Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer Ernie Banks would be proud of the girls' basketball team at Galesburg (Ill.) HS - the unranked Streaks not only played two games in a single day, they won both against teams in the top five of the Peoria (Ill.) Journal-Star poll.
On Saturday morning, Galesburg used a school-record nine 3-pointers from Jessica Howard to beat short-handed No. 5 Peoria Central 82-60, then continued the strong play a couple of hours later with a 73-60 victory over No. 3 Peoria Notre Dame. Pretty sweet, right?
The Streaks (7-3) went to their delay game late in both games, keeping The Formula numbers a bit down, so here they are:
Against Peoria Notre Dame:
- Attempted 60 shots (goal is 72)
- Attempted 41 3-pointers (goal is 36)
- Rebounded 26 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 40 percent)
- Forced 36 turnovers (goal is 26)
- Attempted five FEWER shots than Notre Dame (goal is 20 more)
Against Peoria Central:
- Attempted 65 shots (goal is 72)
- Attempted 52 3-pointers (goal is 36)
- Rebounded 21 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 40)
- Forced 33 turnovers (goal is 26)
- Attempted five FEWER shots than Central (goal is 20 more)
As I said, Howard did most of the damage from long range, adding six 3s in the nightcap after the record-setting nine earlier, and finished the day with 49 points (31 against Central, 18 against Notre Dame). Central was down to only seven players since several were taking the ACT, so the result of this game is somewhat misleading.
What isn't misleading is the defensive pressure the Streaks are creating without fouling, something coach Evan Massey noted in the game story from The Galesburg Register-Mail.
“Today was a big day for us,” he told the paper. “I’m really happy with our defensive effort lately. We have been able to pressure without fouling. You look at where we were a year ago in that area, it’s night and day.”
Of course, The System wouldn't be The System without help from the entire roster, as Coach Massey included on his blog. In the victory over Central, Paige Klinck was 4-for-7 from behind the line as Galesburg finished 19-for-52 as a team. Six different players made 3-pointers.
Other individuals standing out during the day:
- Jamie Johnson grabbed 10 rebounds in each game and finished with four steals and four assists against Notre Dame
- Sadee Hamilton added seven rebounds in each and made all four of her free throws against Notre Dame
- Point guard Tai Peachey came up huge, with eight assists and seven steals against Central, then adding five assists and an 8-of-11 performance at the free throw line against Notre Dame
- Baylie Boyer totaled five assists in each game
All in all, a wonderful day for one of my favorite teams. Galesburg is off until Thursday, when it returns to Western Big 6 conference play against Alleman. Game time is scheduled for 8 p.m. EST.
Elsewhere on Saturday, the NAIA women's team at Olivet Nazarene sprinted away from a close game in the first half and blew away Hannibal-LaGrange 105-57 with a dominant final 22 minutes.
How dominant? Well, the Tigers led only 38-36 with 1:41 left in the first half, so you don't have to be my brother do that math. Even I can do it. That's 67-21 for the remainder of the game; System coaches often talk about opponents hitting that meltdown stage, and it appears this is exactly what happened to the Trojans.
Nine unanswered points in the final 79 seconds of the opening half gave ONU a 47-36 lead, and the second half got worse quickly. A 26-9 run in the opening 7 minutes boosted the margin to 28, and the spurt stretched to 49-15 when a tip-in from Danielle Tolbert gave the Tigers a 96-51 lead.
One reason could have been fatigue. Hannibal-LaGrange used its top three players for well over 30 minutes apiece, and against the wave-upon-wave of players ONU coach Doug Porter sent to the court, it wasn't enough. This included 15 players getting at least 10 minutes of time, simply astounding. Here are your Stats for the Tigers (8-3):
- Attempted 96 shots
- Attempted 49 3-pointers
- Rebounded 55 percent of the misses on offense
- Forced 46 turnovers
- Attempted 31 more shots than the Trojans
Five players reached double figures for ONU, with Simone Coburn leading the way with 18 points. Stephanie Denius (16 points), Jaimie Buckman (12), Taylor Haymes (12) and Tolbert (10) also got there, and Haymes, Buckman and Denius each made four 3s.
Point guard Danielle Pipal ran things with her usual efficiency, finishing with four assists, six rebounds and three steals while taking only two shots. Lisa Beyer scored only two points but added a team-high five steals, four assists and five rebounds, all on the offensive end.
Great game for Coach Porter and his team, and they return to action Monday night against Illinois Wesleyan. Tip is scheduled for 6 p.m. EST, and I wish them luck.
At Glenville State, coach Bunky Harkleroad and his NCAA Division II women's team continued to roll with a 118-81 victory over Wheeling Jesuit in West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action Saturday. The Pioneers now have one four consecutive games, all in the conference, while averaging 113.3 points in that span.
Glenville State actually fell behind at the start when the Cardinals opened the game with a 9-2 run, but it quickly turned in favor of the home team. A layup from Kenyell Goodson completed a 25-8 spurt to give the Pioneers a 10-point lead, and the margin grew steadily from there. The score was 66-41 at the break and the spread never was less than 23 points the rest of the way.
Here is The Formula:
- Attempted 101 shots
- Attempted 44 3-pointers
- Rebounded 44 percent of the misses on offense
- Forced 26 turnovers
- Attempted 23 more shots than Wheeling Jesuit
Another balanced scoring day for Glenville State (7-3, 5-0 WVIAC), with six players reaching double figures. Tenisha Wilson had 20 points, Kim Stephens got 18 (all on 3-pointers), Goodson finished with 15, Mishae Miles scored 14, Autumn Davis added 13 and Danielle Woodmore totaled 10.
Other contributions came from, well, most everybody else, with 11 players getting at least 11 minutes of run and no one getting more than Woodmore's 22. Kristen Golden went for eight points, eight rebounds and five assists (with no turnovers), Beth Deren had eight points, six rebounds, two assists (no turnovers) and four steals. It was, again, a total team effort to keep the Pioneers one of only three teams undefeated in the WVIAC.
They have a week off before finishing up the pre-Christmas portion of the schedule next Saturday at home against conference foe West Virginia State. Game time is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. EST, and I'll be rooting for Coach Harkleroad's squad.
The NCAA Division III men's team at Grinnell, coached by System creator David Arseneault, didn't fare quite so well Saturday. Carroll used a 9-0 run midway through the second half to take control of a tight game and held on to beat this set of Pioneers 109-99 in the Midwest Conference.
Grinnell trailed only 75-73 when Carroll scored those nine consecutive points to make the margin 11 points, and it never got less than seven the rest of the way. Here are The Stats for Grinnell (6-3, 1-3 MWC):
- Attempted 85 shots (goal is 94)
- Attempted 55 3-pointers (goal is 47)
- Rebounded 30 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 33 percent)
- Forced 22 turnovers (goal is 32)
- Attempted 11 more shots than Carroll (goal is 25)
So you can see Grinnell reached only one of its goals, and making only 15 of those 3s didn't add up to a victory for Coach A and his team. Matt Skelly led the way with 19 points (in a season-high 22 minutes of playing time), Griffin Lentsch added 17 despite going 1-for-10 from beyond the arc, Patrick Maher got 11 points and Aaron Levin scored 10.
Grinnell won't play again until after the Christmas break, returning to action Jan. 5 against Beloit in the friendly confines of Darby Gymnasium. Game time for that one is 8 p.m. EST, and I wish Coach A and everyone at Grinnell a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
In high school System play Friday, frequent Blog interviewee coach Dave Arnold opened a new season at a new school with a W, as his Monroe (Mich.) HS boys' team rallied to beat Anderson 90-87. You can expect some first-game jitters, and that's exactly what happened to Coach Arnold's Trojans, who trailed 41-31 at halftime after making 5-for-34 on 3-pointers in the first two quarters.
Monroe got it going after the break, scoring 59 points over the final 16 minutes to win the game. Coach Arnold reported via e-mail that his team was 12-for-32 from downtown following halftime as the players became more comfortable.
"We didn't always play well, but we played really hard and battled back from 15 down, which is a great accomplishment for this group," he wrote in an e-mail to me. "Hopefully we can build on this as we have games Tuesday and Thursday next week to finish our short 'pre-season' schedule before the holiday break."
The Trojans finished 32-for-87 from the field, including 17-for-66 on 3s, and won despite making only 9-of-21 at the line. You have to love the balance, as 11 different players scored and eight different players made a 3. Tedd March led the way with 15 points (all on 3s), with Robert Burris, Brandon Bagley and Blaine Whitlow each adding 14 points. Bagley had three 3s.
Great effort for Coach Arnold and Monroe. They hit the road for both games this week, traveling to Fordson on Tuesday and to Roosevelt on Thursday. The best of luck to this group.
Finally, the Eisenhower HS boys' team from Blue Island, Ill., snapped a three-game losing streak by beating Lemont HS 81-69 Friday night. Coach Mike Curta didn't have the complete numbers, since his statistician took the book home, but he did report the Cardinals made 14 3-pointers in the game and forced 18 turnovers in the first half alone.
Glad to see Eisenhower got back on track in this one. The Cardinals return to the court next Friday at home against Oak Forest, and I hope Coach Curta's team can get on a roll before Christmas.
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