JERSEYVILLE - In the second to last game of the Jersey Community High School Holiday Tournament, the Southwestern High School Piasa Birds and the Carrollton High School Lady Hawks basketball teams battled it out on Tuesday.
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After winning their two games on Monday against Freeburg High School (66-22) and Collinsville High School (50-28), Southwestern went into this game fairly strong with confidence necessary to back up their raw talent.
“It was a great hard played game,” Southwestern coach Steve Wooley said. “We did much better pushing the ball tonight and they definitely knew that we would want to come down. They would then be patient offensively, even though we wanted to be faster.”
Ultimately, the Piasa Birds defeated the Lady Hawks in a victory at 60-36 at the final buzzer.
Senior Maddy Greeling led the her team to victory with 14 points scored by three baskets, two three-pointers and two free-throws. Closely behind her with 12 points earned were seniors Malea Bailey and Kelsey Rhoades. Senior Mackenzie Woolf contributed eight points to her team’s score. Junior Jenna Moore brought in six points. Senior Erin Laubscher, junior Samantha Burns and senior Karlie Green, and junior Mallory Novak brought in three, two and one point respectively.
Southwestern will battle head-to-head with Calhoun High School in the championship game at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 30.
Carrollton coach Brian Madison had larger hopes for his team over the span of the tournament but he is still genuinely proud of his girls.
“I do think we played Southwestern tough,” he said. “I’m proud of the way we played. Our juniors really stepped up over the summer in leadership roles and with some experience, the chemistry between these girls will start paying off once we get some more experience under our belt.
Junior Emily Struble really stepped into a leadership position, scoring 14 points overall for her team. Freshman Hannah Krumwiede showed athleticism beyond her age, bringing in 10 points by a successful basket, one three-pointer and a whomping five free-throws. Juniors Carley Pyatt and Hannah Robinson both brought in five points each. Sophomore Claire Williams could only bring in two points for the Hawks from free-throws.
Carrollton had lost their two prior games in the tourney before Southwestern; the Lady Hawks lost their first match to Freeburg 59-35 in the Midgets’ favor and day two’s kick-off match against Collinsville High School was lost by just nine points with a score of 58-47.
Carrollton will face Granite City High School at 3 p.m. on Wednesday to conclude participation in the tournament.
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