Area girls’ basketball teams were busy on the hardwood Thursday night, with Urbana facing a tough test against an unbeaten opponent, Riverside earning a rivalry win, and Bellefontaine picking up middle school victories at both the 7th and 8th grade levels.
Urbana Falls to Undefeated Harvest Prep, 63–49
The Urbana Hillclimbers battled an undefeated Harvest Preparatory Warriors squad on Thursday night, but despite a strong early start, fell 63–49 to snap their five-game winning streak.
Urbana opened the game on fire, as star senior guard Alex Dixon scored eight early points to give the Hillclimbers an 11–3 advantage. Harvest Prep responded quickly, closing the first quarter on a 9–0 run to take a 12–11 lead after one period.
The momentum carried into the second quarter as Harvest Prep’s pressure defense began to disrupt Urbana’s offense. The Hillclimbers struggled to find rhythm, scoring just five points in the frame. Dixon also ran into early foul trouble, picking up her third personal foul midway through the second quarter. Meanwhile, the Warriors capitalized on turnovers and offensive rebounds to outscore Urbana 18–5 in the quarter, taking a 28–16 lead into halftime.
The pressure only intensified in the second half, as Harvest Prep’s press continued to stifle the Hillclimber offense. Urbana showed flashes of strong offensive execution, but the Warriors consistently had an answer. The pace and physicality eventually wore down the Hillclimbers as Harvest Prep pulled away for the 63–49 win.
The game was physical throughout, with officials calling 32 fouls and numerous jump balls during the contest.
Urbana scoring:
Alex Dixon — 20
Brylee Spriggs — 12
Lola Rice — 6
Olivia Mackendrick — 6
Addi Hegyi — 3
Zaylor Rogan — 2
With the loss, Urbana falls to 12-5, with five games left to play.
Head Coach Kai Scott speaks on his team’s effort and performance despite the result.
Full highlights from the Lady Hillclimbers are below:
Riverside Defeats Lehman Catholic, 45–36
The Riverside Lady Pirates picked up a rivalry win Thursday night, defeating Lehman Catholic 45–36.
Riverside led 6–4 after the first quarter and extended the advantage to 20–10 by halftime. The Lady Pirates continued to build their lead in the third quarter, going up 35–21, and closed out the game with strong defense and steady execution.
Maddie Lemly led Riverside with 15 points, while Kenna Johnson added 11 and Kenzie Stotler chipped in seven. With the win, the Lady Pirates improved to 4–14 on the season.
