Prep Girls Hoops: Crown Them Queens
The Harrisburg High School girls' basketball team lost for the first time in the Herrin Invitational Christmas Tournament, falling to the host Tigers 62-56 and while the Bulldogs may have lost the battle, they didn't lose the war.
Harrisburg, Herrin and Christ Our Rock Lutheran (Centralia) all finished 4-1, but the Bulldogs took first place and the tie breaker by shooting 72 percent from the free throw line during the tournament.
In the loss to the Tigers, Kelsey Hobbs continued her hot shooting by dropping in a game-high 26 points, while Matty Hawkins also finished in double figures, finishing with 12 points.
Hobbs was named the Most Valuable Player of the Herrin Invite and broke the 15 year scoring record that stood at 105 points and finished with 107. Hawkins was also named to the All-Tournament Team.
"I'm Very proud of the way our kids played through five games and how we fought through adversity," Harrisburg head coach Jake Stewart said. "Its tough to win five in a row and we are very fortunate in coming away with first place."
Hannah Bartok added eight points for Harrisburg, while Lilee Robinson finished with five points, Toni Crisp tacked on four and Karsyn Davis tossed in a free throw.
Herrin shot 52 percent from the field in the win, going 24-for-44, while knocking down 3-of-9 3-pointers for 33 percent. At the free throw line, the Tigers were 13-of-20 from 65 percent.
Harrisburg was 20-of-57 from the field for 35 percent and went 4-of-19 from beyond the arc for 21 percent. The Bulldogs shot 12-for-17 for 70 percent. Herrin also out rebounded Harrisburg 29-25 on the night.
Herrin 13 23 16 10 - 62
Harrisburg 11 12 19 13 - 56
Herrin:Moore 3-5 4-4 10, Russell 3-6 1-2 7, Smothers 2-8 3-4 7, Deaton 3-6 0-0 9, Groutage 9-15 0-0 18, Lequatte 3-4 5-10 11. Totals: 23-44 13-20 62.
Harrisburg: Bartok 3-5 2-4 8, Hawkins 5-8 2-2 12, Miller 0-3 0-0 0, Hobbs 11-26 0-0 26, Davis 0-5 1-3 1, Crisp 1-4 2-2 4, Robinson 0-6 5-6 5. Totals: 20-57 12-17 56.
3-point FG: HHS 3-9 (Deaton 3-6, Russell 0-1, Smothers 0-2). HBG 4-19 (Hobbs 4-13, Bartok 0-1, Davis 0-3, Robinson 0-1). Reounding: HHS 29, HBG 25. Fouls: HHS 14, HBG 15.