The North Crawford girls basketball team had little trouble beating the Kickapoo Panthers in their second home game of the season on Thursday, Dec. 12. The Trojans easily defeated the Panthers by a final score of 54-37.

The Trojans took a 16-8 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Senior MacKenzie Swiggum had a career night as she set the single game scoring record for North Crawford with 40 points. Meanwhile, the Trojans improved their conference record to 2-0 to share first place with rival Seneca.

MacKenzie Swiggum would not be denied her night to shine, as she scored 14 of the Trojans 16 first quarter points.  She continued in the second quarter with her quickness and defense and scored an additional 14 points to round out her first half scoring with 28 of the Trojans’ 36 points.

Though the scoring seemed to be one sided with MacKenzie dominating, a lot of her scoring was a tribute to the smothering defense of the rest of the team, which resulted in her fast-break points. The girls led heading to the locker room by a score of 36-18. Not holding anything back, the Trojans finished the game with a score of 54-37.

Rounding out the scoring following MacKenzie Swiggums’ record performance were her sister Natasha Swiggum with 12 points and Olevia Kvigne with two points. For the Panthers, Kendal McDonald had 10 points and Kourtnee Alexander had nine points.

Impressive performance

North Crawford girls basketball coach Mike Allbaugh was very impressed by MacKenzie’s performance Thursday night.

“This was a career performance for MacKenzie” Allbaugh said after the game. “Players sometimes find themselves in the zone and cannot be denied their time to shine. She works very hard and the rest of the team put her in position to score. Our defense is our strength and it was apparent tonight. The intangibles of the rest of the team are what make us so special. We have to respect what Seneca is going to challenge us with on Tuesday and are looking forward to finding out who we are.”

Team being noticed

At this point, the Trojans may be a work in progress under first-year coach Mike Allbaugh, but one thing is certain, they are being noticed by other teams in the Ridge and Valley Conference. One big factor is MacKenzie Swiggum, who couldn’t play last year due to knee surgery. Well, if her record-breaking performance last Thursday is any indication, she’s certainly ready to play now.