Connersville

On Tuesday night, the Connersville Boys Freshman Basketball team took their home court against the visiting New Castle Trojans. The Spartans, fresh off a loss, came out with a chip on the shoulder from the opening tip. Their pressure defense was the story early on, confusing the Trojans offense and causing numerous turnovers. On the other side of the ball, the freshman provided a balanced attack, taking a 14-8 lead at the end of the first period. During the second period, the young Spartans continued to put their foot on the gas. New Castle would be held to a single field goal, as Connersville went into the halftime intermission on a 9-1 run, extending the lead to 23-10. Coach Neuman’s thoughts on the first half, “I thought we did a great job of setting the tempo early, especially on the defensive side of the ball. We forced double digit turnovers for the half. Offensively, we moved better and we didn’t settle as we have in previous outings.” Coming out in the third period the Spartans wanted to dial back on their turnovers and extend their lead, they did just that. New Castle was unable to get into any sort of rhythm on offense, turning the ball over 22 times to the Spartans. A total team effort allowed Connersville to close out the second half on a 17-12 run, coming away with the 40-22 victory. Leading the charge for the Spartans was Justin Kitchen, finishing with 10 points, 3 rebounds, and an assist/block. Right behind him was Eli Smith with 8 points, 2 assists, and a rebound. Carson Moore added 6 for the Spartans, to go along with 1 rebound, 1 assist, and 1 steal. Andrew Miracle had 4 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, as well as applying great pressure defensively all game.Gavin Schneider also had 4 points. Parker Brewer provided a spark off the bench contributing 4 points. Zane Ellison added 2, to go along with a whopping 9 steals, 2 assists, and 1 rebound. Gavin Mullins closed out the scoring with 2 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 assist. Your Freshman Spartans are now 4-1, and will take on Northeastern Thursday night at the Connersville Fieldhouse.