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CIRCLEVILLE — With every bounce of the basketball, Logan Elm’s youth-filled roster continues to add confidence to its resume.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
Following Monday’s 34-22 win at Washington — the team’s first win this winter and one that snapped a 33-game losing streak — the Braves handed Westfall a 50-34 loss on Wednesday.
And they did so behind an ever-growing starting five that doesn’t include an upperclassmen in freshmen Kimmy Petty, Kiki Ingram, Claire King and Kennedy Groff, as well as sophomore Hannah Rhoads.
“Monday was huge for us to get that first win, just to show the girls that what we’re doing in practice is working,” Logan Elm coach Jennifer Blue said. “It showed the girls that we can get over that hump. To put two [wins] together makes it even better. It’ll make for a nice day of practice tomorrow. Coming into practice [on Tuesday] was like a breath of relief. We finally got that mark in the win column.”
Standing out in that starting five on Wednesday was Petty, who provided a spark immediately.
The youngster spent the majority of the first quarter frustrating Westfall’s offense by jumping in passing lanes, hustling to loose balls and turning defensive pressure into points on the board.
After the first eight minutes, Petty had outscored Westfall’s entire team by a 10-7 margin.
“She’s a defensive beast and that’s where she scored a lot of her points,” Blue said. “She picked their pockets and it led to lay-ups on the other end. Kimmy puts in a ton of work. She stays after practice, she’s in here on Sundays and you can see it in her game. She deserves the credit.”
Petty’s superb play paced Logan Elm (2-5) to a 20-7 lead after the first eight minutes — a hole Westfall was never able to crawl out of.
However, that wasn’t for lack of effort on the Mustangs’ part. By halftime, thanks to production from WF’s Alyssa Wyman and Paige Weiss, the Braves’ lead had dwindled to seven at 26-19.
That trend continued in the third.
Wyman hit a triple with 4:24 to play before Weiss connected on the front end of two free throws to finish a 6-2 run and erode LE’s lead to 28-25. However, that was as close as they’d get.
PHOTOS: Images from Logan Elm’s win over Westfall
Petty scored through contact and hit the foul shot for a 31-25 with 45.7 seconds left and Ingram later stretched the advantage to 35-27 with a bucket coming at the 4:44 mark in the fourth.
Then came the dagger, courtesy of Groff. The freshman nailed a 3 with 2:27 remaining, making it 41-32, before later dialing long distance a second time to put the win on ice.
“It’s huge in a confidence sense,” Blue said. “Kennedy is probably our best pure shooter in practice but she won’t shoot in the game sometimes. So to see her step up and take those shots, without even thinking about it, is huge. When she hit the first one, she was confident the second one was going in, too. Those were two huge 3s for us.”
All 50 of Logan Elm’s points were scored by freshmen. If that isn’t a sign of good things to come, you may not ever find one.
“I can’t say enough about our freshmen,” Blue said. “They’ve come to this level and they’ve really stepped up. The sky’s the limit for them. They just have to realize the potential they have.”
Stat book
Petty led the Braves with a game-high 22 points, five rebounds and three assists. Following those numbers was Ingram, who finished with 12 points, five rebounds and three dimes. Groff followed with 10 points and eight boards, and King added six points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Westfall (1-6) was led by Weiss, who ended the evening with 15 points, four rebounds and three assists while Alyssa Wyman had five points, four boards and two helpers. Aubrey Clark also chipped in with six points and seven rebounds.
What’s on tap
While Westfall looks to get back on track Saturday evening at Southeastern, Logan Elm will try and continue its winning ways at Bloom-Carroll on Friday.
Beating the unbeaten Bulldogs is certainly a tall task. But Goliath has fallen before.
“We want to stay competitive and play our game,” Blue said. “That’s all we can do. Where everything else falls is where it falls. But we have to be able to cut down on turnovers and execute how we want to execute. I think this group can battle with anyone at any time if they put their minds to it.”
BOX SCORE
Westfall: 7-12-8-7 — 34
Logan Elm: 20-6-7-17 — 50
Westfall: 10-48 FG, 11-13 FT, 3-13 3pt., 25 rebounds (Clark 7), 17 turnovers, 6 assists (Weiss 3). Scoring: Weiss 15, Clark 6, Wyman 5, Packer 4, Moehl 4.
Logan Elm: 14-38 FG, 18-25 FT, 4-14 3pt., 32 rebounds (King 10), 20 turnovers, 9 assists (Petty 3, Ingram 3). Scoring: Petty 22, Ingram 12, Groff 10, King 6.
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