Becca Neville
LIBERTY, Ind. – The Winchester girls basketball team had a simple outlook this week as the Falcons drew the bye in the Class 2A Union County Sectional.
“Our goal was take it day-by-day and just win tonight,” Winchester Head Coach Holly Gutierrez said. “My girls have worked so hard and we’re happy to be there.”
“There” is the championship game after the Falcons posted a 67-55 victory over Centerville in Friday’s second game. In Saturday’s title match-up Winchester (12-11) faces Lincoln (13-10), which beat Union County 52-45 in the other semifinal affair. The Falcons are looking for their 15th sectional crown and first since 2013.
“It’s going to be a hard game for us,” Gutierrez said. “Lincoln is red hot right now. They looked really good tonight.”
Winchester won the regular season contest between the two teams 67-64 in Cambridge City on Dec. 12.
Perhaps the main reason for the Falcons moving on Friday night was a 24-point, 28-rebound performance from Becca Neville.
“She was an animal tonight getting the boards like she did,” Gutierrez said. “She was huge. I credit that to my other bigs (Kira Robinson and Shelby Miller).”
“That was a piece we were missing,” she added. “That has helped her and they’ve come along way.”
Robinson finished with seven points, while Miller added five.
Mariah Roberts added 14 points for the Falcons and Liz Pegg tossed in 10.
Although the Bulldogs were on top early in the game, Winchester led 16-12 after the first quarter and 35-26 at the intermission. Once gaining the lead, the Falcons were able to maintain their advantage throughout the contest.
Merissa Ross
Centerville’s season ends at 5-16.
“It was a tough one,” Centerville Head Coach Jason Searcy said. “We just had trouble matching their size all night long.”
“Our girls did a pretty good job of doing what we asked them to do,” Searcy continued. “But when they are 6-7 inches taller, that’s a difficult task.”
Searcy was also impressed by Neville.
“She was attacking the basket and going for every loose ball,” he said. “We blocked out pretty good we just didn’t go get the ball.”
Merissa Ross, who signed a National Letter of Intent earlier in the day to play soccer at Saint Joesph’s College in Rensselaer, Ind., led the Bulldogs with 23 points.
“I’m proud of the effort our kids gave,” Searcy said. “We had opportunities.”
In addition to Ross, Centerville’s other seniors are Lauren Honkomp, Kaylin Smith, Madilyn Coomes and Maggie Curts.
“I’m going to miss our seniors,” Searcy said. “It’s a great group of kids. (They are) great students in the classroom and off the court. They’ve got a bright future.”
Honkomp finished the night with 15 points that included an 11-of-13 performance from the free throw line. She also grabbed 10 rebounds.
Box Score
WINCHESTER (12-11) – Sierrah Love 0 0-0 0, Kelly Graft 0 0-0 0, Mariah Roberts 5 3-4 14, Liz Pegg 3 3-6 10, Becca Neville 12 0-3 24, Hannah Graft 3 0-0 7, Kira Robinson 3 1-3 7, Shelby Miller 2 1-2 5, Autumn Dixon 0 0-0 0. Team – 28 8-18 67.
CENTERVILLE (5-16) – Lauren Honkomp 2 11-13 15, Merissa Ross 8 3-6 23, Savanna Kates 2 1-5 5, Maggie Curts 0 0-0 0, Kaylin Smith 2 0-0 4, Madilyn Coomes 1 0-0 2, Alex McFarland 0 0-0 0, Cassidy Weiss 2 2-4 6. Mackenzie Tipton 0 0-0 0. Team – 17 17-28 55.
Winchester 16 35 53 67
Centerville 12 26 42 55
3-pointers – Winchester 3 (Roberts 1, Pegg 1, H.Graft 1), Centerville 4 (Ross 4). Rebounds – Winchester 56 (Neville 28), Centerville 40 (Honkomp 10). Turnovers – Winchester 22, Centerville 14. Fouls – Winchester 19, Centerville 19.
Sectional Championships by TEC Teams
Winchester (14): 1977, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1999, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013.
Hagerstown (5): 1993, 1994, 1995, 2009, 2015.
Northeastern (5): 1990, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2011.
Tri (5): 1998, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2014.
Union City (5): 1985, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003.
Lincoln (3): 1983, 2004, 2005.
Centerville (1): 2012.
Union County (1): 2006.