Benjamin Logan’s girls basketball team turned it one of its best efforts of the season Wednesday, but it was not quite enough as visiting Kenton Ridge held off the Raiders 63-58.
“I thought we played very hard,” said BL head coach Andy Schwochow. “We continue to improve every game. We are young and it shows. We have spurts where we look great and then spurts where we look bad.”
Ben Logan held a 44-42 lead to end the third quarter. Kenton Ridge was able to rally in the final period with a 21-14 run.
The Raiders were ahead 52-50 when standout Savannah Pavoni fouled out of the game with 4:30 left to play. The Cougars went on a 13-6 run after that to close out the game.
“Our rebounding was the biggest factor, outside of losing one of our senior leaders with four minutes to go in the game,” said Schwochow. “Our younger girls continued to battle, but we aren’t real good at offense yet. And without Savannah we are going to struggle even more.”
It was a tightly contested game from the start as Kenton Ridge (2-2) held a 16-15 lead over Ben Logan (0-4) to end the first quarter.
The Cougars gained a little ground in the second quarter with a 17-13 run. That pushed them out to a 33-28 halftime lead.
Ben Logan caught up in the third quarter. The Raiders used a 16-9 scoring spurt to jump in front 44-42.
Kenton Ridge then grabbed the momentum back with its big fourth quarter.
Peyton Derr and Pavoni led the Raiders with 11 points each.
“I thought Peyton and Savannah played great games and really almost willed us to a win,” said Schwochow. “I can’t express how much those two have impressed me with their character and work ethic. Just two great kids with very high ceilings in life. They have kept the young girls positive and help to keep things from being overwhelming for them.”
Also for the Raiders, Kayla Reeves scored 10 points, Lynzee Cronkleton had eight points and Kayla Horney chipped in seven points.
Megan Freeman fueled the Cougars with 30 points, while Joshlynn Johnson and Elli Schleinitz both had 10 points.
In junior varsity action, Kenton Ridge defeated Ben Logan 53-44. Kendra Kennedy and Elliott Baiey both scored 10 points to lead the Raiders and Cheyanne Peterson added eight points.
Ben Logan travels to Urbana on Saturday for a CBC Mad River division contest.
KENTON RIDGE 63, BEN LOGAN 58
KENTON RIDGE (2-2)
Johnson 3 2-2 10; Rahrig 1 0-0 2; Schleinitz 3 2-2 10; Freeman 13 3-6 30; Rose 2 1-4 5; Shinkle 2 0-0 4; Taylor 1 0-0 2. Totals: 25 8-14 63.
BEN LOGAN (0-4)
Derr 4 2-3 11; Cronkleton 3 1-2 8; Parker 1 3-4 6; Reeves 2 5-9 10; Naragon 2 1-2 5; Pavoni 4 3-5 11; Horney 2 3-4 7. Totals: 18 18-28 58.
Cougars 16 • 17 • 9 • 21 — 63
Raiders 15 • 13 • 16 • 14 — 58
Three pointers: Kenton Ridge 5 (Johnson 2, Schleiritz 2, Freeman); Ben Logan 4 (Derr, Cronkleton, Parker, Reeves). Team fouls: Kenton Ridge 18; Ben Logan 15.