Deck The Halls & Basketballs

What does it take to be No. 1?

It was a question, rap star Nelly asked nearly a decade ago.

In the present time, it's one that Harrisburg head girls' basketball coach Jake Stewart is having to answer ... again.

Stewart and company find themselves in a precarious situation, one that they were in this same time last year when the Bulldogs were ranked No. 1 in Class 2A after the first Illinois Associated Press Top 10 girls' basketball poll came out.

Harrisburg stayed there all season long, not losing a game until they fell to Breese Mater Dei in the Hamilton County sectional championship and won a school-record 31 games.

Harrisburg graduated three players off last year's team: Lotte Miller, who is now playing basketball at Parkland College, along with Matty Hawkins, who is playing volleyball at Trinity International and Jessica Hopson, who is playing club basketball at the University of Illinois.

Losing those three, who accounted for nearly 75 percent of the Bulldogs' scoring on a team that averaged 63 points per game would have been enough for many accept a down year for Harrisburg.

Except for Stewart.

The eighth-year head coach not only has the Bulldogs back at No. 1 in the latest 2A poll, but Harrisburg is undefeated at 9-0 and has a re-tooled his offense that is averaging 57.8 points per game and has two players scoring double figures.

Karsyn Davis is averaging a team-high 13.2 points per game. Brooke Meylor, a senior guard, is averaging 11.6 points per game and Madeline Rider is just under double-digit scoring at 9.7

Stewart hasn't fallen short on his continued desire to beef the Bulldogs' schedule either.

This coming weekend, Harrisburg will play in the famed Civic Memorial Shootout, sponsored by Addidas Saturday at Civic Memorial High School.

The shootout in sponsored by Addidas and will include the No. 5 ranked team in Class 3A and host Eagles, along with No. 8 in 2A Quincy Notre Dame. Highland, who received votes in 3A is also part of the action.

Harrisburg will play Piasa Southwestern at 1:30 p.m. in the main gym. The Harrisburg junior varsity team will play Piasa JV at 11:30 a.m. in the Auxilary Gym.

Stewart knows the importance of a tournament of this caliber and hopes his squad can make a good first impression.

"Just look at the teams that are involved in this tournament," Stewart said. "You have some that are ranked in the Top 10 in the state in their class and then you have Piasa who is 8-1. There isn't a bad team in this tournament, including us. We are honored that they considered us. I think it speaks volume for not only our community and our high school, but our program and where we have come from. We're very excited about being a part of this shootout."

The month of December is going to be more than Deck The Halls and Basketballs. Stewart and crew have a murders row of games, starting tonight with the Bulldogs taking on a Benton squad that is always a Southern Illinois River-To-River Ohio rival and will then play Massac County on Thursday, followed by Piasa Southwestern Saturday.

Harrisburg then plays at Marion the following Tuesday and will have a makeup game with Mt. Vernon on December 20. The Bulldogs close out the month at the Benton Christmas Tournament, where Harrisburg is in the same pool as Hamilton County and Union County, Ky.

Much like being a part of the Civic Memorial Shootout, Stewart has experimented with other Christmas tournaments in the past, looking for what is the best fit for his program. Harrisburg was part of the Merry Mule Tournament in Fairfield for a number of years, as well as, the Herrin Christmas Tournament.

Last year, Harrisburg won the Benton Christmas Tournament, beating Carterville by 11 in the championship.

Carterville is currently ranked No. 3 in Class 3A, while school's like Hamilton County and Vienna are each receiving votes teams in 2A.

Again, Stewart knows he has his work cut out for him each and every night his team takes the floor.

"There isn't one game at Benton that you can look at and think that's a win," he said. "You will be challenged Day 1 all the way to Day 3. One of the reason's why we went there is because it's closer, but it's also great competition and you get to play in Rich Herrin Gymnasium. Last year, for a girls championship game, the gym was nearly packed and it was an incredible atmosphere. It's what makes a tournament like that special."

Spyder Dann covers prep and college sports for the Southern Illinois Local Media News Group. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.