Game 69: Galesburg vs. Paris (Girl's Basketball)

Game 69
Galesburg vs. Paris (Girl's Basketball)
Charleston Holiday Tournament
(12/28/10)

When I talked with Silver Streaks head coach Evan Massey about his team's ability to shoot well in non-conference, tournament games early in the morning, I never would have thought the team would come out shooting the way they did, beating Paris 88-57.



It didn't take me too long to start counting three-point attempts when Galesburg began running "The System" during the 2009-10 season. In doing play-by-play, I keep the scorebook, and turnovers. That's about it. Sometimes, I will tally individual rebounds and blocks. Never field goal attempts, etc. That is, until the Silver Streaks girls started chucking up an average of 50 per game from outside the three-point line.

Galesburg started the game hitting five three-pointers in the first quarter, and led 23-13 at the end of one. By halftime, the Streaks had knocked down nine three-pointers, and held a 41-30 lead over Paris.

Midway through the third quarter, Paris was able to make a rally and pull to within five points. That didn't last long, as the Streaks ended up scoring 27 points in the third frame, and extended their lead to 68-44 heading into the fourth quarter.

Heading into the last eight minutes, Galesburg had 15 three-pointers. The Silver Streaks made 19 three-pointers last Tuesday at Washington, which is tied for 2nd all-time in IHSA history. Galesburg was one of three teams that made an IHSA record 20 three-pointers. That feat was set a year ago against Bloomington.

Jessica Lieber hit a trio of three-pointers in the fourth quarter, Mickey Rodriguez knocked down a pair, and Jessica Howard made one in the final frame. The Silver Streaks finished with 21 three-pointers, a new state record. The team shot 21-58 from outside the arc.

Howard and Lieber both made six three-pointers, and each finished with a team-high 20 points. Jamie Johnson nailed three three-pointers and scored 13 points, while Tai Peachey added 9 points, adding a trey. Other Streaks to hit a three-pointer, were Allison Mangieri (2), and Mickey Rodriguez (3).

Galesburg forced 35 Paris turnovers, and had just 14 turnovers.

Alexis Barnes scored a game-high 23 points for the Lady Tigers. Callie Keys scored 10 points for Paris, who entered the game with a 9-2 record. Galesburg ups their record to 12-3.

Name Game
Before the game, I spoke with Paris head coach Bob Abernathy. It was ironic what one of his players said to him while I was standing there. I noticed he had an Alexis on the team, and the last Alexis that Galesburg played (Dunlap), was an Alexis Hobbs, but she goes by Lexi. One of the Paris players mentioned to coach Abernathy; "You called Alexis, Lexy, yesterday." Abernathy came back with, "It's a lot better than some things I could call her," with a chuckle. On pronunciation, Megan Temples isn't pronounced how you would think. It's pronounced, Mee-guhn.

It's Cold
Our broadcast location at Lantz Arena (Eastern Illinois University) is at half court, and as the teams began play to start the second half, Paris had posession and in-bounded in front of us. Jessica Howard was defending the in-bound and before second half play commenced, Howard took her position while rubbing her arms. When I covered the first Streaks practice in mid-November, I recall Jessica wearing long sleeves for practice. Someone commented about it, but she said her arms were cold and kept a long sleeve shirt throughout that practice. Her arms may be cold, but her shooting is certainly hot!

Game 69 Miles: 1