Calhoun defeats Civic Memorial 54-51 in day two of JCHS Holiday Tournament

JERSEYVILLE - Calhoun remained tough Tuesday in a day two contest against a highly talented Civic Memorial team, beating the Lady Eagles 54-51.

Coming off of two wins against Jersey Community High School (52-37) and Granite City High School (55-45) on Monday, Dec. 28, the Civic Memorial High School Lady Eagles basketball team hoped to come out revitalized for the confrontation that was to come against the Calhoun High School Lady Warriors.

Unfortunately for the Lady Eagles, that was not the case, as a lack of offense in the first period left the team playing catch up for the rest of the game. Before they could finally come close to what their opponents had scored, the final buzzer had sounded and the Calhoun Lady Warriors beat the Civic Memorial Lady Eagles with a score of 54-51.

“I just feel like if we make a break away lay-up, a couple of free throws or some make a couple more shots early, it’s a different game,” CM coach Jonathan Denney said after his team’s loss. “Calhoun did a good job taking away our looks. Coach Baalman took away our dice when he knew we would miss those open threes.”

Calhoun coach Aaron Baalman commended Denney’s team for putting up a great fight at the end of the game.

“When someone looks at our schedules, they’ll see the Quincy Notre Dame match, or the Southwestern or CM matches,” he said. “CM is a heck of a ball club. They’re a good 3A team that plays a good competition day in and day out and I think our girls did a good job dealing with that tonight.”

As mentioned, the Eagles’ offense really never got started in in the first period. Before they could realize it, Calhoun held a 7-0 lead over the Eagles due to two baskets dealt by senior Emma Baalman and a three-pointer by her classmate Kassidy Klocke.

Calhoun’s defense was locked tight, not allowing their opponents to score a single point until CM senior Kalyn Troxell landed a basket with just 2:45 on the clock remaining of the period.

Shortly after Troxell’s basket, Baalman scored for the third time this period, bringing the score to 9-2.

In an attempt to keep her team’s scoreboard alive, junior Allie Troeckler made a basket for the Eagles. Unfortunately, the offense fell short after that and no other points were scored for her team this period.  

The Warriors were not finished adding more points to that scoreboard themselves. Senior Sydney White added a point from a successful free throw attempt, Emma Baalman landed another basket and junior Grace Baalman also nabbed a point from free throws herself, raising the score to 13-4 at the end of the first period.

After meeting with Coach Denney and reevaluating the situation, the Eagles came out with a bit more vivacity than they did in the first. Right off of the bat, Troeckler brought in three points due to a basket and a free throw.

Baalman was quick to rebuttal, landing two more for Calhoun. Her teammate, junior Jordan Holland, made her first basket of the game for two. Senior Courtney Holland flawlessly tossed in a three-point shot to bring the score to 20-7.

The Eagles made a six point push courtesy of Troeckler and sophomore Kaylee Eaton. Bringing in four and two points respectively, the score became 20-13.

Three more points for Calhoun came by the way of White’s two-point shot and a free throw by Grace Baalman, but not before CM’s Troxell could quickly rebuttal each time, landing four in total.

With the score at 23-17, CM committed fouls against Grace Baalman and earned the Warriors two easy points from their star shooter this period.

CM senior Journey Coffman pushed for her team to land one more basket before the Warriors offence could land another shot by way of Klocke. At half, the Warriors led the Eagles 28-19.

In the third, the Eagles came out with more determination, channelling some of their energy from previous games into the one at hand this afternoon. Though their offense was more lively, the Warriors’ continued to hold a solid lead over their team.

A bit of back-and-forth ball took place between the teams in the third starting with a two-point play by CM senior Katelyn Turbyfill. E. Baalman knocked in two for the Warriors before Alaria Tyus of the Lady Eagles could nab a three-pointer for her team. Two more points came by the way of Klocke for the Warriors. Troeckler landed another basket for herself to bring the score to 32-26. 

Baalman and White both knocked in two buckets before there was a timeout called with around three minutes left of the period.

After the teams briefly met, three points were scored by Troxell on a basket and a free throw to bring the score to 36-29. White and Holland from the Warriors each brought in two points each to stretch the their score to 40 points.

Troeckler again worked her hardest for the Eagles, bringing in three on a basket and a free throw point from the goal line.

Holland, minding the gap that had formed after receiving the ball, nabbed a three-pointer for the Warriors.

Turbyfill scored the last basket for the Eagles in the third period to bring their score up to 34. Shortly after, Grace Baalman landed one more herself to keep her team in the lead with a score of 45-34 at the end of the third period.

The fourth period was the perfect opportunity for the Eagles to really play catch up.

White nabbed a point from a free throw opportunity. Quickly after, Turbyfill earned one herself from the same situation after a foul was committed on her. Grace Baalman scored a clean basket for the Warriors, but not long after this, Tyus landed yet another flawless three-pointer for the Eagles to bring the score to 48-38, still in her opponent's’ favor.

White scored yet again to raise the Warriors’ score to 50. Troxell quickly rebuttaled to throw two more to the Eagles’ score to become 40.

Three more points appeared by Troeckler’s basket-landing prowess and a free throw. Tyus also brought in two more for the Eagles to bring the score to 50-45, further narrowing the score margin.  

Klocke was awarded another basket to stretch the lead again, but Troeckler was quick to bring the point margin back to 5 points after scoring for the final time this game.

After her third and final three-pointer of the game, Tyus brought the Eagles score to 50 to the Warriors’ 52, the smallest point margin this game has seen.

The need for points, although dire, was kept quenched by Grace Baalman after she earned two points from successful free throw attempts.

With less than 30 seconds to go, Eaton had one last opportunity to earn points for the Eagles by the way of a free-throw situation. Unfortunately, she only landed one of the two shots and could only bring the score up to 51 for her team.

With their defense strong, the Eagles nearly scored almost half the amount of their opponents from Calhoun at 17 points to Warriors’ 9.

Unfortunately, the lead from the ladies in red was too dynamic and they couldn’t make the win happen out on the court for this game. Calhoun defeated the Eagles 54-51 at the final buzzer.

Calhoun will face the Southwestern High School Piasa Birds in the championship match at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 30.

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