BETHALTO - Civic Memorial's girls basketball team made it three in a row on what became a snowy Monday night.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
The Eagles, ranked No. 6 in IHSA Class 3A by the Associated Press, hosted the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes in a big non-conference game and won 43-26.
Teutopolis, better known as T-Town for short, is ranked No. 9 in Class 2A and came into the game with a record of 11-4. The Shoes had won both meetings last season by scores of 50-47 in T-Town and 56-39 in the Highland Tournament.
"We did a great job of taking away what [Teutopolis] does well," CM head coach Mike Arbuthnot said. "I thought our kids played super hard. We got hurt a few time on the boards, but we kept battling. Our on-ball defense and our help defense was really, really good tonight."
The game began quite slow, but it was a game that the Eagles led from start to finish.
Reegan Twente opened the scoring with a steal followed by an easy layup. Isabelle Edwards made it 4-0 with her basket, but T-Town would tie it back up at 4-4.
During the early goings CM struggled to get defensive rebounds, but the Wooden Shoes couldn't buy a basket to take advantage of the situation.
"We were fortunate with that," Arbuthnot said on the first quarter. "I felt like we got tougher as this game went on. That's what we've been stressing to our kids. We were able to do that tonight."
Gracie Miller scored the game's first three-pointer followed by Marlee Durbin's basket as the Eagles took a 9-6 lead after the first quarter.
T-Town's Chloe Probst opened the second quarter with a three to tie the game up at 9-9 before CM caught wind and went on a 9-0 run. Probst ended the first half with another three and CM led 18-12 at halftime.
The Eagles used another 7-0 run to extend their lead to 30-17 after the third quarter, before they started making some threes in the final frame to put the game to bed.
CM made just six threes on the night. The Eagles average eight threes per game through the first 20 games. They've dropped 13 threes on two occasions this season.
Through 20 games, CM is 17-3 after starting the season 11-0.
"We're showing signs of doing some nice things," Arbuthnot said. "I think these kids enjoy coming to the gym everyday, enjoy being with each other, and it's just been a real fun year as a coach when you see the effort that they're giving you. You're just so proud of them and happy that they're getting the results they've been getting."
Marlee Durbin and Marley Ogden each scored nine points while Avari Combes and Avery Huddleston each scored seven. Isabelle Edwards scored four, Gracie Miller had three, and Meredith Brueckner and Reegan Twente each scored two.
This was the first game of a very busy week for the Eagles.
CM has another quality opponent on Wednesday with Chatham Glenwood and then host Mississippi Valley Conference rivals Jerseyville on Friday before kicking off the 37th Annual Highland Tournament with a tough game against Okawville, the No. 4 ranked team in Class 1A.
More like this:
