Area girls teams look to rebound this weekend

Three of the five girls basketball teams in Jackson County played Tuesday night, but only one came out victorious.
Crothersville improved to 9-3 after a conference win at Henryville. Seymour lost its second straight after Columbus East won on its home floor, and Trinity Lutheran lost at Christian Academy.

Tonight, Brownstown Central and Medora will open 2009, and Crothersville will play its final game of the week.

BC ended 2008 on a four-game winning streak, and those wins were against Mid Southern Conference teams.

The Braves (5-4) will have a non-conference contest tonight at South Decatur, and will be back in MSC action on Saturday afternoon at Charlestown. The Cougars are 3-4 and have lost four of their last five games. The Charlestown Pirates are 5-6, but they play New Washington tonight.

BC is averaging 54.7 points per game this season, and they reached the 80-point mark twice in their past four games. The Cougars have an average of 47.4 through 10 games, and the Pirates are at 42.4 in 11 games.

Medora looks to pick up its first win of the season tonight against Springs Valley, which is a potential sectional opponent. It will be a varsity-only game.

The Blackhawks are struggling this season, as they have a 2-9 record and have lost four straight., but they won last year's contest 72-14.

The Hornets haven't played since Dec. 15, when they played host to Crothersville.

After that game, coach Brad McCammon said his team needs to be more patient with the ball and move inside.

"I just tried to tell them that if you run the set and look for what's in the post and get the ball (inside), you'll get some shots," McCammon said. "We've got to do a better job of just recognizing to not dribble into double-teams and understand you can't dribble against a zone defense. You've got to move the ball and pass it. We have a bad habit of just dribbling, pounding it and picking it up and you're in trouble."

Trinity Lutheran plays at 7 p.m. tonight in a varsity-only contest with West Washington.

The Cougars haven't won since defeating Cannelton in the Orleans tournament in mid-December. Their last two losses have been within 10 points, and coach Renee Scoville said she is seeing improvements in her young team.

West Washington is 2-8, and their wins came against Medora early in the season, and last weekend, they defeated Cannelton in an overtime game.

Crothersville will have a varsity-only contest at Christian Academy (8-5) at 6 p.m. tonight. After Tuesday's game, Tigers coach Andrew Nehrt said his team played its best first quarter of the season.

"Anytime playing on the road and getting a conference win, it's good for us," Nehrt said. Crothersville is 3-0 in the Southern Athletic Conference.

While tonight's game isn't an SAC game, Nehrt said, "We are fully planning on a tough game at Christian Academy. They are playing some good basketball right now. We will just need to be focused and ready to play when we get down there."

Finally, the Seymour Lady Owls will try to get back to winning on Saturday afternoon at Mitchell. The Bluejackets are 9-2 and have won eight straight, but they play Salem tonight.

The Owls recently have had trouble connecting on layups, free throws and 3-pointers, and coach Beth DeVinney said making those is essential.  

"We've just got to settle down and get back to playing good basketball," DeVinney said after Tuesday's loss at Columbus East, "and that comes with your work ethic in practice and focusing more on your shooting and your free throws."  

Area Schedule

Tonight
6 p.m. - Brownstown Central at South Decatur (JV-V)
6 p.m. - Crothersville at Christian Academy (V)
6 p.m. - Springs Valley at Medora (V) 
7 p.m. - West Washington at Trinity Lutheran (V)
Saturday
Noon - Brownstown Central at Charlestown (JV-V)
1 p.m. - Seymour at Mitchell (JV-V)