The final month of regular season action is here for the local girls' basketball teams, and here are a few games highlighted from last week as the teams focus on finishing strong and setting themselves up for the postseason. 

West Holmes 51, Mount Vernon 32

West Holmes (14-5, 12-1) had a solid lead at halftime but it was the third quarter where they shut out Mount Vernon (6-13, 4-9) that put the game out of reach in a big conference win.

This was the sixth straight win for the Knights, who have gotten hot just in time for the postseason.

“In the past month, we have been playing really well together,” Coach Lindsy Belden said. “We have different kids step up each night, which makes it hard to scout. Different players are our leading scorers each night. We have six players averaging between five and 10 points a game.”

West Holmes had an 11-8 lead after one quarter, and they pushed the momentum in the second quarter to take a 28-16 lead at halftime. The third quarter was completely dominant for the Knights, skunking the Yellow Jackets 16-0. Mount Vernon finished the game with a strong 16-7 fourth quarter, but the damage had already been done.

The Knights shot 33.3% and led 10-8 in assists and 16-7 in steals. Mount Vernon shot 25.7% and struggled with 23 turnovers. They had a 36-34 lead in rebounds in the game, however.

Top players for the Knights included Allie McMillen, Aveona Yoder and Keegan Uhl, as each player brought scoring, defense and court vision to the table. McMillen scored 11 points and had three assists and three boards. She was especially solid on defense with nine deflections and six steals. 

Yoder had 10 points, five boards, a steal and a block. Uhl had nine points, three rebounds and three assists. She was also a big defensive presence with four steals and six deflections.

“I thought some of the keys to this win were how well we played team defense,” said Belden. “Everyone did their part and we played as a cohesive unit. These defensive stops led to transition buckets for us, which gave us confidence down the stretch.”

Mount Vernon was led by Kymber Bell, who had a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds. She also had a pair of blocks. Madelyn Jones had nine points, three rebounds and four steals. Kaitlyn Thompson had six points, and controlled the glass with 10 boards. She also tallied two assists, a steal and two blocks. 

Ashland 49, Lexington 44

Ashland (9-11, 8-6) was riding a three game winning streak entering last week, but dropped a pair of games including a close conference loss to Lexington (10-10, 8-5) on Feb. 1, 49-44.

Freshman Kennedy Lacey had a solid game with 17 points, four rebounds and two steals. Camryn Cox did well on the glass with 10 boards to go with seven points, two steals and a block. Alex Huckleberry put up eight points, four boards, two steals and an assist.

Coach Renee Holt had high praise for the duo, saying that their work ethic and drive to succeed is top tier.

“Cox and Lacey are two of the hardest working post players in our area,” said Holt. “What has made them both better this season is their competitiveness in practice. Every drill or sprint matters to take them to the next level.”

On Feb. 3 the Arrows suffered a tough loss to Massillon Washington (13-5), 72-46. 

Lacey led the team in scoring again with 16 points, including going 6-for-9 from the foul line. Cox had 14 points for the Arrows.

The Arrows have the next 10 days off and they will use that time to get prepared to finish out the regular season strong.

“We need to continue to focus on what has got us to this point- pressure defense, taking care of the ball, and pushing the pace,” said Holt. “We do not play again until February 15th, so being able to rest, and focus on details this upcoming week will be huge for us going into the last two games, and then into tournament time.”

Fredericktown 67, Delaware Christian 42

Cally Carpenter put together one of her best games of the season with 30 points on 11-for-18 shooting, leading the Freddies (10-8, 6-5) to a non-conference win over Delaware Christian (8-9, 6-5) on Feb. 3.

Fredericktown took a 15-9 lead after one quarter and went into halftime up 28-22. The Freddies had a 21-12 advantage in the third and continued to pile it on in the fourth quarter with an 18-8 frame.

Carpenter was 2-for-4 from three, and tallied six rebounds, four assists and four steals to lead Fredericktown. She is currently second in the KMAC in scoring, less than a point behind Kayla Larimore of Centerburg. 

Mya Bryant put up 11 points, five rebounds, three steals, two blocks and an assist. Jill Bouton had 10 points, two boards, three assists, four blocks and a steal. Emily Feeney grabbed five rebounds and recorded a steal in the win.

Bucyrus 58, Mount Gilead 40

Mount Gilead (10-10, 6-6) stumbled in the first quarter and could never recover, falling to Bucyrus (7-11, 2-9) 58-40 on Feb. 3.

The Redmen came out hot with a 19-6 first quarter advantage and at the half it was a 29-13 lead for Bucyrus. Mount Gilead came out of the locker room with more determination, outscoring Bucyrus 14-11 led by Danielle Pohlkotte’s six points. The Redmen finished the game with an 18-13 fourth quarter and walked away with an easy win over the Indians.

The Indians had two players in double figures, with Aubrey Thomas scoring 13 points and Greer Simpson putting up 10 points. Pohlkotte added eight points, Fair White scored six points and Cassady Irwin rounded out the scoring with three points.

Clear Fork 53, Highland 19

It’s been an up-and-down type of season for Highland (6-12, 5-8), and last week the Lady Scots had trouble with a conference foe in Clear Fork (14-5, 10-3), where the shots just weren’t falling in a 53-19 loss on Feb. 2.

Aubree Bellamy had five points including a three, while grabbing five defensive rebounds. She also tallied two steals, two assists and a block. Addie Mullins had four points, four boards, an assist and a steal. Reagan Maibech and Bryleigh Young each had four rebounds in the game.