ROXANA - The Civic Memorial Eagles got off to another fast start Wednesday night against the Shells inside Larry Millazo Gym at Roxana High School.
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CM improved to 10-0 on the season after a 67-29 win over Roxana.
After a three-pointer and another basket from Roxana sophomore guard Daisy Daugherty , the Shells held a brief 5-4 lead. But, that would be the last time they'd score in the first quarter.
The Eagles went on a 23-point run to close out the remainder of the opening frame to take a 27-5 lead after one.
CM never relinquished that lead with scores of 44-15 at half and 62-25 after three.
Junior guard Reegan Twente has been the Eagles' leading scorer so far this season. She's averaging 13 points per game, leading CM with 17 points on Wednesday.
Avari Combes and Marley Ogden each scored 13 points, Avery Huddleston scored eight, Isabelle Edwards had seven, Gracie Miller had five, and Meredith Brueckner had four.
As for Roxana, Daugherty led with 12 points while Ava Strohmeier added 10.
This was a rare meeting between the Eagles and Shells with the last being in 2015.
"Roxana, I'll give them credit. When they got the new coach, our [Athletic Directors] got together and they said they wanted to play. I said, okay, we'll make that happen," CM head coach Mike Arbuthnot said about the rare meeting against one of CM's neighbors.
"CM plays everybody else in the RiverBend in football, baseball, boys basketball, wrestling, everything else,; so, playing a little crosstown rival is good for our kids," Arbuthnot continued. "It's fun. They know all these kids from club ball and stuff like that, so they want to do that."
CM holds a 16-1 record dating back to 1999 over Roxana, but Arbuthnot gave the Shells credit Wednesday night.
"[Roxana] played hard, played hard to the very end," Arbuthnot said. "I felt like we shot the ball well again tonight. We were able to get a lot of kids in, a lot of time in, but Roxana played hard for 32 minutes and that's a tribute to their coach and staff."
It was a big matchup for first-year Roxana head coach Addaya Moore. Her and the Shells won the first four games of the season, winning the Dupo Cat Classic Tournament and then beating Maryville Christian. Since then, they've lost four straight and now sit at 4-4 on the season.
They'll have another big matchup when they host rivals Wood River on Thursday, Dec. 14 at 7:30 p.m.
The Eagles, now ranked at No. 4 in Illinois Class 3A in AP's first basketball state rankings, will head to Waterloo on Friday for another key road Mississippi Valley Conference game. That one is set to tip off at 6 p.m.
