PITSBURG – The gusty winds helped blow in the Lady Devils of Brookville where they were promptly blown out by the high flying Lady Jets, 67-29 in this non-league Monday night encounter. The win for Abbey Moore’s Jets improves them to 9-3 overall and still remain 5-2 in the league with their only losses coming to powerhouses Tri-Village and Covington. The Brookville Blue Devils drop to 2-13 overall with their only wins coming against Cross County Conference foes Twin Valley South and Tri-County North. Incidentally that is who Franklin Monroe plays on Thursday and Saturday of this week in round ball action.
Leading the upstart Blue Devils for the game was 6-foot freshman Malerie Ross with 13 who was the only person in double figures for the blue and white. Ross was the boss for the Montgomery County squad as she hit from three land, two land and free throw land and scored in every single quarter. Franklin-Monroe countered with junior Belle Cable, who had a game-high 18 points and junior Chloe Peters who popped in a dozen for a combined 30 points, one more point than the Devils had for the game.
The first quarter was fairly competitive as Brookville got a triple from Ross to start the scoring to go up 3-0 at the 6:32 mark. Franklin-Monroe got the lead at the 4:04 mark and did not relinquish it again by tallying 10 straight points to go up 10-3 at the 1:57 mark. Brookville responded again with a long distance three from Abby Cousineau that hit nothing but net from the left quadrant which had all the Devil fans cheering in the quarter-filled gym. Franklin-Monroe finished things up in fine fashion by scoring 7 out of the next 9 points for a 17-8 lead. Brookville was led by Ross and Cousineau with a triple apiece, while Franklin-Monroe also showed balanced scoring in Chloe McGlinch with 5, followed closely by Peters and Cable with 4 apiece in the net.
Second quarter showings was all Franklin-Monroe as the whole ensemble ignited the Jet crowd by polishing off the Lady Devils upset hopes by hitting for 12 straight to have it read 29-8 at the 3:59 mark. Brookville’s Lady Devils finally hit the scoring column with 2:39 left to go in the frame for a 29-10 deficit. The rest of the quarter was highly competitive with scoring of 7 for the Jets while the Blue Devils had 5 for a 36-15 advantage for the Darke County squadron. Malerie Ross was again the scoring machine for the Devils as she hoisted in another 5 out of their total of 7 with her jump stop moves being effective. Cable was once again able to ring the scoring bell for the blue and white with 7 to give her double digits of 11 points going into intermission. Stella Shellabarger and Peters both chipped in 3 apiece to help give the Jets to a comfortable 21-point advantage heading to the locker room.
Third quarter theatrics showed the Franklin-Monroe Jets offense and defense working in sync with devastating results for the visiting Blue Devils. The synergy shown by the Jets was self evident as they rattled off 21 points for the quarter and only gave up a mere 6 to the Brookville squad. The Jets were propelled by scoring jaunts of five in a row and then 10 in a row to totally deflate the other blue and white squad that made the short jaunt down Route 49. Brookville had three players score a deuce apiece in Emily Mason, Ross and Cousineau for its six counters. Franklin-Monroe unleashed seven players in the scoring column for this eight minutes of action as all players got to see floor time. Corina Conley got into the mix with some inside moves for five, only to be matched by Peters. Lone senior Kennedy Morris along with Shellabarger and Cable all hit from beyond the arc with a trey.
Both teams emptied their benches in the fourth quarter, but the frame was still full of action on the hardwood even though not many points were displayed on the scoreboard. It was almost a stalemate in wrestling terms as Franklin-Monroe notched in 10 markers while Brookville maneuvered for 8. Brookville matched its most productive quarter with four players scoring and were led by Ross, who had three.
Freshman Skylar Bauman and Cable both flung in four apiece for the energetic Jets in their 38-point decisive win over Southwestern Buckeye League foe Brookville. Interesting to note is that the Jets did fly to the hoop but not the free throw line very often as they only attempted six for the game and only launched one in the entire second half.
”This was a good win for us because you never know what you are going to get on a Monday night. Our free throw shooting must improve as we work at it in practice and some days it shows up like against National Trail, but tonight we were two of six. We shot the ball well tonight and were very unselfish. Our efforts were good on the defensive end and this helped us get the ball out and go on our offensive runs of 10 to 12 points in a row. We must be ready each night out in the conference as each team is improving and we have two league games this week in (Tri-County) North and (Twin Valley) South,” Moore said.
Scoring for Brookville: Marissa Neff 2, Hannah Smart 2, Bailyn Kimberlin 3, Ross 13, Abby Edds 2, Cousineau 5, Mason 2 for 29 points. Two triples, eight regulars and seven free throws out of 11 for 64 percent.
Scoring for Franklin-Monroe: Bauman 8, Cable 18, Conley 9, Morris 5, McGlinch 7, Shellabarger 8, Peters 12 for 67 points. Seven triples, 22 regulars and two out of six free throws for 33 percent.
