CENTERVILLE, Ind. – The Winchester girls basketball team took home some hardware on Monday night as the Golden Falcons defeated Centerville 68-27.
With the win, the Class 2A No. 5 Golden Falcons (18-2, 7-0) claimed their first Tri-Eastern Conference title since 2013.
“They worked hard,” Winchester Head Coach Holly Gutierrez said. “I’m super proud of them being the outright TEC champs.”
Maddie Lawrence led Winchester with 21 points including the first seven of the contest for the Golden Falcons to erase an early 5-0 Centerville advantage.
“It’s something we are really proud of,” Lawrence said. “It took a lot of hard work. I love my teammates.”
Two of her teammates, Shelby Miller and Kira Robinson both had a double-double.
Miller tossed in 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
“It’s exciting after two years to finally see what we can work back up to as a team,” Miller said. “It would be cool to sweep the whole thing.”
Over the last two seasons, the Golden Falcons have posted records of 12-12 and 20-6 as they improved in TEC play.
“I feel really good, especially looking back where we started,” said Robinson, who finished with 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. “We’ve grown so much.”
Winchester was 20-5 overall and 7-0 in the conference back in 2013, but a pair of three-win seasons followed before Gutierrez arrived.
“We’re still after the big picture,” Gutierrez said. “The TEC is great, but we’re gearing up for the state tournament.”
Hannah Graft had 12 points while Victoria Pegg added six rebounds.
For Centerville, Kailee Tedder led the way with eight points.
Cassidy Weiss and Carlie Doolin had five points each. Savana Kates had five rebounds and Doolin added four.
The Bulldogs won the JV contest 44-41 with Lexi Harmon leading the way with 16 points.
Ashley Walter tossed in eight points as Emily Tedder and Morgan Guenther both had seven points.
Ara Cowper, Cami Miller and Brooklynn Hummel all finished with eight points.
Kate Riggin had seven points.
Winchester entertains Randolph Southern on Thursday. The Golden Falcons finish their TEC slate against Northeastern (9-9, 3-2) at home on Wednesday, Jan. 24.
Centerville (4-14, 1-5) travels to Class 1A No. 9 Tri High (14-4, 4-3) for a conference affair on Thursday.