Hobbs made 7-of-10 attempts in a win against Beavercreek on Jan. 6. Those three misses bothered her so she went to the gym after the game and shot 100 free throws. She made 97.
“I’m just super confident going to the line. I practice it over and over and it’s just muscle memory at this point,” said Hobbs, who is 53-of-59 (89.8 percent) from the three-throw line this season.
As a team, Springboro is shooting a conference-best 70 percent (147 of 210).
Just like decorating those parking spaces, getting to the free-throw line is a bonus for the Panthers. And so is having senior Emersyn Rines back on the court.
Rines returned this season after a two-year hiatus. She’s provided a scoring boost after going for a season-high 22 points in a win against Fairmont on Saturday.
“At the beginning of the year I was kind of nervous. Playing with the girls I really got my momentum back and I’m starting to get to the basket and open up and be strong with the ball,” Rines said. “I really missed being with my teammates and having a second family. Basketball is kind of like a stress reliever.”
Hobbs, a Rice University commitment, leads Springboro with 16.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Nation averages 10.0 points and 6.3 rebounds. Junior Haley Crozier (8.8 points) and Rines (6.4) follow.
Hobbs and Nation have finished 1-2 in scoring for Springboro since their sophomore seasons. That best-friend connection has continued on the basketball court.
“I’ll be driving and I’ll just know where Peyton is, where she’s going to go to pass it to her,” Hobbs said. “We have great chemistry and I know she’ll always be there and have my back.”
Added Nation: “With being around each other so much we kind of know what each person is going to do. If there’s a gap we’ll look at each other and be like, okay drive this gap and I’ll get out of your way.”
Springboro (11-3 heading into Wednesday’s game with Fairmont) leads the Greater Western Conference at 6-0. Right behind is Wayne (7-1, 5-0 GWOC), Centerville (8-2, 4-1) and Miamisburg (10-4, 4-2).
Springboro has GWOC wins over Miamisburg (33-22) and Centerville (58-53). Wayne travels to Springboro on Jan. 20.
“I’m excited to see how we face the adversity. It’ll be good for us,” Hobbs said of the tough upcoming stretch that also includes Mason and Lakota West. “I think we’re a little underrated. People have counted us out.”
The Panthers graduated seven seniors from last season’s GWOC National Division champions. Another solid group of six seniors – Hobbs, Nation, Rines, Kaylah Forland, Jordan Espinoza and Gina Gildea – have picked up where they left off.
“I like the chemistry of this team,” Nation said of the Panthers, who returned four players with quality varsity time. “Rebuilding our entire team was fun. Obviously it was a lot of work but we’ve come a long way.
“Our bench is always so hype. That makes a positive attitude all around in practice, games and even in the locker room just chilling.”
A three-game losing streak to Miamisburg (the second meeting which didn’t count in the GWOC standings) and Indiana opponents Westfield and North Central left Springboro a bit wobbly heading into the Centerville game. A players’ only meeting got them refocused. And it got them a win over the Elks.
“It’s going to take a lot of effort from all of us,” Rines said of finishing strong. “It’s going to be rough games. Fun games. But I think we’re going to do great as long as we work as a team. They’re good opponents. … We can play the best team and we’ll try our hardest. We won’t give up until the game is over then it’s on to the next one.”
“We need that kind of mentality against everyone,” Springboro coach Tom Benjamin said. “You can’t just turn it on and turn it off that easily. … That’s going to be required in the stretch of opponents coming up.
“I’m not sure we’ve played our best yet. We haven’t practiced our best yet, because we simply haven’t had as many practices as needed with the number of kids who are new at the varsity level. We can’t complain at all about where we are at record-wise.”
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