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Springboro girls blast Kentucky power

DeGraaf’s 17 points and 10 rebounds pace 19-1 Panthers.

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By John Cummings, Contributing Writer 2:01 AM Sunday, February 12, 2012

CENTERVILLE — It had been a long week for the Springboro girls basketball team, but it seemed even longer to junior Jenny DeGraaf.

Saturday’s contest marked Springboro’s third in four days and DeGraaf had been nursing some nagging injuries, not to mention spending the morning taking the ACT.

“I asked her before the game if she was doing OK,” Springboro coach Tom Benjamin said. “I told her I knew it had been a stressful run, but to just relax and have fun.”

DeGraaf’s fun came at the expense of Ryle (21-5), Kentucky’s seventh-ranked team, as the Panthers opened the Ohio-Kentucky Classic with a 58-38 win.

“Mentally, I have been struggling a lot,” DeGraaf said after being named the game’s outstanding player with 17 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks, five assists and five steals. “But I knew this was a big game and it was time for me to get in a zone and help the team.”

The 19-1 Panthers, ranked sixth in Ohio in Division I, trailed 23-22 at the half but held their opponent under 20 points in the second half for the third straight contest.

Ashley Wenz gave the Panthers the lead for good on a put-back with 5:31 in the third quarter as they built the lead to 35-29 after three quarters and held Ryle without a field goal for the first 7:05 in the fourth quarter.

“There were all kinds of good things on both ends of the floor today,” Benjamin said. “I have to give Katie Schubert credit. She shut (Jenna) Crittendon down and that was critical.”

Schubert held Crittendon, who has signed with Xavier and scored over 2,000 career points, to two points on the day. After her departure, Crittendon scored the final eight points of the contest to finish with 10.

Megan Graber joined DeGraaf in double digits for the Panthers with 14 points.

CJ 83, Scott 54: The Eagles (18-2) made it a clean sweep for Ohio in the finale, using relentless pressure to build a 21-11 lead after the first quarter.

CJ forced the Cardinals into 10 first-quarter turnovers and senior Emily Michael matched Scott’s total with 11 in the first eight minutes. The Cardinals turned it over 29 times.

Michael was named the games outstanding player after finishing with 23 points, including five three-pointers in limited action. Brittany Jefferson added 16 and Krista White 15 for the Eagles.

Centerville 74, Christian Academy of Louisville 58: Elks junior Alex Henning scored 14 of her team-high 27 points in the second quarter as the hosts built a 45-31 halftime cushion (45-31), withstood a third quarter rally by the Centurions and pulled away.

Beavercreek 56, Walton-Verona 47: Behind the sharp shooting of senior Alli Hull, the Beavers (10-10) turned a 25-24 halftime lead into a 41-31 cushion heading into the final quarter and were never challenged. Hull, who was named the games outstanding player, finished with 21 points, including a 3-pointer with 5:25 left that gave the Beavers a 48-35 lead.

Aubrey Zimmerman added 11 for the Beavers.

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