Granite City and Carrollton played for 3rd place and the Warriors hit 12 of 16 treys in the 55-45 win.  Luehmann hit 7 3's, a deuce and 2 free throws in the win.  Schaus recorded 4 treys also and 14 total points.  Wartenbe had one 3 along with one 2 and 2 free throws for 7 points and O'Keefe added 7.  The Hawks didn't play as bad as the score indicated but when you play someone as hot as Granite City, it is hard to win.  Coonrod and Williams each scored 13 and Cook in the loss.  Carrollton's next game will be pressure packed also as they face West Central in Winchester and will need to get ready for the Calhoun Regional where they are the #2 seed behind Calhoun.

Routt Catholic was fresh off of losing to the #1 seed QND Raiders and had to face the #2 seed Pana Panthers. They had a roller coaster type of game and eventually lost 60-48 to a pretty good team. Gross and Garde had 17 points each and the 10 for 19 performance from the free throw line didn't help matters. Even with the loss, the Rockets are hoping to lock up the WIVC conference regular season next week but, they have to knock off the Calhoun Warriors on Monday at the Routt Dome.  Pana is without their top scorer but are a good team and got a great game from Waddington off of the bench.  She scored 22 and Charley Lett added 12 while Vaughn scored 9.  

QND came into the 38th annual Lady Hawk and left as the champion.  They defeated Calhoun 72-24 in a convincing win as they improved to 24-1 on the season.  They are the #1 seed in the 2A state tournament and I have not personally seen any team that looks like they can beat them.  Frericks scored 19, Kassidy Gengenbacher scored 13, Kuhn 12, Martin 12 and Kristen Gengenbacher 10 as the well balanced Raiders jumped out to a quick lead and were never challenged in the game.  They will play in the Beardstown regional in post season play.  The Calhoun Warriors never got their offense in gear and were no match for QND as they lost their 3rd game of the season. They can concentrate on Routt on Monday and try to win the WIVC conference outright.  They will also host their own regional and sectional this season as they hope to make a strong run in post season play.  Everything starts with the Rockets on Monday. 

ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM:  Emily Bystry and Joanna Gross (Routt), Jordan Wilson (A. Marquette), Kassidy Gengenbach, Tori Kuhn, Jordan Frericks (QND), Patsy Coonrod (Carrollton), Emalie Thornton (Jerseyville), Maddie Baalman, Jocie Klocke (Calhoun), Andrea Lietz (West Central), Paige Luehmann (Granite City) and Charlie Lett (Pana).

Carrollton got all over the South Fulton Rebels and defeated them 80-28 in tonight's action. Casey Jones had 14 points for the Rebels and no one else had more than 4 points.  The 16% from the field and 50% free throw shooting, along with the 20 turnovers was way out of line for the Rebels to win.  Carrollton had 4 players, Fraley (25), Coonrod (16), Watson (13) and Kraut (13) to run all over South Fulton. The Hawks hit 16 of 24 from the free throw lines and 27 for 62 from the field with 16 turnovers.

Triopia got off to a good start tonight with a 23-6 lead over Havana and hung on for the 52-38 lead.  Atwater and Stinauer had 10 points each in the loss and the game put them into the 5th and 6th game with Beardstown.  The Trojans had 8 players in the scoring column as Love and Herzberger each recorded 10. Bangert and Huddleston had 8 points each as Triopia hit 49% of their shots and only had 9 turnovers in the win.  The Trojan game with WHNG will be a hard hitting ball game between a couple of WIVC opponents.

Beardstown and Rushville is a good rivalry and tonight was no different.  The Tigers won the 46-32 game after Rushville lead the entire first half. Austin Jones led the Rockets with 14 points but the 15 turnovers hurt the chances for Rushville to win the game. The Rockets also had early foul trouble which kept them from substituting the way they wanted.  Patterson had the best game I have seen him play this season with 16 points and Watson added 11 in the Tiger win. Gus Vermillion also played well with 8 points and a hard nosed effort in the paint.  Beardstown did a good job taking care of the ball with only 9 turnovers and were the better team tonight.    

Midwest Central and WHNG were both 2-0 coming into tonight's second game.  The Raiders had beaten the Spartans pretty handily at the IC shoot out earlier in the season.  Tonight the Raiders won again but this time it wasn't so easy.  WHNG led most of the game and set the pace however, Midwest Central came back late and held on for the win. Berg is a hand full and led the Raiders with 24 points while Sarff was hot from long range and finished with 12. Meyer also had a couple of treys for 8 points total.  Hitting 12 of 15 free throws helped the Raider's cause also.  Tucker and Wear each had 12 points for the Spartans while Davis scored 9 and Roesch 7 in the loss.  WHNG showed their ability to shoot from the free throw line as well as they knocked down 14 of 16 shots which allowed them to stay close at the end.  They had 4 attempts at a 3-point bucket to tie the game but none of them fell. It was an exciting game full of suspense and came right down to the wire.

In the final game of the evening the Triopia Trojans shot 25 three points shots and hit 11 of them to defeat South Fulton 58-28. They hit 39% from the field and only 30% from the free throw line but, they also only had 7 turnovers on the night.  They are now 1-1 in the tournament and will have to place good game on Friday when they face the Havana Ducks.  Breedlove had a very nice game with 11 points to lead the Rebels tonight.  Jones hit 3 treys for 9 points as well as South Fulton hit 43% of their shots from the field.  Their 15 turnovers didn't help their cause tonight and the Trojans out rebounded them in the game as well.  The Rebels will have to play extremely well on Friday if they hope to defeat the Carrollton Hawks.      

Quincy Notre Dame jumped out to a 16-2 lead over the Warriors of Granite City and it was never close as they ran away to a 51-27 win.  Kristen Gengenbacher hit 13 and Martin 10 was 9 Raiders scored in the convincing win.  They will take on Routt Catholic tomorrow in the semi-final round.  QND only turned the ball over 8 times and forced 19 turnovers on the Warriors. Luehman had a good game with 14 points and Wartenbe hit 7 to lead Granite City in the loss.  In the Raiders early game this season with Routt Catholic, they won by 51 points and the Rockets will have to have the best game they have maybe ever played to put the heat on this strong opponent.

Routt Catholic came in as the #4 seed in the Tournament and the Panthers of Jerseyville were #5.  That was the way the game was played and turned out tonight as Routt defeated Jerseyville 55-51 with some late ball control and free throws.  Thornton was very good inside and knocked down 17 points.  Steckel hit 15 in the game also and it was almost enough to pull out the win. Their 20 turnovers was a big factor in their loss.  Gross scored 20 and Bystrey 10 to lead the Rockets. Tonry hit a couple of big 3's to help with the offense.  Routt hit 77% of their free throws with 7 of 8 in the 4th quarter to lock down the win. This was a pressure packed game and gave Routt the opportunity to face the #1 seed tomorrow.   

North Green opened the night with a 53-38 win over Rushville Industry.  Wear was hot with 16 points and Davis put up his usual double-digit (15) numbers in the win. The Spartans hit 40% of their shots as compared to 28% shooting by the Rockets also.  The Rockets did well from the line with a 4 for 4 effort but, once again, the attacking nature of the Spartans put them on the line 13 times.  They only hit 46% of those shots, which is a little low, so their field goals made the difference.  North Greene is averaging only 11 turnovers a game through the tournament to this point and that is a good number.  The Spartans hit 2 of 9 from beyond the arc and the Rockets attempted 18 treys with 4 gong through the basket. Unfortunately that is how you end up with only 4 free throw attempts in a game.  The Spartans will take on Midwest Central on Thursday to see who plays in the title game on Saturday.

Carrollton and Triopia made their first appearance of the tournament and it was a fun game.  Coonrod was looking for 7 points which would put him over 1,000 for his high school career.  He scored 10 in the end. Watson was strong with 18 points as Triopia let him shoot too many uncontested 3's. He made 4 of 9 attempts and added a couple of deuces and 2 free throws.  Palan scored 8 points off of the bench as the Hawks shot 41% from the field and 80% from the free throw line with 9 turnovers.  Those are solid numbers that will win you a lot of games.  Love had a good night offensively for the Trojans with 16 points as he hit 6 of 8 from the field and 3 of 4 from the line. Triopia decided to play the game from the outside and shot 21 treys (6 made) which only put them at the line 4 times in the game.  The Trojans and Hawks still have to face South Fulton and Havana in their division.

In the night cap, Midwest Central and Beardstown had 35 fouls called as they went toe to toe in the Raider's 55-44 win. The Tigers made 5 of 10 free throws in the loss while Midwest Central knocked down 23 of 32.  They shot relatively equal from the field as Beardstown hit 14 of 34 and the Raiders were 18 of 47.  They were also equal in turnovers.  If you are going to get out scored by 18 at the free throw line, you have a lot of work to do to make up the difference. Beardstown hit 2 of 12 from long range and Midwest Central was 4 of 11. Good effort by the Tigers but they came up short.  They are 0-2 and will face the 0-2 Rockets of Rushville-Industry at 8:00 on Friday night.  These natural rivals always put on a good show.  It may not be pretty but, it will be entertaining.       

Game #1 featured Rushville-Industry Rockets against the Raiders of Midwest Central.  A lot of people were surprised when the Rockets played a very tough game and had a legitimate chance to pick up the win.  The final score was 53-51 in favor of Midwest Central but they had to work hard to earn the victory. Berg scored 17 and Meyer 10 to lead the Raiders.  Jones scored 11 in the second half and 13 over to lead R-I and Plater had a good night with 11. The difference in the game came from the free throw line where Midwest Central was 17 of 24 (71%) and the Rockets hit 8 of 18 (44%).

South Fulton got behind early in the game against Havana and just couldn't make any sustained run to get back into it.  They lost 50-31 to Ducks.  Again, 71% free throw shooting for Havana and 50% free throw shooting for the Rebels made a big difference in the game.  Wright and Atwater each scored 10 for Havana while Breedlove led South Fulton with 7 points.  This is a young Rebel team but, they are going to have to get some fire power to keep up with the stronger teams in the area. They hit 28% of their shots while the winning team shot 40% and that is a huge difference if you don't knock down your shots from the charity stripe.

In the final game of night one, the North Greene Spartans showed their "blue collar" style of play and relentlessly attacked the Tigers of Beardstown.  The Spartans won 45-34 and hit 18 of 19 free throws in the process.  Beardstown only made 2 of 5 and the 5 may be the more important of the numbers.  When you attack like the Spartans do, you are gong to the line and that is an important part of the game.  Beardstown put up 45 shots while North Greene only shot 37 and they had equal turnovers so, shot selection and free throws made the difference in this game. The Spartans made 3 of 13 treys and the Tigers made 1 of 12 so the offensive boards and second chances, which caused Tiger fouls, made North Greene the winner.     

Routt knocked off Brussels 71-51 as they shot 39% from the field and 77% from the free throw line.  They only had 10 turnovers with 5 Rockets in double digits.  Garde led the way with 20, Gross scored 14, Halpin 13, Tonry 12 and Bystrey 10.  Hannah Polhman led the Raiders with 17 points as Kamp (9), Moennig (9), and Renee Tepen (8) all added to the game.  Brussels shot 60% from the field and 50% from the free throw line with 35 turnovers as they had trouble with the Rockets defensive pressure.  Routt will play Jerseyville at 8:00 on Wednesday night.

Jerseyville dominated Greenfield from the beginning and won their match up 63-36.  Kristen Bishop played very well with 19 points for the Tigers but it wasn't enough.  Greenfield turned the ball over 24 times and just didn't have enough offense to win the game.  The Panthers had 4 players in double digits:  Thurston 18, Steckel 17, Wittman 10 and Thornton 10 as they spread the ball around and hit 23 of 60 shots in the win.  They also knocked down 9 of 14 free throws and took care of the ball with only 8 turnovers.  When they play Routt on Wednesday, they will be severely tested with their ball handling and will have to pick up their team speed.  It should be a good game.  Jerseyville is 15 and 6 and the Rockets are 16 and 4 on the year.

In our final broadcast on day one, the #1 seed QND Raiders dispatched the West Central Cougars 56-25.  The Cougars tried to run time off of the clock with each possession and hold the score down a little and it worked but they still lost by 31.  Carmody had a nice game with 10 points and Lietz scored 8 but the Raiders were just too tall, too fast and too strong as they led from wire to wire. Eleven of the Raiders scored in the win as Kuhn led the way with 11 points and only played about half of the game. Martin came in off of the bench with 10 points and Frerick scored 8 as the QND improved to 21 and 1 on the season. QND had 8 turnovers in the game and forced 20 on the Cougars. They are the favored team to win the tournament and while, for a short time, it looked like Pana may challenge them but, with a key injury the Panthers are going to have to work to get to the title game.        

For the consolation title, it was Triopia finishing strongly to knock off Greenfield 36-24.  Clayton had 18 points in the win and Liz Bishop led the Tigers with 9 points in the loss.  The Trojans lost in the first round and came all the way back for the title and a record of 8 and 11 on the season.

Routt suffered a disappointing loss to West Central on Thursday night and it was important they played well today as they took on one of their WIVC rivals Carrollton.  The prize was 3rd place in the tournament and the Rockets were up to the task.  They won by 19 (64-45) to improve to 13-4 on the year.  Garde scored 16, Gross 15 and Halpan 10, Langdon 8 and Bystry 8 in the Rocket's well balanced offensive attack. They hit 55% of their shots and 58% from the free throw line.  Coonrod scored 15 for the Hawks who hit 16 of 34 from the field and 10 for 19 from the line. These two teams still have a regular season conference game to play before the end of the season.

West Central came into the championship game as the #6 seed in the tournament and an underdog to the #1 seed Panthers of Litchfield.  They led for the first 3 quarters and had a 29-22 lead heading into the 4th.  The height and strength of the Panthers prevailed as they posted the come from behind 42-35 victory and the title.  Lietz scored 13, Bettis 9 and Carmody 9 to lead the Cougars who will leave the tournament with a 2nd place trophy and a record of 11-7.  Litchfield has been trying for 8 years to win the Lady Spartan and got it done today.  Going scored 16 to lead 9 Panthers in the scoring column.  Litchfield had too many turnovers to be comfortable as they had 18 in the first half and 7 in the second.  They did the right thing at the right time and they have a very young team to build on for the next few years. They will lose some good seniors but that freshman class is very promising.

ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM:  Lietz from W. Central, Williams and Coonrod from Carrollton, Clayton-Triopia, O'Brien-Pittsfield, Fore of WFNB, Bystry-Routt, Going and Smith from Litchfield and Harris of Beardstown.      

West Central led all the way, the first time they played Routt, and they lost in the end.  Tonight the Cougars led until late in the game and you got the feeling they may lose again.  This time it didn't happen as they held on and Lietz made the winning basket with 17 seconds left on the clock.  Routt had one more try with 6.1 seconds left but got called for traveling and turned the ball over with 1.9 seconds left and that was the game.  In the overall picture, Routt did not play a good game tonight but the final traveling call did not lose the game. They missed 9 free throws and that is deadly in a 1 point game.  They let Cougar players get by for easy lay ups on several occasions and will need to shore up their defense if they want to make a good run in the balance of the season.  West Central is a much better team, in my opinion, than they were early in the season but they still need to find a way to take better care of the ball at crunch time.  It will be fun to see how they play the taller and more veteran Panthers for the championship. Lietz led with 15 points as Carmody scored 10 and Bettis 8.  Kilver chipped in with 7 points and Abby Lashmett added 5 and the well rounded scoring for West Central was helpful in their win.  Both the championship game and the 3rd place game will be hotly contested as this has been a good tournament with parity in the competition.   

West Central knew they would have some trouble with the height of the WFNB Scotties and they did.  WFNB led most of the game tonight but, the Cougars had a 4th quarter surge with 18 points and won the 55-48 battle.  With the win, the Cougars will face their old nemesis Routt Catholic at 7:30 Thursday.  Fore (17) and Loos (12) led the Scotties attack but Nichols and Peebles are a couple of upcoming freshmen.  64% shooting from the field and 66% free throw shooting wasn't enough to overcome the 25 turnovers. West Central stayed with their game plan and were led in scoring by Lietz with 23 points, Carmody 11 and Abby Lashmett 11 points.  They only hit 36% of the shots but they had a 21 for 27 free throw shooting night and 14 turnovers.  Hitting 12 of 15 4th quarter free throws helped preserve the victory. The Thursday match up with Routt will be played in front of a large crowd and is a game that is up for grabs. Don't miss it.  

In the second game of the night, the Routt Rockets did not look sharp but did win their game with WHNG 41-25.  Seven of the Rockets scored in the game as they shot 34% from the field and hit 15 of 27 free throws.  Bystrey led the way with 10 points and Langdon had her best game of the year with 9 points.  Halie Kraushaar scored 10 for the Spartans but no one else got more than 5 points in the contest.  Routt will play either WFNB or West Central on Thursday night in the semi-final round.  WHNG will play the loser of the West Central/WFNB game.   

ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM:  Taylor McClintock and Kenzie Wall of Illini Bluffs;  Samantha Ellsworth and Jill Friedrich of Havana; Joanna Gross and Emily Bystry of Routt Catholic; Kristyn LeGrande and Delanie Monn of Lewistown; Shea O'Brien of Pittsfield; Lauren Gronewold of Illini West;, Rachel Rush of Mendon Unity and Andrea Lietz of West Central.  The Terry Kennedy Award went to Taylor McClintock.   

Pleasant Plains won a 42 to 30 game over Triopia as they hit 17 of 40 shots.  Eight of the Cardinals scored in the game as they took care of the ball with only 14 turnovers.  Clayton lead the Trojans with 17 points and Washington had a pretty good game with 7 points.  Poor shooting (12 of 40) did not help the cause for Triopia.

Pittsfield had a great game against Havana last night but, today they got beaten 63 to 36 by Illini West.  Lauren Gronewold led the Chargers with 29 points and Bastert hit double figures with 10.  They had 24 of 63 shots and 10 of 14 from the line.  They also kept the turnovers reasonable with 16 while forcing 30. For the Saukees, O'Brien scored 18 points as the team found it hard to play back to back games with the same enthusiasm.  The Chargers will play Mendon Unity at 2:30 pm on Thursday.

In a close game, Canton dropped Brown County 33 to 25 and will take on Lewistown at 4:00 tomorrow.  The Hornets shot 27% from the field and 44% from the line as Mosby led the way with 7 points.  Canton shot 36% from field, 60% from the free throw line with 13 turnovers.  Martindale scored 13 points to lead the Little Giants.

Lewistown got off to a quick start and led every quarter as they handed West Hancock a 69-54 loss.  Dewald (16) and Hartweg (15) were the scoring leaders for the Titans in the loss.  West Hancock put up 82 shots in the game and turned the ball over 18 times.  The Indians were 27 of 60 in field goals and 6 of 10 from the charity stripe and turned the ball over 30 times.  LeGrande scored 27 points and Monn 22 as they won their 3rd game of the tournament.  

Illini Bluffs came into the Lady Tiger as the #2 seed and will play in the title game tomorrow.  They got past Macomb 60-51 and never trailed in the game.  McClintock scored 25 points in the game and Kenzie Wall added 21.  They will pose an interesting challenge for the Ducks tomorrow night.  The Tigers took care of the ball with only 15 turnovers in the game. Saddler led the Bombers with 13 points however, Westen (7), Thoroman (7) and Mahr (7) all contributed in the game to keep it close.  These two teams played earlier in the season and the Tigers won 63-60.

When Routt Catholic defeated Illini West, it looked like they would have a decent chance of defeating the #1 seed Havana Ducks as well.  It didn't work out that way as the Rockets never got to the same level they played against the Chargers.  They lost 58-36 and were never really in the game.  While they tied the Ducks (22) in turnovers, it was the rebounding that did the Rockets in.  They put up 35 shots while Havana shot 53 times and while they had the same percentages, the sheer number of shots gave Havana the advantage.  Gross (16) and Bystrey (13) played pretty well but their supporting cast never got into a good flow.  Routt will play Macomb for 3rd place at 6:00 tomorrow.  The Havana Ducks were not super sharp either however, they did enough to win the game.  They had numerous 2nd and 3rd chances due to solid offensive rebounding and they made it stand up.  Friedrich scored 20 and Ellsworth 12 to lead 7 other team members in their offensive attack.  Havana was the better team tonight and earned the right to play for the championship tomorrow when they face the Tigers from Illini Bluffs.       

Farmington and Canto battled hard with the Farmers leading the early part of the game and the Little Giants finally coming out on top 53-49.Jenna Putrich led  10 Farmington players in the scoring column with 16 points as they shot 33% from the field and turned the ball over 19 times.  They will play Liberty tomorrow at 11:30.  Canton has been a good competitor in the tournament so far this year as they nearly beat West Central in their opener and had well balanced scoring in their game today.  Nine players scored with Martindale (15) leading the way. Turgeon (9), Chasteen (8), Buchman (7) and Fletcher (6) all chipping in.  They hit 36% of their field goal shots and only turned it over 13 times. They will play at 3:00 on Wednesday as they face the Brown Co. Hornets.

The Lewistown Indians had 9 players score in their attack against Triopia as they won 45-31.  Monn scored 10 and LeGrande 8 in the win as Lewistown improved to 8-8 on the season. Clayton (9) was the leading scorer for the Trojans but 7 players put their name in the history books of the Lady Tiger Tournament this year.  Wednesday's game with Pleasant Plains may be more to the liking of the Trojans in regard to the pace of the game but, they will have to take good care of the ball against the pesky Cardinals.  Lewistown will have to be ready for the ever changing line up of players coming into the game for West Hancock.

The Routt/Illini West Battle was an intense, set on the edge of your seat game, from the out set.  There were 99 free thros shot in the game with 57 fouls and 69 turnovers in this up and down the court affair.  It was a roller coaster ride for both teams and the Rockets of Routt came out on top 63-51.  It was the #5 team getting past the #4 team and the win put the Rockets into the semi-final round where they will face the #1 seed Havana Ducks.  Lauren Gronewold (13) and Bastert (11) led the Charger attack and they were relentless with team pressure on the defensive side of the ball.  Bystrey showed solid senior leadership as she hit 14 points in the victory.  Tonry added 10 and Garde came off the bench to score 8.  While only hitting 9 field goals in the game, the Rockets were able to convert 44 of their 66 free throw shots into points and stayed strong late in the game at crunch time.  It was a nice team effort of defense and intensity that Routt will have to match again tomorrow as they go for an upset against the undefeated Ducks.  Illini West will take on an improving Pittsfield team at 1:30.

Macomb is one of those team in the tournament who seem to be getting better and better.  They had a close battle with the #3 seeded Mendon Unity Mustangs and came out on top 43 to 41. The Bombers lost to Illini Bluffs back early in the season (by 6) and have fought their way into a semi-final match up with the #2 seed Illini Bluffs team for Wednesday.  That may be one of the more interesting games on the day.  Saddler, who is speedy and savvy, scored 12 points in the win as Westen (9) and Mahr (8) were among 6 players who added to the points.  It was a nice combination of pressure defense and timely shooting that propelled the Bombers past the Mustangs.  The Mustangs  had 3 players (Rush, Begeman,Moore)  with 9 points each but could only hit 10 of 24 free throws in the loss. That's tough when you only lose by 2.  With the loss, the Mustangs will now face West Central in the next round.      

The Tigers of Illini Bluffs jumped out to a 17-14 first quarter lead and never looked back as they played steady ball and knocked off the #7 Cougars of West Central.  For West Central, they had 27 turnovers and only shot 33% from the free throw line.  Their biggest problem was the slashing moves of McClintock and power of Kenzie Wall who had 46 of the 66 Tiger points.  The Cougars are not a big team and had no answer for the strength of Wall who had her way in the paint.  McClintock was her usual smooth self and hit 25 (her season average) while Kenzie Wall scored 21.  There were 6 other Illini Bluffs players in the scoring column in this well-balanced attack.  Consistency and fundamental basketball were the words of the day for the Tigers as they hit 56% from the field and 10 of 19 free throws with only 16 turnovers.  Their re-match with Macomb will be fun to watch. As for West Central, they will have to deal with the taller Mustangs of Mendon as nothing gets easier.

The Pittsfield Saukees have been part of the buzz of the 30th annual Lady Tiger this year.  They are much improved and playing with a great deal of intensity and passion.  That says a lot for their excitable head coach Jeff Shireman.  He has gotten the Saukee players to buy into his program and they put a scare into the #1 seed Havana tonight.  The final score was 62-54 in favor of the Ducks but it was a 4 point game late and Pittsfield had a chance. O'Brien (19), Klatt (12) and Chamberlain (11) led the attack.  Heavner played well in the paint until she fouled out late in the game. Pittsfield hit 21 of 52 from the field and 9 of 18 from the free throw line with 19 turnovers.  Havana got challenged in the game but stood their ground and came out with a 15-0 record on the season.  The came in #1 and will stay #1 until someone can step up and knock them off.  Ellsworth (17), Friedrich (14) and Kachanuk (12) were strong with their slashing, outside shooting and power in the paint combination.  They also took care of the ball with only 13 turnovers as they hit 23 of 57 shots and the only downside was the 6 for 23 effort from the foul line. They will have to step that part of their game up when they take on Routt in the semi-final round.  Routt nearly beat the Ducks last year in the Illini Central Sectional and would love nothing more than to get it done on Wednesday.  This, like the Macomb and Illini Bluffs game, will be great stuff for the semi's.  These are 4 teams very capable of taking home the big prize.  No matter who wins or loses, the last 2 days of the Lady Tiger will be filled with great games. 

White Hall North Greene had a hard time breaking the press of Routt Catholic on Friday night and the problems continued into their game with Pleasant Plains today.  They had 17 points and lost to Routt and could only muster 15 points today in their loss to the Cardinals.  Emily Elliott was the leading scorer with 6 points as the Spartans hit 21% from the field and 5 of 8 from the line.  They also had 18 turnovers in the loss.  Plains had 10 players in the scoring column as they spread the ball around well in the win.  The Cardinals hit 16 of 46 from the field and 3 of 5 free throws.  The most impressive part of the win was the small number of turnovers as they only had 1 in the first half and 5 in the second half.  Hannah Hergenrother led the way with 7 points in this nice team win.  The win earned Plains the right to take on Havana at 7:30 in round 2.

Illini West came into the tournament as the #4 seed with a losing record due to their early schedule of playing 3A and 4A schools. Their speed was too much for Brown County as they won 51-13 while shutting out the Hornets in the 3rd and 4th quarters.  Lauren Gronewold had 18 points to lead the way as 8 players scored in the win.  They hit 44% from the field and 47% from the line with 18 total turnovers.  They pretty much dictated the speed of the game from the very beginning and did a nice job of denying the talented Vaness Markert the ball in the paint.  Markert led the Hornets with 5 points but Brown County had 41 turnovers in the loss.  Brown County only had 19% shooting from the field and 2 of 6 free throws so, not a lot went right for the Hornets in this game.  

Mendon Unity only had 1 loss on the season but, they got off to a slow start in their game verses Lewistown.  Once they warmed up, they went on to win 55-40 and will face Macomb tomorrow at 4:30.  Rush scored 14, Begeman 13 and Moore 12.  Churchill added 6 while Bowles and Donley added 4 each.  Hitting 34% from the field and 62% of their free throws, the Mustangs took care of the ball with only 16 turnovers.  They are a pretty good looking ball club and will be very competitive tomorrow.  Monn hit 14 points while LeGrande scored 8 and Eberle 7 as the Indians fell to 7-8 on the season.  The shot 40% in field goals and 42% from the line with 23 turnovers.  Lewistown as a little inconsistent in their loss but will win a lot of games before the regular season ends.  They have decent height and some talented young players on their roster. 

Illini Bluffs had to wait until 6:00 today to get into action in the LTC but it paid off with a 70-61 win over a pesky Farmington team.  The Farmers hit 46% of their shots and 9 for 11 from the free throw line as they hung around until the end.  They had 24 turnovers, which hurt them in the end, but they are a pretty good 8 and 13 team.  Putrich had 15 points and Danley 12 as 7 of the Farmers scored and made a solid run at upsetting the Tigers. As for Illini Bluffs, they had 4 players in double digits.  Kenzie Wall had 21 points, McClintock 18, Hannah Wall 14 and Russell 12 as Illini Bluffs hit 45% of their shots.  They also knocked down 15 of 25 free throws with only 13 turnovers in the win.  The Tigers will face the West Central Cougars at 6:00 tomorrow and that will be an interesting game.

In the final game of the evening, the #1 seed Havana Ducks tot off to a quick start and led all quarters to post the 47-25 win over Pleasant Plains.  They were a little too quick and aggressive for the Cardinals as they stayed undefeated with their 14-0 mark. Kachanuk scored 11 points and Friedrich 10 while Ellsworth added 9.  Seven of the Ducks scored with 36% shooting and 40% in free throws.  They forced 22 turnovers while committing 14 of their own.  The Cardinals could only manage 24% shooting and 50% free throws (1 for 2) in they loss.  Yakel and Forsythe scored 8 each as this Young Cardinal squad looks like they have a good thing going.  Havana will face a Pittsfield team who looks pretty good at times and may cause them a few problems.  It is time for some very entertaining and competitive basketball as we head into round two.       

In a very tight basketball, the WHNG boys defeated Routt 51-48 as they led quarters 1, 2 & 4.  Davis led the Spartans with 18 points, as Wear added 15.  Knox added 8 in the win as White Hall North Greene hit 18 of 41 field goal attempts and 12 of 15 from the free throw line.  They also had 18 turnovers in the win. For the Rockets, they also shot 44% from the field but only had 4 free throws and made 2 of them.  They had 18 turnovers also as this was a very close game.  The Rockets had 2 shots to tie the game but came up empty.  Lindsey had 3 long range treys and 1 average 3 point shot to lead the Rockets with 15 points.  Young had 12 before fouling out and Long had a good night with 11 points. It was a fun and exciting ball game between two evenly matched teams.  The Spartans had 12 fouls in the game and the Rockets 18 so there was a 15 to 4 advantage for White Hall North Greene in the win. If they meet again before this season is over, it will be another very tight battle.  There isn't much difference in these two teams.    

In the final game of the night, the Routt Rockets had a hard time getting into the flow of their offense and lost 35-27 to Athens. The Rockets could only muster five 2 point buckets in 4 quarters. They hit 17 of 26 free throws and that helped them stay in the game. Young led the way with 9 points as Routt hit 5 of 33 shots in the loss.  Routt had 21 turnovers in the game as the Warriors defense played well for all four quarters.  Athens had 8 players in the scoring column and hit 12 of 31 from the field and 11 of 23 from the charity stripe.  They had 8 turnovers in the first half and 12 in the second half as they did just enough to hang on for the win. Athens improved to 4-5 on the year and they led all four quarters and are hoping to get more consistent in their play.  

In the second game, the Cougars of West Central put it in cruise control early and knocked off Raymond Lincolnwood 67-23. Snyder had 13 for the Lancers but, the rest of the team didn't score so well as Raymond Lincolnwood fell to 0-4 in the tournament.  The Cougars forced 25 turnovers in the their win as they had 3 players (Jordan Boehs 21, Day 17 and Barnett 11) in the win.  West Central had 7 players in the scoring column once again as they will come after you with a variety of scorers, a good defense and very few turnovers.  They will try to take care of New Berlin at 7:00 on Saturday night and take home the title.    

New Berlin wanted to win their game tonight with Rushville-Industry to give themselves a shot at the Turkey Tournament title against West Central.  They got it done as they defeated the Rockets 42-30 and did a very good job of holding down Austin Jones.  Jones worked very hard for his 8 points and Plumer (6) along with Plater (5) tried to help pick up the pace.  Hamlin also added 6 points but the Rockets came up short in the end.  Kemp had 14 points in the first half while Gustafson and Lehman added 8 points each in the win.  Burger did what he needed with 7 points also but the Pretzels will have to shoot better (39%) from the field and (50%) from the free throw line if they want to have a chance against the #1 seed.  With only 2 wins last year, New Berlin has to fill good about their start to this season. 

Springfield Lutheran faced the #1 seed, West Central, in the second game tonight got beat 51-23.  It was going to be a tough enough game the way it was but, when Kruger hurt his knee early in the game, it became even tougher.  Hankinson hit 9 points and Haake scored 8 but it wasn't nearly enough to fight off the smooth working Cougars.  Kirby knocked down 6 points for the Crusaders also but, with only 3 players scoring in the game, they were never really in the contest. Seven of the Cougars scored as they spread the ball around with Jordan Boehs leading the way with 14. Day hit double figures with 10 and Lomelino added 9.  West Central shot 44% from the field and 36% from the free throw line and finished with 9 turnovers in the win.  They are only giving up 20 points a game and averaging 53 and that is a hard combination to beat.  They have Raymond-Lincolnwood and New Berlin left on their tournament schedule.

In the final game of the night, the Lancers of Raymond Lincolnwood played 3 good quarters of basketball but the 4th quarter did them in as they lost to New Berlin 65-45.  It was a much better game than the final score indicated but, this is a young Lancer team and they looked like they ran out of steam.  Kraeger and Brockmeier had 14 points each and Snyder 8 in the loss. With only 2 turnovers in the first half, Raymond Lincolnwood led 27-22 at half time.  They turned the ball over 16 times in the second half and that helped sink them. They hit 35% of their shots and 69% of their free throws.  Kemp led the Pretzels once again as he hit 19 points.  Lehman played strong with 13 points as Hodson and Longhta each scored 8 points.  Over all, there were 8 of the New Berlin players in the scoring column.  They were hot last night and didn't cool off much tonight as they hit 51% of their field goals and 71% of their free throws.  They are hoping to defeat Rushville-Industry on Friday and give themselves a shot at the title against West Central on Saturday night. As for the Rockets, they would love to upset the apple cart with a win Friday. It should be a good game and fun to watch.    

West Central won their second game of the tournament as they are averaging 55 and only giving up 19 per game in their wins.  Carlinville had trouble from the beginning and their leading scorer, Stewart, only had 5 points if that will give you an idea as to how hard it is to score on the Cougars.  They shot 19% from the field and 71% from the charity stripe.  West Central still struggled from the free throw line as they hit 5 of 10 free throw line but, they did well with 51% from the field. Jordan Boehs (15) led the 7 Cougars who did score in the game. Corey Barnett added 9 points while Day had 7.  West Central forced 16 turnovers and only made 9 of them in the win.  They will take on the Crusaders of Springfield Lutheran tomorrow evening as they try stay undefeated in the tournament.

The Host Pretzels played very well tonight as they got off to a quick start and maintained it for 4 quarters in their 74-56 win over Lutheran. Eight of the Crusaders scored tonight as Kruger led the way (16) and Kirby (12) as well as Hankinson(10) scored in double figures. Lutheran hit 47% of their shots and 75% from the line.  New Berlin hit 58% from the field and 53% from the line but they hit the boards well in the win.  Kemp (22), Burger (19), Longta (12) and Gustafson (10) led the well balanced attack.  Kemp had 6 treys in the game as they tried to open up the inside game of Burger who came through with some big buckets.  The Pretzels only had 6 turnovers with their starters in the game and 15 over all in the win.  New Berlin would like to win their next two games and get a chance to take on the Cougars in a title tile on Saturday night.  Raymond-Lincolnwood and Rushville Industry may have something to say about whether or not the Pretzels will get their shot.    

In the second game of the night, it was all West Central as they played well on both ends of the floor and crushed the Rushville-Industry Rockets 61-21.  This was simply a matter of the #1 team taking on a team that will need to find their identity under first year head coach, Mark Darr, and also find some offense on the way.  Tonight the Rockets will have a better chance of finding out who they really are as they take on Raymond-Lincolnwood in a little closer match up.  It was hard to determine much about the Rockets as they met up with a team they don't need at this point.  Crane led the team with 7 points as he came in as a bench player.  West Central is a veteran team with a lot of strong inside players and good ball handlers.  Day showed his quickness with 18 points and Corey Barnett added 10 in the win.  Lomelino put in 8 as did VanDeVelde as 8 of the Cougars scored tonight in a well rounded attack.  Their pressure defense forced 26 turnovers on the Rockets.  West Central shot 57% from the field and only 38% from the free throw line (they will work on that) but, were just too strong for the young Rockets tonight.

The final game of the night was an up and down affair for New Berlin and for the Cavaliers of Carlinville.  Carlinville prevailed and won the game 54-45 but not without some struggles of their own. New Berlin jumped out to an 16-9 lead in the first quarter and that was the best news of their night.  The only scored 4 points in the second quarter and 8 in the third and never recovered as Carlinville hit them for 14 and 12 in those same quarts to hold a 35-28 lead after 3 quarters.  The Pretzels had well balanced scoring but, not enough of it.  Gustafson (10), Kemp (9), Burger (9), Lehman (8) and Longhta (7) led the way but there were holds in the defense and the speed of Barry Stewart got to them.  Stewart scored 21 points as a non-starter while Kleeman added 12 and Marchiori 10 in the Carlinville win.  The Pretzels hit 35% from the field and 75% from the free throw line while the Cavaliers tallied 41% from the field and 41% from the line.  Carlinville will get a chance to test their metal against West Central tonight so that will be fun to see how they come out.  

The Routt Lady Rockets opened their volleyball season with a victory (25-12, 25-8) on the road against the Pleasant Hill Lady Wolves.  Thirteen players earned statistical numbers for the Lady Rockets.  Abbey Smith started the season with four straight service points and finished the night with nine total service points, which led the team.  She also had seven assists and one kill.  Emily Bystry finished with eight service points and Nichole Bergschneider had seven service points.  Bergschneider, a senior, played the libero position for Routt and was very effective as the defensive specialist playing the back row.  Rachel White led Routt in assists with eight while Rachel Langdon led the team in kills, earning six of them.  The season opening win was the 290^th victory at Routt for Coach Gibson.  It was the home opener for a young Pleasant Hill team after losing at Triopia on Tuesday.  There are only two seniors on the roster for Coach Clowers’ team which is going to improve with game experience throughout the season.  Shelby Pruett, one of those seniors, led the Lady Wolves with five service points.  Kelsey Whitaker, who missed the first game, was very active on the court helping the Lady Wolves.  The sophomore had three service points and worked a nice back and forth game with junior teammate Samantha Black.  Pleasant Hill will be playing in the Meredosia Volleyball Tournament next week.  Routt won the JV match 25-15, 25-21.  

It was the home opener for the Lady Trojans of Triopia. With 33 girls on the roster Coach Stacey Beeley had a full bench, filled with girls from Virginia and Triopia, who proved they work together extremely well with a win over the Pleasant Hill Lady Wolves 25-18, 25-7. Katie Clayton was the lone senior tonight, leading her team on and off the court. Katie will be a force on the front line for all the opposing teams in this area. She wasn't alone, Erin Washington, Emily Carls and Breanna Lacy put in plenty of kills. Setter Sydney Meyer filled some pretty big shoes replacing Lydia Reither for the Lady Trojans, as a sophomore she will make her name known.  Pleasant Hill played hard and will give teams fits. Samantha Black will keep teams guessing with back sets and dumps just off the 10 foot line. Black has the ability to set left right or middle with little effort. She showed no favorites sending the ball equally to Madison Martin, Shelby Pruett, Kennedy Moore, Lauren Jones or Leah Cathorall   Pleasant Hill's downfall for the night were the service errors. I call it early season jitters, something we won't see down the road.  It was a good start to the 2011 volleyball season

Olivia Dour pitched a no hitter today as Beardstown shut out Peru 12-1 to advance to the title game on Tuesday night as the only unbeaten team.  She walked 5 and struck out 12 batters in the victory.  Peru made 6 errors in the game as Kamryn Olson pitched a pretty good game, walking only 2 and striking out 14.  Beardstown had 11 hits and were led by Blake and Maddie Craig with 2 hits each.  They had 9 of their 12 players with at least 1 hit in the impressive win.  They made 0 errors and left 4 runners on base and deserve to be in the championship game Tuesday.  They will get tomorrow off as they wait to see who their opponent will be.  Whoever wins tomorrow will have to defeat Beardstown twice, so they are in the drivers seat and it will be fun to see how they finish.   

The Beardstown/River Forest game was a roller coaster ride for both teams.  River Forest committed 9 errors in the loss and could only muster 2 hits.  Beardstown walked 17 batters  and made 2 errors, so it was hard to get a read on either of the teams. While River Forest only scored 4 runs, they left 15 runners on base so, they had opportunities.  Nelson had both of the River Forest hits and played a solid game at short stop with a couple of excellent defensive plays.  She may be one of the best 11 year old players I have seen this season. She has a strong arm and hit 2 triples as they both hit the 200 foot fence in 1 bounce.  Fiona Girardot went the distance and suffered the loss as she walked 2 and struck out 6.  She also had 5 wild pitches in the game.  Beardstown collected 13 hits to go with their 11 runs and they left 7 runners on base.  Blake led the way with 3 hits while Hobrock, Olivia Dour and Stock all had 2.  Nine of the 12 Beardstown players had at least 1 hit in the win.  They made 2 errors in the game and, if you could discount the walks, Beardstown played a very nice game.  Coach Stock said his team never walked 17 batters in their entire sectional and district tournaments, so we will see how tomorrow plays out when they face Peru at 4:00 in the semi-final game.

Rushville took an 11-5 win over Pike County as the compiled 5 hits and 3 errors while leaving 7 runners on base.  Curry and Hannah Etter had 2 hits each in the win and Hannah Etter is the winning pitcher.  Rushville used 3 pitchers in the game and they each did a commendable job.  Giving up 3 unearned runs of the 5 wasn't helpful and Rushville will need to play a little bit better defensive game Tuesday as Calhoun will try to run on them.  Pike County had some difficulty with walks last night as they gave up 8 with 1 hit batsman. Hively struck out 9 batters and Pike Co. committed 5 errors in the loss. Pike County could only muster 4 hits in the game also so, will need to hit the ball better against Beardstown in the second round if they want to stay alive for round three.  It will be interesting to watch them play Beardstown to see which teams can get their composure back and move on.