Game 3: Macomb vs. West Prairie (Girl's)

Game 3
Macomb vs. West Prairie (Girl's)
Macomb Lady Bomber Classic
(11/15/10)

The nightcap of the evening, pitting a pair of McDonough County schools against each other. The Lady Bombers are a pretty young team, though fairly experienced at the varsity level. West Prairie is very experienced, and were a scrappy bunch last season. The Cyclones did lose their leading scorer to graduation (Chelsea Derry and her 20+ points/game), so finding a scoring option will be their issue early on.



Official Tom Holmes walked up during the pregame and mentioned that I've got two games down, only 148 more broadcasts to go. One of the other officials asked where I would be the rest of the week, and mentioned the Ridgewood Tournament on Wednesday. That crew will also be at Alwood High School on Wednesday.

The start of the finale of night one was pretty sloppy. The game started with a technical foul being assessed on Macomb, for a scorebook violation. I did not ask Coach Thorman what the infraction was. I did not have sophomore Erin Sullivan on my varsity roster, and she was a starter. That could have been it, but not sure. West Prairie's Taylor Harper made both technical free throws, and took a 2-0 lead before a second ticked off the clock.

West Prairie jumped out to a 13-4 lead after one quarter, and led 28-16 at halftime. After the break, the scoring drought was on. In fact, the Cyclones did not score a 2nd half field goal until the 3:53 mark of the 4th quarter. The Lady Bombers were able to tie the game on a couple of occasions in the fourth quarter, but not enough. Macomb had posession, trailing by three points in the final seconds, but could not get a good shot off. West Prairie would win, 39-36.

The Cyclones were led by Erica Webster's 12 points, and Sarah Dimmitt scored 10 points. Macomb's Lauren Westen scored a team-high 7 points.

Joe Westen, father of Lauren, was one of the people I had conversed with through the night. Darren Bizzari also stopped by after the Rockridge game to wish me luck. His stepdaughter, Kaylee Moseley is a starter for the Rockets. Alan Thompson, whose daughter Kali is missing time due to an injury, stopped by after the Macomb game. Ed Holzwarth sat behind me, and we had talked throughout the night about Macomb basketball, as well as Galesburg basketball. The two boy's teams will play in January. The now-retired Dan Rouse also checked in, and talked about the upcoming 100th year of Macomb High School basketball. He also asked me where he could find old All-State Football teams, from the Sun-Times, Associated Press, etc. I said the best bet would be microfilm of old newspapers, other than that I don't know. If anyone has an answer shoot me an email at ihssn@hotmail.com.

A late night at the Washington Street Gym....at least it's only a mile drive back home! Three games in the books....only 147 to go! A busy week awaits!

Game 3 Miles: 1.5