By GREG MENGELT

Like a lot of teams in the days of Covid-19, New Washington has had a bit of an inconsistent season, filled with ups and downs.

Lately, it’s been all ups for New Wash. After a 5-8 start to the season, the Mustangs have won six of their last seven games with the only loss coming against 4A Jeffersonville. The night before playing the Red Devils, New Wash (11-9) picked up perhaps its biggest win of the season against South Spencer for the Hoosier Hills Hoops Girls’ Basketball Win of the Week.

The Rebels entered the game 15-4 with six wins in their previous seven games. They were coming off a 66-32 win over Tell City.

“I am thankful for the growth we have seen in our players from the beginning of the season up to this point,” New Wash coach Kirsti Holloway said. “We have had to overcome adversity in various ways just, like most teams are experiencing, whether it be illness or injury, so it has been good so see us improve despite all those obstacles. We have a really strong schedule that has hopefully prepared us to peak at just the right time.”

In the Win of the Week, sophomore Kaidin James had 18 points on 6 of 7 shooting to go along with six rebounds and four assists. Senior Grace Ellison added 12 points and seven rebounds, sophomore Sami Mattingly had 10 points and seven boards, junior Macy Fields contributed five points, nine rebounds and three assists and senior Emma DeCamp finished with six points and seven rebounds and was 4 for 4 from the free throw line.

The Mustangs out-rebounded South Spencer 42-31 and they made twice as many free throws as the Rebels attempts (14 to 7). Holloway said she wanted to play South Spencer in the regular season after facing the Rebels during the summer. Holloway said playing South Spencer helped make her team better in the summer and she believes it did so again this week.

“I believe this particular game and the whole weekend overall taught us some things that we needed to know about ourselves, both individually and as a team,” Holloway sid. “It showed us areas that could have become blind spots that our opponents uncovered or made a little more clear to us. Regardless of the scoreboard, those are things we need to have exposed so we can get better going into the tournament. … We are glad it worked out for us to play and hope that we were able to make them better as a result, too.”