Wide shots, high shots, missed open nets, shots off the near post, far post or cross bar: “We had all those things happen to us and a few more,” coach Doug Wampler said. “You hear the same thing from a lot of coaches, ‘We just couldn’t finish.’ That was us. It was frustrating because we were so close to important goals in critical matches.”
Bellbrook ended the regular season at 10-2-4, 8-1-3 in the SWBL. Monroe was 11-1-0 in the SWBL (12-3-1 overall), winning its last seven games, including a 1-0 win at Bellbrook.
The No. 10 seed in the Dayton Division I district tournament, Bellbrook opened tourney play at home Wednesday vs. No. 17 Springfield Shawnee. A win would put them at No. 5 seed Lebanon on Saturday.
The forwards were Tanya Hennen and Lea Guckenberger. Midfielders included Leisha Crawford, Stephanie Crossman, Corrin Pruitt, Rachel Riel, Hannah Spears and Shelby Powers.
The rotation among the defenders was Rachel Randall, Rachel Westfall, Lexie Barton, Macy Alexander, Emilea Allen and Kayla Shouey.
Kelly Neuman was in goal most of the matches, backed up by Madison Pittman.
Hennen was the leading scorer with 10 goals and seven assists. Guckenberger had 11 goals and two assists and Crawford four goals and eight assists. From there the scoring dropped off to three goals by freshman Powers.
The Bellbrook boys won the SWBL for the 19th straight year. They finished 12-0-0 in the Southwestern Division for the second straight year and fourth time in the last five years.
They were No. 2 seed in the Dayton Division district tournament with a 14-1-1 overall record. Carroll was the top seed. They drew a first-round bye and open tournament play tonight at home (7 p.m.) vs. the Franklin-Wilmington winner.
A victory would put them in a district semifinal on Monday with No. 3 seed Alter the likely opponent. The match would be at Springboro.
Golfers finish 4th in SWBL race
The Bellbrook boys golf team came in fourth in the SWBL Southwestern Division. Oakwood won the division with Brookville and Monroe tied for second place. Chris Hamilton was second team all-conference and Jake Fryman honorable mention.
The season ended with the team coming in 12th in the Springfield Division I sectional at Reid Park.
Hamilton shot an 85 in the sectional, Fryman 93, Cody Lewis and Michael Bennett 97 each and Eric Murphy 101.
About the Author