Western Boone Jr. - Sr. High School

DOVER - Western Boone just needed to relax and play its game on Thursday night when they hosted Monrovia in girls basketball. And when they did in the overtime period, it made all the difference. Emmy Roys had five points and two big blocks, and Katheryn Rutherford had four and a key assist in the extra session, helping the Stars to a 53-49 win over the visiting Bulldogs. "We were really happy with overtime," Western Boone head coach Hannah Kelly said. "The kids were really coachable and things we talked about fixing earlier in the game, we executed better. We play more contained, and that is something we talked a lot about." Western Boone trailed by six to start the fourth quarter, but scored the first first five points of overtime to get within 39-38 on a Rutherford free throw. Roys tied the game at 40 with 5:25 to play, but nine seconds later the Bulldogs retook the lead. But the visitors wouldn't score again in regulation. Both teams struggled with turnovers and missed shots, but Roys tied the game with 48.5 seconds left in the game. Western Boone held defensively from there to force overtime. Monrovia was 1-for-11 in the fourth quarter and turned it over seven times. "We tried to do a little mini press early, and it didn't work, so we picked up our pressure in the half court," Kelly said. "I'm proud of the girls for communicating and finding their shooters, because we struggled with that early in the game. We played good team defense and got some stops." Monrovia took a 47-44 lead with 2:30 left in overtime, but the Stars had the answer. Roys tied the game with a 3-pointer with 2:19 to go, and after a defensive stop, Rutherford had a cross-court assist to Ki'erra Koch for a lay-up with 1:39 to go. Monrovia tied the game on it's next possession, but Rutherford scored the go-ahead basket with 59 seconds to go. Monrovia missed two free throws and a jumper after an offensive rebound, before Rutherford hit two free throws to put the Stars up four. The Bulldogs pushed the ball forward, but Roys had two big blocks inside as the Stars held off the Bulldogs. One of the keys for the Stars in overtime was how they took care of the ball. WeBo turned it 27 times in regulation, but just twice in overtime. Many of the turnovers were self-inflicted, rushed mistakes - which they eliminated. "We dialed it back a little bit," Kelly said. "We got into our offense more, and we were making smarter passes and smarter looks at the basket. We calmed down a little bit, which led to the win." The Stars got off to a slow start in the game, falling behind 7-0 90 seconds into the game, but scored the next 12 points and led by three at the end of a quarter. They held the lead through most of the second quarter, before Monrovia scored the last four points in the half to take a 22-21 lead into the break. Turnovers hurt the Stars in the third quarter, and Monrovia led by as many as eight before the Stars came back in the fourth quarter and overtime. "Our first 14 minutes we were pretty happy with," Kelly said. "We just went through a little rut and were in a little rut in the second half before we picked it up." Rutherford led the team with 17 points and 10 rebounds, with Roys adding 15 and 14 rebounds. Koch finished with nine. Carlie Pennington had a strong game as well, finishing with 12 points and eight rebounds. "Carlie has been a great leader on and off the court," Kelly said. "She is taking smarter shots down low and her post game has improved. She is doing a good job of when she isn't open inside - kicking it out to shooters and playing good team basketball." Western Boone is 2-1 on the year now, and face Covington next week before the Sugar Creek Classic. Kelly said it was a good week to gain some momentum early in the season. "They were both close games, but good wins," Kelly said. "It was a good momentum push coming into next week where we have some big games. This gives us some momentum and some energy, and we have to have some solid practices heading into those games." Will Willems is the Sports Editor of the Lebanon Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @Will_Willems. The JV Lady Stars hosted the Bulldogs from Monrovia Thursday night. Having a scoreless first quarter and then adding 5 in the second to finish the half down 5 to 11, the Stars came out in the third quarter with great intensity to close the gap 13 to 15. The Stars continued this momentum in the fourth adding another 7 points with a final score of 20 to 17. This was a challenging match but this team continued playing hard until the final buzzer.