Prep Girls Hoops: On To The Next
It didn’t come easy, but many things in the postseason never do.
Harrisburg struggled out of the gate against Johnston City Tuesday night at the West Frankfort Class 2A Regional, playing without the services of junior center Matty Hawkins, who missed another contest with back injuries and after finding their footing following half time, knocked off the Indians 54-36 at Max Morris Gymnasium.
Lotte Miller had a game-high 23 points for the Bulldogs (23-7) and Harrisburg got another 15 points from Jessica Hopson in the win.
Harrisburg led 14-11 after one quarter and the see-saw battle began in the second quarter, with each team taking leads.
A 3-pointer by Hopson right before the buzzer helped give Harrisburg a 28-25 lead at intermission and in the second half, the Bulldogs were stingy on defense, holding Johnston City to without a field goal for the first four minutes of the quarter as they went on to take a 39-30 third quarter lead.
Madeline Rider scored six points for Harrisburg, while Lydia Miller and Toni Crisp each finished with four points. Karsyn Davis tacked on two.
Maggi Price had a team-high 22 points for the Indians.
Harrisburg will now play the winner of West Frankfort or Du Quoin in Thursday night’s 2A Regional championship game at 7 p.m.
<strong>2A REGIONAL</strong>
<strong>Johnston City 44, Eldorado 41</strong>
It was a tale of two halves as Eldorado, who held a 30-19 lead at halftime were outscored 25-11 in the second half, resulting in a 44-41 loss for the Eagles to Johnston City Monday night at the West Frankfort Class 2A Regional.
The Eagles put two players in double figures as Olivia Parker had a team-high 12 points, while Takiya Britton tacked on 10 points in the loss.
Rachel Stafford netted nine points for Eldorado, while Madison Newton and Paige Munds each finished with four points. Jade Hise had two points for the Eagles.
<strong>1A REGIONAL</strong>
<strong>Galatia 33, Ziegler-Royalton 23</strong>
Galatia won its play-in game and will now face Woodlawn after disposing of Ziegler-Royalton Monday 33-23 at the Christopher Regional.
The Bearcats (12-13) got a team-high 13 points from Kennedy Harris.
Kassidy Rizor scored seven points, while Madison Murphy and Baley Crisp both finished with four points. Jaedyn Beers tacked on three points and Kelsi Watson tossed in two points.
“I would not say that it was our best game of the year, but in the end the girls got the job done,” GHS head coach Denise Clayton said. “With seniors Brittany Hutchison and Sara Simpson being injured and Junior Mallory Mays being out the last two games, the freshman and sophomore players have stepped up and have played well for us the last part of this season. Mallory will be back for us Wednesday night against Woodlawn and that will be nice.”
That game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. at Christopher High School.