Headed into this week, the Bethel basketball program was off to a great start. The boys’ knocked off Northeastern last week, then went to Franklin Monroe for their first league contest of the year, and was victorious 60-43. As for the girls, they defeated the same FM Jets 35-20 to move their record to 3-0 overall going into this week’s games
The boys’ squad came out strong against Franklin Monroe with a 10-2 lead in the opening quarter as Caleb South scored six of the first eight points for the Bees. The Bees led by eight late in the period when the Jets came back to close the gap to 10-7 after the opening period of play.
South struck again to open the second, as his explosive step to the rim was productive and difficult to defend for the Jets. Evan Hawthorn capped the run for the Bees with a layup, pushing their lead out to 16-7 early in the second.
Nate Rimkus and Jacob Evans also added to the lead, and when South scored around the rim, the Bees saw their lead increase to 22-10. Bethel took a 27-17 lead into the half.
The third quarter saw the Bees increase their lead, as they pushed it up to 43-22 with 2;20 left in the third period, and maintained it through the fourth period for their second win of the season.
South led the Bees with 25 points while Ian Anderson added 14 and Rimkus scored 10. Hawthorn scored eight for the Bees.
Franklin Monroe was led by Zach Hyre with 23 points.
Bethel Girls Basketball: It has been a long time since the Bethel girls basketball team came out of the game 3-0. In fact last season, they only won four games overall. The Bees completed their third consecutive win to start the season with a 35-20 victory over league foe Franklin Monroe last week.
“The difference is they are buying into things,” said Bethel coach Mark Mays. “We are selling the defense, and are still learning to score. If you play good defense, they will help on the offensive end,”
Bethel converted 21 turnovers into some points, as they took a 19-2 lead after the first half, and led 24-4 heading to the fourth.
“We also had the chance to play a lot of people,” Mays said. “They scored 16 in the fourth against us and we talked to the younger kids about stepping up and playing with more intensity.”
Alaina Hawthorn led the way for the Bees with a game high 13 points, with Morgan Crase and freshman Kristen Bowman each scoring seven.
“The confidence is starting to build,” Mays said about the 3-0 start. “When you learn to win, people take note and the bullseye gets bigger and you have to play harder.”
Troy comes back tomorrow hosting Mississinawa Valley, then travels to Newton on Saturday for their first true test of the season against an Indians team who returns their top kids from a 20-win season last year.
