Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
ALTON - Jersey’s young girls basketball team showed great poise in a 59-42 romp past Springfield Southeast in the first contest of the Lady Redbird Tipoff Tournament at Alton High School Monday night.
Claire Breden paced the Panthers with 14 points. Peyton Tisdale added 13 points and Hannah Hudson nine points; 10 different Panthers were on the scoresheet for the night. The Panthers jumped out to a 21-4 lead at quarter time and led 31-13 at the long break.
Jersey head girls coach Kevin Strebel said he was proud of his team's performance in a post-game interview.
Strebel said: “I think we grew within the game. It took a few players to get as many rebounds as we did. I thought we showed a lot of fight. In the second half, we showed some poise that we didn’t show in second quarter. Some of that naturally happened. You can’t play 100 miles an hour for 30 minutes. We regained our poise later in the game and for a young team that was important.”
Jersey’s girls, 1-0, will meet Breese Mater Dei – 55-25 winners over Riverview Gardens in the tournament's opening contest Monday – in a winner's bracket semifinal game at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, while the Rams and Spartans meet in the evening's curtain-raiser at 6 p.m. Wednesday in a consolation semifinal game. The tournament continues with two games this evening, the host Redbirds taking on Hardin-Calhoun at 7:30 p.m., preceded by Breese Central against Springfield Lanphier at 6 p.m., with the final set for 7:45 p.m. Saturday.
