(December 1st, 2014): The North Western Ohio Athletic League took on the Buckeye Border Conference in junior high action as the Montpelier Eighth Grade girls did battle with Fayette. It was the Locomotives who came out of the contest on top 26-14.
The Lady Eagles, with not enough girls from either grade individually, have combined their seventh and eighth graders to make a single team. This squad is playing an eighth grade schedule, despite half of their eight players hailing from the seventh.
That lack of experience didn’t stop the girls of Fayette from having an evenly distributed scoring attack. Six of their number, or three-fourths of the roster, registered at least 1 point against the young Lady Locos. Mataya Rufenacht, an eighth grade Lady Eagle, led her team with 6 points. Fellow junior high veterans Rhys Ruger and Kendra Ellis contributed 2 points each to the Fayette total as well. Jillian Figgins also scored 2 points, leading the seventh graders in scoring.
Hanna Bumb played a pivotal role in Montpelier’s victory, putting up 8 points against the Eagles. As did Trinity Nichols, who totaled 6 points. Lauren Cooley added 5 points.
The Locomotive girls did a lot of work from the free throw line as well. Making 8 of 13 from the line, the bested the Lady Eagles, who shot 4 for 8. Connecting on as many free throws as Fayette attempted, Montpelier simply found ways to get to the charity stripe.
The biggest thing working against the Eagle girls, however, was depth. Combining two grades to create an eight player team, their numbers paled in comparison to the Locos’ thirteen eighth graders suiting up across from them. It’s quite difficult to win when the other team has nearly twice as many players.