Western Earns I-8 Girls’ Basketball Title With Defensive Gem
Reece Hitt (33) of Western High School takes a shot over Maddie Alexander of Harper Creek during a home game on Friday. Photo by Jeff Steers, JTV Sports. By Jeff Steers JTV Sports It was too long ago that winning 10 games in girls’ basketball was a huge goal for the Western High School varsity basketball team. Senior Natalie Shellberg remembers those days. She is enjoying the feeling of winning an Interstate-8 Conference basketball title and being 18-2 a little bit better. Shellberg and a host of players shut Battle Creek Harper Creek down in the second half to earn a 51-35 win. Both teams were 17-2 overall and 12-1 in the I-8 heading into the showdown at WHS on Friday night. “Our defense stepped up and our offense ran the floor well in the second half,” Shellberg said. “It was a great team effort and a big change for the program.” Shellberg was a freshman on a team that set a goal of winning one-third of its games three years ago. The Panthers moved up to having a winning record and finally winning its first conference title in 14 seasons this year. “Our program has come such a long…