34th Annual Scott Credit Union/Highland Girls Tourney Preview
This 34th annual event is scheduled to get underway on Saturday 1/18 at Highland High School. This event features many top teams and players in Southern Illinois. This is a 16 team event that has games from 10am to 8:30pm…
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Continue ReadingThis 34th annual event is scheduled to get underway on Saturday 1/18 at Highland High School. This event features many top teams and players in Southern Illinois. This is a 16 team event that has games from 10am to 8:30pm on Saturday. The tourney will conclude on Saturday 1/25 with consolation championship, 5th place, 3rd place and Championship games. Here is a look at the first round games.
10:00 am Civic Memorial vs Althoff Catholic. This game features the #3 ranked 3A team in the state, CM against the win less Althoff team. Althoff has lost numerous players to graduation and decisions to not return, which has forced a youth movement. Nariah Parks is a 2021 guard that has been a bright spot, showing special athletic ability. Nariah uses this ability to be a very good on ball defender. She can also get in the lane and do some scoring. CM counters with one of the best senior duos in the area in Johnson County commit Kourtland Tyus and MIssouri Southern commit Anna Hall. These two senior leaders are vitally important in leading the Lady Eagles through the change of the coaching staff in mid season. Hall is scoring at 15.8 per game and point guard Tyus is at 13.8. This should be a walkover for CM.
11:30 am Collinsville vs Breese Central. This game features the 4A Collinsville team that is 9-8 against the 2A Breese Central team that is 13-5. Collinsville is led by their seniors Faith Liljegren, Caite Knutson and Kristyn Mitchell. Knutson and Mitchell lead the scoring at 12 and 11 points per game and both are rebounding at 6 per game. Liljegren is the point guard that makes it all go and a SEMO soccer commit. Mitchell recently announced a commitment to Illinois Central. Breese Central is led by Juniors Chloe Book, Miah Weems and Cassidy Kretschmer. This trio is in their second year of starting and provides the nucleus for the Lady Cougars. Freshman Haley Ottenschnieder has provided a big scoring punch off the bench. This game will be a good one to see as the bigger school with a size advantage plays a smaller school. I will take Collinsville in a tight one.
1:00 pm Belleville West vs Salem. This game features another 4A vs 2A matchup. Belleville West is 13-6 and Salem is 8-9. Reese Bennett has been providing a scoring punch for West lately and has been hot from behind the 3-point line. She is averaging 10 per game for the year. Shaniah Nunn is a senior forward that has been a consistent performer for West over the past two years and at 6ft and strong she can be hard to handle. Salem will look to a pair of 2021 forwards in Ellie Bunnell and Chloe Harness to lead them. Bunnell can get hot from deep to rack up points quickly and Harness is a tough inside/out player that will be forced to help handle the size of West. I have to lean towards West in this game.
2:30 pm Teutopolis vs Triad. T-Town has been a very successful program over the years with Coach Thompson having won over 350 games in her tenure. They are coming off a state tourney appearance last year where they lost in the championship game. They are led by returning players, Lexi Niebrugge, Olivia Niemerg and Claire Bushur. They are currently 15-5 with losses to Paris(twice), CM, Carterville and Olney. Triad has been working through a rebuilding season after losing a large senior class and changing coaches. With Coach Arbuthnot at the helm the Lady Knights have a very experienced coach that can show them the way. They have a young team that is led by 2022 forward Alyssa Powell. Alyssa is very athletic and shows the ability to score inside and is developing her face up game. The Lady Knights are hanging their hopes on an outstanding defense each game. I will take T-Town in this one.
4:00 pm O’Fallon vs Taylorville. This gives us another 4A vs 2A matchup on the first day of the tournament. O’Fallon is off to another good start at 16-3. The Lady Panthers are being led by senior point guard Kayla Gordon and junior posts Tyana Lovelace and Amelia Bell. Bell and Lovelace are scoring at 12 per game while Gordon is at 11 per game. The junior posts give Coach Knolhoff an opportunity to play the game inside first. Gordon is excellent at getting into the lane. The team has also been getting a strong contribution from freshman guard Shannon Dowell. Taylorville lost a strong class in 2019 and has relied up Haylee Sagle to provide much of their scoring punch. She is a 2021 forward that can score in a variety of ways. Victoria Anselm is a 2020 guard that has also been providing some scoring punch as of late. Taylorville has struggles to replace the seniors and is at 4-14 so I will take O’Fallon.
5:30 pm Nashville vs Belleville East. In our last of the 4A vs 2A matchups the Lady Lancers take on the Hornettes. East is 5-13 and Nashville is 16-3. East has two double figure scorers in 2021 forward Tyler Butler and 2023 guard Laylah Jackson. Butler is at 12.8 and Jackson 11.9. Jackson has hit 33 threes and is also very effective going to the hole. Butler is an undersized inside player that gets an abundance of hustle and effort points. She is working to improve her face up game to increase her options. Nashville is led by 2022 forward Alyssa Cole. Alyssa is a power wing that has grown up playing in the post and has expanded her game to the wing where she can drive or hit the 3. Seniors Sabrina Kollbaum and Rylee Luechtefeld are also big contributors. Both can score and Rylee is an excellent shot blocker and rebounder. Nashville has won some tough games including beating SWC foe East St Louis previously, so I will give them the nod in this matchup.
7:00 pm Mater Dei vs Hillboro. Mater Dei is 13-5 and having another good season under Coach Kohnen. They are led by seniors Claire Toennies and Shannon Lampe. Both girls excel in the mid range game and can score in double figures consistently.Both girls average right at 13 points per game and make a high percentage of their free throws. Lampe has been to the line 100 times this year. Hillsboro had a state tourney run in 2019 and lost an excellent senior class. They currently stand at 10-7 and are led by 2021 post players Nikya Harston and Claire Tester. Both are a bit undersized but can score in the lane with the bigger girls. Layne Rupert is a 2023 guard that usually comes off the bench and provides a lift with her scoring. Mater Dei gets my pick in this one.
8:30 pm Highland vs Okawville. Highland is the host school and would love another shot at CM in the championship game. The Lady Bulldogs are led in scoring by 2021 players Bella LaPorta and Kirsten Taylor. LaPorta is a strong player inside and uses her skills to hit 57% of her shots to average 12 points per game. Taylor hits 37% of her threes on her way to 10 per game. Senior guards Ellie Brown and Megan Kronk score 8-9 points per game and are multi year starters that Coach Hamilton can rely on in big games. Okawville is 9-9 and has some real up and coming talent. Freshman guards Briley Rhodes and Megan Rennegarbe are both going to be very good by the time they are done. Rhodes excels as a 3-point threat and Rennegarbe is excellent at getting into the lane for a series of runners/floaters. Sydney Tebbe is a 2022 post that has shown some upside also. At this point the talent is more up and coming than it is ready for a game against Highland, I will have to take the Lady Bulldogs to move on to the next round.
The winners advance to late games Monday and Tuesday while the losers will play at 4:00 and 5:30 on those days. This should be a very competitive tournament and I cannot wait to see the brackets play out over the next week.