The Kewanee Boiler Girls entered conference play Monday night at Sterling and lost to Newman Central Catholic, 51-42.
Kewanee got off to a slow start as the Comets took an early 19-10 lead and used that nine point cushion to ride out the win.
The Boiler Girls played Newman even the remaining three quarters with each team scoring 32, but Kewanee couldn’t overcome the first quarter setback.
Newman used a balanced scoring attack to keep the Boiler Girls at bay. Jessalyn Johns, Lucy Oetting and Maddie Duhon contributed 10, eight and seven first-half points.
Mya Dearing scored 13 in the first half and Bailey VanWinkle added five for Kewanee.
The Comets maintained a 30-22 lead at the half and 40-32 after three quarters of play.
Johns scored a game-high 21 points, Duhon had 13 and Oetting added eight. Dearing was the Boiler Girls’ leading scorer with 19 points, while VanWinkle had seven on the night and Damaris Diaz added six.
Kewanee falls to 0-5 (0-1) on the season and Newman is 2-4 (1-0). The Boiler Girls travel to Cambridge Thursday to take on the 3-2 Ridgewood Spartans at 7:30 p.m.
