ROXANA - Jersey’s basketball girls made quite a statement with their strong defense to open the IHSA Class 3A Roxana Regional, defeating Roxana 60-18 after rolling to a 16-0 start.
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Bethany Meunstermann led the Panthers with 12 points, followed by Mackenzie Thurston with 10 points, Ashleigh Trochuck, Peyton Tisdale and Brianna Schroeder each with 6 points, then Kiara Chapman and Katelyn Walker with 5 points. Hannah Hudson, Alexis Liles, Abby Manns, Morgan Davis, Hannah Jones each with 2 points.
Emma Lucas led Roxana with 8 points, followed by Sara Kreutzrager with 6 points and Abby Palen with 4 points.
“Our defense caused the Shells to turn the ball over,” Jersey’s coach Kevin Strebel said. “I thought our defensive intensity was clear tonight. On offense, it was great to have all twelve players score, that helps reward the hard work that every player puts into practice.”
Triad topped Columbia 51-44 in the prior opening round contest on Monday to move to the semifinal game against the Panthers at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The Panthers led 18-2 at the end of the first quarter, then 28-10 at the half, 45-14 after three quarters and outscored the Shells 15-4 in the final period for a score of 60-18.
Top-seeded Civic Memorial and Cahokia play in the 6 p.m. Roxana Regional semifinal matchup at 6 tonight. The winner of the Triad-Jersey matchup will play the CM-Cahokia winner on Thursday for the regional title.
With head coach Strebel at the helm, the Panthers have turned their basketball program around.
“It has been a steady climb as a program over the past three seasons,” he said. “We've gone from 8-19 to 13-15 last season to our current record of 16-11. At this point, there's no time to celebrate, we come back to Roxana to face a tough Triad team tomorrow.”
