BELLBROOK — Unbeaten league champions and 20 overall wins is creating a season to remember for Bellbrook.
The Golden Eagles defeated second-place Waynesville 69-30 on Senior Night to cap off its regular season on Monday.
Bellbrook (20-2) pushed the pace after Waynesville attempted to keep the pace slow early and raced out to an 18-5 lead. It never looked back in asserting itself as one of the state’s top teams.
“You have to come up every night and can’t have any off nights,” head coach Jason Tincher said. “I was super proud of how they kept the right focus and mindset to get to 20 wins here in the regular season. That was something the girls had always look forward to trying to do. Now they’re setting themselves up for a good postseason.”
The 20 wins for Bellbrook is impressive after competing against one of the area’s most difficult schedules. The Golden Eagles faced three of the top four teams from the GWOC, as well as a top-five state ranked Tri-Village team at the Flyin’ To The Hoop event in out of league play.
Senior Night activities were held prior to the game, setting up Dreann Pryce as the team’s lone senior to be honored. She scored six points, including one of the game’s first baskets.
“Dreann has been great for our program,” Tincher said. “She’s a good hearted kid and a team first kid. It was great to have a night like that for her.”
The Golden Eagles competing in Division I for the first time get set to open tournament play as the No. 3-seed against Piqua on Saturday at Troy High School at 11 a.m.
Tincher said Bellbrook’s schedule was designed to prepare his team for competition and improvement from playing good teams. He said the Golden Eagles are focused on wanting to take the next step and believes his team has earned respect from area coaches.
“It’s right there in front of us and we just need to refocus again to get our sights set on it,” he said. “The girls, I’ve been so proud of them because they’ve shown great leadership. Nobody is allowed to lose focus because they hold each other accountable and all know that we need to go to work. They’re playing their best basketball at the right time.”
