It has been a rollercoaster ride for the Bethel girls’ basketball team.
After starting the season 2-7 overall, the Bees ran into some rough weather that forced an incredible NBA-type of schedule that saw the Bees play numerous games in a two-week span. They reeled off five consecutive wins to get back to .500, before losing their last three games.
Last Thursday, Bethel hosted Tri County North, a team led by sophomore Aubrey Stupp, who is the leading scorer in the CCC.
Bethel could never pull away until the final three minutes, where they put together a 16-10 run to close out the Panthers and earn the league win 63-51.
Kenna Gray led the way for Bethel with 22 points, while fellow freshman Olivia Reittinger added 18. Their goal was to hold Stupp under her average, which they did by only allowing 18 points, but also gave up 22 points to Megan Poling. It had been a rough week, as they also gave up 41 points earlier in the week to Covington junior Sammi Whiteman.
It was a lower scoring opening period, as the Bees jumped out on TCN 12-5 after the first eight minutes. Gray did the damage late by hitting consecutive threes in the final minute to open up a 6-5 lead for Bethel with two minutes left, and they took a 12-5 lead after one period.
Defensively, the Bees held Stupp to five points, which was everything the Panthers could muster.
Bethel extended their lead to 12 points late in the second period as Klaudia Lowry scored twice and Reittinger capping a 7-0 run and they built a 24-12 lead with 1:47 left in the half.
Megan Poling, who led Tri County North with 22 points, connected on consecutive three-point plays, then a buzzer beater from Stinson cut their deficit to 26-21 at the half.
Bethel never lost the lead in the second half, but the Panthers tied the game when Stupp hit a free throw.
In the fourth period, the Bees took their lead to double figures as Gray scored seven points and Bethel won their eighth game of the year.
*Bethel Boys Basketall- Bethel defeated Carroll early last week 89-70 in their only game of the week.
“We knew how important it was to play well against a good Carroll team,” Bethel coach Brett Kopp said. “We had to hit the open shots and we did. Caleb is close to 100% and he showed that on Tuesday night.”
“They play in the Greater Catholic League and they want to win 45-42 and we want to get an many shots as we can. We played at our pace. We made it tough on them all night.”
South led Bethel with 29 points, 10 assists and six rebounds, Alex Van Haaren added 22 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocks, while Ryan Rose contributed 15 points, seven rebounds, and Jacob Evans scored 10 points and five assists.
Bethel is now 15-3 overall, 10-0 CCC. They play at Tri Village on Friday.
