Greensburg — The South Decatur girls basketball team honored four seniors during the conclusion of the regular season Thursday night.

South celebrated the careers of Rylie Buening, Kassie Diekhoff, Ashley Hawkins and Jerica Meadows before the game. North took the season finale 55-34, improving to 10-10 to finish the season.

"The seniors have worked hard," said South head coach Amy Macy. "They would have liked to get a win. They're a good bunch of girls, and I'm going to miss them. They did a good job of getting the girls together as a team."

The game did not start in the hosts' favor, as North senior Heather Hayden scored the first six points. Sophomore Ashley Johannigman and senior Rylie Buening scored South's first six points, but North led 12-6 before senior Julia Ricke made it 14-6.

Sophomore Myra Steele scored four quick points, making it 18-10 in the second quarter.

South (11-9) fought throughout the stanza to neutralize North's run, but sophomore Andrea Volk's pair of 3-pointers from the top of the key kept the margin at eight. Three scores from Diekhoff, including one off junior Sam Miller's steal, helped South pull to within five at 26-21 at the half.

North junior Jenna Meyer heated up in the second half, piling up 17 of her game-high 21 points after the break. Meyer excelled inside despite picking up a fourth foul in the final quarter.

"We were getting her in foul trouble, but we weren't driving to the basket," said Macy. "We did what we wanted to, but we weren't executing. The girls have to implement what they do in practice."

North's defense stood out in the second half, holding the Lady Cougars to 13 points after halftime.

"In a lot of ways, it may be our best game of the year. We wanted to finish out strong," said North head coach Brad Bryant of the regular season. "I don't think you can take anything better from this. Mainly what we did defensively is what I'm most proud of. When we want to defend, we're a pretty good team defensively."

Bryant noted that the health of his team left a bit of uncertainty going into the finale. Junior Cindy Krieger was bitten with the flu bug this week.

"What really concerned me was coming in without two of our full-time varsity players," he said of sophomore Emma Geis and junior Veronica Yager. "To come out and play the way we did on both ends was outstanding. After the Southwestern game, we spent an hour and 15 minutes looking at the first half on film. The girls absorbed what we weren't doing."

Hayden followed with 14 points. Volk and junior Cindy Krieger each scored six. Steele and Ricke each added four.

Diekhoff led South with nine points, while sophomore Ashley Johannigman scored eight. Sophomore Julia Miller scored six points, Sam Miller scored five, Rylie Buening added four and Megan Niese chipped in two.

Sam Miller added a team high eight rebounds (five offensively) and Julia Miller recorded five.

Bryant applauded Meyer's overall performance.

"She really did get off the floor and had her game," he said. "She was able to find her comfort zone. Julia Miller is a big girl to try to defend against. Heather got good looks off the dribble. Julia Ricke played super hard. Her face was the most red I've seen it. Volk knocked down big shots for us. Cindy Krieger, for being under the weather, had a good game."

North's junior varsity team won the first game 39-32. North led after the first three stops, and 19-11 at the break, but South closed the gap with a 14-12 fourth-quarter edge.

Alison Wallpe led all scorers with 16 points, including 10 in the second half. Junior Sarah Sweet led South with 11. She shot 11-for-12 from the foul line.

North scoring: Abby Lamb 10, Savannah Harrison 6, Laura Haunert 4, Lindsay Nobbe 2, Erin Yager 1.

Contact Nick Gonnella at (812) 663-3111, x7003.