WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The Huntington women’s basketball team played inspired basketball Wednesday evening to enjoy a 76-65 win over Goshen on Senior Day at Platt Arena.

It was only fitting that the game started with a senior scoring and ended the same way. Logan Rowles, who suffered a season-ending injury in the second game of the year, was gifted the opportunity to score an uncontested layup to start the game and then Audrey Cable, who will graduate in two years this May, scored on a sideline inbounds play with just a few ticks remaining to put the exclamation point on the win.

Erica Zook, the third senior, had a banner night for Culler’s crew to champion the victory. The 5-6 guard poured in a career-best 19 points to go along with handing out a career-tying five dimes and swiping two steals.

The hosts came to play with all hands on deck to bolt in front 20-3. It took the first seven minutes to build the 17-point disparity with Maddy Robrock scoring all seven of her points during the stretch as one of six Foresters to put points on the board.

Goshen (12-16, 6-10) made up six points by the first break for a 21-10 difference. The two teams played even over the next ten minutes with HU having the last say thanks to Dazia Drake draining a three from the corner to beat the buzzer for a 39-28 halftime score.

But there was still plenty of game to be played – Goshen made sure of that. The guests spent the entire third quarter chipping away at the lead to dwindle it to a single point at 51-50 heading into the final ten minutes where things got even dicier for Culler and crew.

Suzanna Yoder knocked down a three to start the fourth to give Goshen its only lead of the night at 53-51 but Zook wasn’t having it. She maneuvered her way through the lane for a left-handed layup on the way to scoring five straight points to give her team a permanent lead of 56-53 with just under eight minutes to go.

Clinging to a one-point advantage of 58-57 with five minutes to go, the Foresters finally got a little breathing room with a pair of Alli Vaughn free throws that ended up spurring a 10-0 run over a three-and-a-half minute spell that they then road out for the win compliments of free throws down the stretch.

Like Zook, Celeste Ryman dropped in a career-best 19 points in addition to tallying five rebounds and four steals. Drake also posted big numbers. The 5-10 junior scored 14 points, dished out a career-high seven assists, grabbed five boards and swatted four shots. Konnor Gambrell came up with eight boards to claim team rebounding honors.

Taniece Chapman tossed in 20 points and corralled 12 rebounds to pace Goshen while Janara Flowers added ten points.

Tonight’s win is Huntington’s ninth straight over the Maple Leafs as they improve to 4-21 overall, 2-12 in league play. The Foresters will play their last game of the season on Saturday at Grace.