Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Galesburg loses opener despite putting up ridiculous System numbers

Are you kidding? The Galesburg (Ill.) High School girls' basketball team, coached by Evan Massey, dropped its season opener to Illini West on Tuesday night by the score of 82-68. That in and of itself isn't totally surprising, despite Massey's coaching acumen, the talent of his players and the benefit of running The System. Losses happen.

Still, the Streaks (love it!) hit nearly all of their goals in this game, and blew most completely out of the water. Here is what they did:

- Attempted 93 shots (goal is 72)
- Attempted 60 3-pointers (goal is 36)
- Forced 44 turnovers (goal is 26
- Attempted 40 more shots than the opponent (goal is 20)
- Rebounded 35 percent of their own misses (goal is 40 percent)

No, those statistics aren't make believe. Yes, Galesburg put up 93 shots in a 32-minute high school game. Yes, Galesburg shot 60 3s in a 32-minute high school game. Yes, Galesburg trapped and pressed Illini West into 44 turnovers in a 32-minute high school game. So, just for fun, let's convert those final totals to a 40-minute game, like the one played by colleges. That would be 116 total shots, 74 3-pointers and 55 turnovers. Simply amazing.

Still, the Streaks lost. They made only 10 of those 3s, which converts to 10 percent, and that made the offensive rebounding goal even more important. You've got to believe if Coach Massey's team continues to put out this type of effort, the Ws will follow in bunches.

Jessica Howard led Galesburg with 16 points, all in the first half, and Sadee Hamilton added 13 points and 13 rebounds. Senior Tai Peachey finished with six steals, while Rainee Sibley (five) and Myra Diggins (four) also helped out on the defensive end. Hamilton and Megan Young each came through with five offensive boards.

Next up for the Streaks is a home matchup with East Peoria on Friday night; game time is 9:30 p.m. EST, and I will have an update over the weekend. The best of luck to Coach Massey and his squad.

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