Published: January 07, 2009 02:05 am      

Busch leads Lady Indians to 74-48 win over district rival Berea

RICHMOND — As the lopsided victories continue to pile up, the goal still remains exactly the same for the Lady Indians.

“We’ve set our standards really, really high,” Madison Central coach Robert Cooksey said. “We want to win the district and we want to compete in the region. In March, we want to be right there.”

And after a rough start, the Lady Indians have certainly looked like serious contenders for an 11th Region title in recent weeks.

Central extended its winning streak to seven games Tuesday with another impressive victory. Kaity Busch had a team-high 21 points and 11 rebounds as the Lady Indians blasted district-rival Berea Community, 74-48, in Richmond.

Jenna Cornelison scored 15 points and Ashton Feldhaus added 11 points, as Central improved to 10-3 on the season.

“They are a very good team — just look at the way they have played the last month,” Berea coach Jerry Bingham said of Central. “I know they didn’t start the season off well, but they’ve played some tough teams and done well.”

The Lady Indians dropped three of their first four games, but have won nine of their past 10 games. During their current winning streak, they have outscored their opponents by more than 17 points a game and have allowed just 43 points a game.

Against Berea (6-5), the Lady Indians had just a six-point lead (20-14) after the first quarter, but broke the game open in the second.

Led by Busch, Central opened the period on a 15-4 run and continued to pull away. The junior forward had 17 points and four offensive rebounds in the first half.

“She shot the daylights out of it,” Cooksey said of Busch. “She got a couple of and-ones. Plus, she shot her free throws fairly well.”

Central went into halftime with a 23-point advantage (47-24), but despite solid performances from senior Elizabeth Horn and Brittany Harris, Berea couldn’t cut into the lead.

Horn finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds and Harris had 14 points, which pushed her past 1,000 points for her career.

“I was very pleased with our effort,” Bingham said. “I think we learned a lot from tonight. I know I did. I think it put they idea in their head that we can play with them, its just going to take a special effort.”

Haley Webb had seven points and seven rebounds for Berea, while Rachel Wilder added six points, Sophia Shearer had four points and Brooke Hazelwood added two points.

Central forced 27 turnovers, which led to 24 points, and outrebounded Berea, 41-38, despite giving up 16 second-chance points.

“Our defense wasn’t great,” Cooksey said. “We try to pride ourselves on playing good defense and rebounding. We (almost) got outrebounded — and that’s something I’m not happy about.”

Brislyn Sizemore had seven points, Lyndsay Jones, Christina Ciolek and Larryn Brooks had four points each, Brianna Johnson had three points and Erika Parks had two points and Kayla Sharp had a point.

Central is set to return to action Friday at home against North Laurel.

Berea is set to return to action Jan. 15 at home against Burgin.