PEMBERVILLE — Eastwood trailed for only 2 minutes and 30 seconds Saturday afternoon on the way to beating
visiting Anthony Wayne 49-38 in non-conference action.
Freshman Kayla Buehler gave the best performance of her fledgling career, leading the way for the Eagles
with a team and personal best 16 points, including 8 in the fourth quarter.
“I didn’t expect it like this,” Buehler said. “I just knew I needed to work hard and get some steals from
the other team so that we could continue winning.”
Eastwood head coach Nick Schmeltz enjoyed seeing the freshman rise to the occasion.
“For Kayla to step up and have 16 off the bench, that was huge for us,” Schmeltz said. “Kayla coming off
the bench, has a career high for us. It gives us a big spark.”
Buehler also chipped in three steals as part of a game that featured a surplus of intercepted passes and
turnovers from both teams.
“I thought it was ugly,” Schmeltz said of his team’s victory.
“It’s still better than a pretty loss. A school like Anthony Wayne to come here and (for us to) compete
against them, we appreciate that. We also know they’re three times our size, so for us to be able to
battle and compete and get a win, we’re really grateful for that. Our girls stepped up and made some big
plays.”
The Eagles were exceptional at taking possessions away, combining for a whopping 18 steals in the match.
Kenna Souder led the team with an impressive six steals, while Aubrey Haas added four and Buehler
contributed three. In all, six different players recorded a steal.
“Our girls play really hard. We started to mix up our defenses a bit, so I think that messes with some
opponents,” Schmeltz said. “It starts with our guards up top. Kenna Souder, Aubrey Haas, Amelia Ward.
Those girls worked really hard for us. Applied some ball pressure and some other people get some
steals.”
The Eagles appeared to be in control for most of the game. Eastwood led by 10 heading into the fourth
quarter, but the Generals would not go away. Anthony Wayne began the frame on a 10-5 run, closing the
gap to five before the Eagles took a timeout with 4:18 left to play.
Out of the timeout, Eastwood embarked on a 10-2 run to ice the game. The run was initiated by a Buehler
layup. Buehler later added a pair of free throws and another field goal in the final two minutes to cap
off the afternoon for the Eagles.
“We took that timeout when it got cut down to five. We let them know, there’s going to be some pressure
applied to us now. Let’s just trust in our skills,” Schmeltz said.
“That was good for us to handle some adversity. (At) tournament time, something is going to happen like
that, and I thought we prepared well for that moment.”
Both teams had two players finish in double figures. Haas added 14 points to combine with Buehler for 30.
Sophia Schneider led the way for the Generals with 14. Kelsey Ragan nearly finished with a
double-double, tallying 10 points and nine rebounds.
Anthony Wayne also recorded 18 steals as a team. Ragan led the way with six, while Amelia Womack added
four. Jenna Rybicki led the team in rebounding with 11.
Eastwood travels to Liberty-Center Tuesday to face the Tigers.
