 0 6-6 12, Thomas 0 0 1-2 1, Bradford 2 1 1-2 8,
Rohlfing 4 0 1-2 9, Paul 2 0 2-4 6, Oesterling 2 0 0-0 4, Connelly 1 0 0-1
2. Totals 14 1 11-17 42.
Contact: Aaron Kirchoff at 765-932-2222 ext. 114
