Coming off of a tough loss at Ponitz last week, the Bethel girls’ basketball team wanted to get back on track on Saturday hosting Ansonia, trying to get a league victory.

It was a big defensive play in the closing seconds that gave the Bees a 34-33 win over the Tigers.

“It was a struggle all the way through,” said Bethel coach Mark Mays. “We played good defense and kept their scoring down. We had quite a few steals and played well on that side of the ball.”

“We were patient with our offense, and our girls did what they had to do to get the win.”

Alaina Hawthorn led the Bees with 12 points, while Becky Schweiterman added six and Claudia Lowery scored five.

Ansonia tool a 33-32 lead with under a minute left before Bethel came back. The Bees scored with seconds left on a shot around the rim by Hawthorn to get the lead, and the Bees got the block on the final shot to preserve the win.

The game was tied 15-15 at the half. Bethel was down 10-0 at one point of the game, and they crawled back to make it 10-8 after one period. Bethel held Ansonia to seven points in the second quarter.

“We told them they were involved in a close game and the winner would be who wants it more,” Mays said. “It is where champions are born and learning to win a close game. It was this time last year where we won at Bradford by one and it turned our season around. They have matured throughout the season.”

Also last week, Bethel lost to Pointz 55-53 in a game that was back and forth.

“It was up and down the floor type of game, a transition game,” Mays said. “We had our offense going in that game.”

Ponitz led 28-27 at half, and the Bees clung to a 40-38 lead heading to the fourth.

In the fourth quarter, Ponitz scored 17 points, and Romaine scored a three with seconds left to give them the win.

Hawthorn had 25 in the loss and Schweiterman added 14.

“It seems like when we are scoring points, the other team is scoring as well, it reminded me of the Arcanum game where we are doing the right things but they are scoring with us,” Mays said. “We were playing our defense, but couldn’t get any stops at the other end. We just couldn’t put it over the top. We are playing well and doing the right things we just couldn’t get the stops.”

Bethel drops to 2-6 on the season.

The Bees are back in action Saturday hosting Covington at 12:00/1:30.

Bethel Boys Basketball

Bethel defeated Twin Valley South 76-56 in conference play last week. Caleb South scored 31 points in the win for the Bees, while Jesse Nickell added 12 and Tyler Terry scored 10.

On Saturday, the Bees struggled to survive in a win against Legacy Christian 66-59. South led the Bees with 16, while Kendal James added 11 and Terry had ten.

Bethel is back in action at National Trail on Friday.