Hounds Out Pace Panthers

Route 35 neighbors Twin Valley South and Dixie squared off on Monday.  Despite a near even first quarter (11-9 Dixie) where the competition was keen, Dixie rose to shake off South’s challenge and extended their lead to win going away in the second half.  Dixie’s defense was spot on in the third quarter where they limited South to a single basket. When the final horn sounded it was a consummate victory for the Hounds 50-21.  South was lead in scoring by freshman Mylan Crews with 9, while Dixie’s Ashley Leis scored 13.

South’s coach Mabry, “I thought we played well early – we tried some new things defensively to get Dixie off balance.  We also tried some new rotations with the girls.  We’ve struggled offensively trying to find a rhythm.  The girls need to learn that sometimes they need to be a little patient.  We need to work the ball around a little bit and execute a little better.”

He continued, “I know we are a young team – starting a freshmen, a couple of sophomores and a junior that hasn’t played since junior high.  But it’s the middle of season and we should be catching on more. Now we do play well in spurts, we had some good minutes against Mississinewa Valley.  We don’t have much of an inside game, but we need to flash to the post and kick it out if the defense collapses on us.  Doing little things like that can help.”

Newton: “Newton has been playing pretty good lately.  They are fairly athletic.  We will have to see how we match up.”

Dixie’s coach Crowe, “We played our last JV game on Saturday.  They have lost 3 girls this season, so we are playing varsity only the rest of the way.  South – I have to give them credit, they came out to play in the first quarter.  They matched our energy, but I thought they were a lot more intense – they were flying after loose balls and all.  But as the game progressed, I thought that our girls got into the flow of the game.  In the second half, we just kind of took over.  It might have been the day off school, but it took a while to get them motivated.”

Shell and Leis:  “Cassidy Shell has been a real leader this year.  She went from scoring like 2 points a game last year to this year where she is averaging about 12 points a game.  She has really elevated her level, she is a senior that we are going to miss this year. Ashley Leis is a junior and I thought she did a good job of attacking the basket.  She got a lot of good looks close to the rim and knocked down 2 3’s. She’s another kid that elevated her play here halfway thru the season.”

Carlisle: “It should be a good match up. We are in third place in the division and they are in 4^th. So it should be a pretty tight game.  It’s funny that we have played several teams in our division twice already, but this will be our first game against them.”

Scoring for Dixie: Joo 4, Wylie 2, Shell 12, Morrison 4, Leis 13, Honeywell 5, Kilbarger 2, Berkte 8. Scoring for TVS: Crews 9, Hutchins 5, Creech 2, Keener 4, Newhart 1.