UNION CITY – The Mississinawa Valley Lady Blackhawks rode nine 3-pointers and a dominant third quarter to defeat the visiting Botkins Lady Trojans 52–35 in non-conference varsity basketball action.
“I have been really happy with our defense so far,” said MV coach Kirk Comer. “The most points we’ve given up are 39. I feel like our defense has been OK.”
Mississinawa Valley opened strong, building a 12–5 first-quarter lead behind a Tenlee Woodbury layup at 1:10 and Makenna Hoggatt’s second triple of the period to make it 15–5 after one.
Botkins responded early in the second with an 8-0 run to close the gap to 15–13, but the Lady Blackhawks steadied themselves and answered with an 8-0 run of their own. The surge included 3-pointers from M. Hoggatt and Paige Emrick, plus a Brooklyn Seubert layup, sending MV to the half with a 23–13 advantage.
Mississinawa suffered a setback midway through the second quarter when senior Paige Emrick went down with an injury and did not return.
“We’re learning — we’re only five games in,” Comer noted. “Makenna (Hoggatt) has really been shooting well the last two games. The big thing is, she’ll shoot it, but she’s not one who looks to shoot. Tonight, I thought she was looking for her shot more.”
The Lady Hawks extended their momentum into the third quarter, stretching the run to 13 unanswered points with a Hoggatt free throw and back-to-back right-handed Seubert layups for a 28–13 lead at 7:28. Mississinawa dominated the quarter 19–7, taking a 42–20 cushion into the final period.
With Coach Comer clearing his bench for much of the fourth quarter, Botkins outscored MV 15–10 in the frame, but the Lady Blackhawks comfortably secured the 52–35 victory.
Comer praised his team’s resilience following Emerick’s injury.
“That’s what we talk about all year — next person up,” he said. “We talked about that at halftime. We had to focus, and we played a good second half considering. We don’t know how long she is going to be out or what’s going on, but it’s next person up.”
BOX SCORE:
MISSISSINAWA VALLEY 52, BOTKINS 35
MISSISSINAWA VALLEY – M. Hoggatt 16, T. Woodbury 11, B. Seubert 11, P. Emerick 8, G. Rodheffer 2, C. Seubert 2, C. Hoggatt 2 – TOTALS 10 6-16 9 52
BOTKINS – K. Wendel 10 E. Egbert 7, T Huelscamp 6, M. Maurer 4, B. Greve 3, L. Gerstner 3, C. McPheron 2 – TOTALS 7 6-8 5 35
3-POINTERS
Mississinawa Valley – 8 (M. Hoggatt 5, P. Emrick 2, T. Woodbury 1)
Botkins – 5 (K. Wendel 2, M. Maurer 1, B. Greve 1, L. Gerstner 1)
SCORE by QUARTERS
15-08-19-10 52 Mississinawa Valley
05-08-07-15 35 Botkins
