PIASA - Gillespie went on a 15-0 run at the end of the second quarter into the third, Piasa Southwestern battled back to within two points late, but a pair of free throws near the end clinched the game as the Miners gave the Piasa Birds their first loss of the season 51-47 Thursday night at the Southwestern gym.

After trailing early in the second quarter, Gillespie put up 11 straight points to take a 21-16 lead at halftime, then scored the first four points of the second half, and eventually led 36-22 late in the third quarter.

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"We had an injury last night in practice with one of the starters (Annie Gallaher)," said Birds head coach Steve Wooley, "and she's going to be out a week, so that didn't help. But still, I mean, this is a learning opportunity for us."

It was a very nip-and-tuck contest, and the dry spell for Southwestern was a big factor in the game.

"Yeah, it was," Wooley said. "We dug a little hole, we had a stretch there where we went a little dry, didn't score, they got the lead. It is what is is, I just would have preferred to play them while we were healthy, and had all of our people. It's early in the year, we're still kind of young in a lot of our positions, and the kids are learning."

There's only two senior on the Southwestern roster this season --- Natalie Keith and Ellie Lowis, with Lowis being out since the start of the season with an ankle injury. The injuries to both Gallaher and Lowis leave the Birds shorthanded in the post, but Wooley still sees the game as a learning experience for the team.

"There's a lot of things, I hope, we can learn from," Wooley said. "Just watching some film on this game, and there's a lot of things our younger kids really need to try to learn from."

Wooley gave credit to the Miners for the way they came out of the gate.

"Oh, yeah, they've got a good group," Wooley said. "They've gone to state in junior high, they've got good athletes coming. Those kids were kind of young last year, most of them are sophomores, so they've matured a lot physically and mentally, I think. So I expected them to be pretty good this year."

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Gillespie head coach Kevin Gray was very happy with how his team performed, and also gave Southwestern much credit as well.

"Obviously, they went pretty well," Gray said with a laugh. "But Southwestern, they just battled the whole night long, I mean, there were a couple of runs by both teams, and I thought we had a little cushion there in the fourth quarter. But you've got to give them credit. They made some tough threes and made it a one-possession game. And fortunately, Shelby Taylor hit two clutch free throws to clinch it."

The Miners have played a tough early schedule, and those early games paid off in a big way.

"We have played a tough schedule," Gray said. "We opened up with Carrollton, played Alton Marquette; right now, those two teams are 12-2; we went 1-1 against them. We played Alton the other night down there, at Alton, and it was a (Class) 4A school with athleticism. Last year, we went through some growing pains, a sophomore bunch. We upped our schedule, toughened it up, and we went through some growing pains last year, but it's going to pay dividends this year, and next year also."

Two players, in particular, have been carrying the load for Gillespie thus far, and there are other players that Gray can depend on as well.

"Well, we've had two players sort of do the bulk of the scoring," Gray said. "Shelby Taylor and also Keaton Link are one and two in scoring. Tonight, we struggled, Keaton got into foul trouble, really never got into the offensive flow of the game, but she's capable of scoring 20. Tonight, we also had a little more balance than what we've shown. MacKenzy Mix had a big game; I think she had 12 points, maybe nine rebounds. Emily Schmidt had 10 rebounds. We showed a lot of character on Southwestern's floor to hang in there."

After Gillespie took an early 8-2 lead, the Birds came back with a 9-0 run to take an 11-8 lead after one quarter. Josie Boullion connected on a three with 5:48 to go in the first half to give Southwestern a 16-10 lead, but then, the Miners went on their 15-0 run to take the lead 25-16 early in the second half. A pair of threes from Grace Bertolino and Mix gave Gillespie a 36-22 lead later on in the period

Late in the game, Mix hit a pair of baskets to make it 49-40 in the final minute, but a free throw and a pair of threes, the second from Boullion, cut the lead to 49-47, giving the Birds a chance to at least force overtime. Taylor came through with her two free throws in the closing seconds to clinch the win for the Miners.

Gillespie is now 3-1, 1-0 in the South Central Conference, and play at Raymond Lincolnwood Friday night, then host Gateway Legacy Academy Dec. 9 to start a four-game homestand that includes conference games against both Pana and Roxana, and a match-up against Hardin Calhoun. Southwestern is now 7-1 on the year, 0-1 in the league, and start a four-game road swing Saturday afternoon at Calhoun, then play at Roxana Dec. 12, Greenville Dec. 16 and Bunker Hill Dec. 19.