BRIGHTON - Southwestern’s girls are riding high after a crushing 82-33 victory over Carlinville on Wednesday night in the semifinals of the IHSA Class 2A Southwestern Regional.
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The Piasa Birds are the top-ranked team in the Associated Press Class 2A girls basketball poll and have high expectations as the post-season unfolds.
Southwestern will face Gillespie at 7 tonight for the regional title.
Kelsey Rhoades led Southwestern on Wednesday night with 19 points and Maddy Greeling tossed in 16 points. Erin Laubscher had 12 points and Karlie Green had 11 points.
Southwestern coach Steve Wooley said he talked to his team about playing the game they wanted to play against Carlinville and not necessarily the opponent.
“We wanted to stick to those things and be as consistent as we can,” he said. “We were played a lower-seeded team and we wanted to maintain our game. I think we did that last night.”
Southwestern’s girls are now 26-3 with 22 straight wins. Gillespie takes an 18-9 record into the game against the Piasa Birds tonight.
Carlinville concludes with an 8-21 record.
Carlinville had four scored eight points in the game: Grace Zachary, Hannah Lair, Olivia Olroyd and Sydney Cania.
Southwestern grabbed a 27-4 lead at quarter time and saw the lead reduced to 40-24 by the long break before the Birds extended the lead throughout the second half. Southwestern won its 45th straight game in its building with the triumph.
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