Game 111: Champaign Centennial @ Galesburg (Girl's Basketball)

Galesburg Silver Streaks
Source: Massey Basketball

Game 111
Champaign Centennial @ Galesburg (Girl's Basketball)
Galesburg Mid-Winter Classic
(1/21/11)

Break in action, GHS boy's basketball practice provides good scouting report on tonight's game, Centennial coach Susan Thomas talks about trip to Galesburg, and the Streaks aim for a milestone.

Once I got my fill of hospitality, I headed back to my broadcast booth to prepare for the next two broadcasts.  In a Saturday rarity, I was just broadcasting three games.  When I say "just three broadcasts in a day," it reminds me of the conversation I had with Kipp Jones of K100 in Macomb.  He mentioned that it feels like a busy week when he has three broadcasts in one week. 

The Galesburg Silver Streaks boy's basketball team was holding a practice from 1:30 to 2:30.  A walk-thru in preparation for their non-conference game tonight against Rockford East.  Troy Noble was going through the scouting report with the Streaks, as he does some in-depth scouting for the team.  I won't share his secrets, but he filled me in on his scouting earlier in the day.  I took some notes, as the coaches announced the matchups for the evening.

While the Streaks practiced, I started filling out the scorebook for the next two games, and did some homework on the state-ranked Centennial Chargers.  There was one game before the Galesburg/Centennial game, as Morton meets United Township. 

After speaking with coach Massey, I tracked down Centennial head coach Susan Thomas.  She mentioned that the team was a little shaken up after seeing a bad accident on Interstate 74 outside of Bloomington.  The Chargers left Champaign at 7:30 a.m. and when they arrived at John Thiel Gymnasium late in the morning, a majority of the team was carrying blankets and pillows. 

Sadly, the accident on I-74 that has been mentioned, was tragic.  Two teenagers from Tremont High School were killed, when the truck they were in collided with a school bus, from Tremont, that was carrying the Tremont girl's basketball team. Source:  Bloomington Pantagraph.

Galesburg was off to a hot start against Centennial, scoring 33 points in the 1st quarter.  This was two points shy of the school record for points in a quarter (35 in 1995).  The Silver Streaks went 6-14 from outside the three-point line in the 1st quarter.

The hot half continued, with a 23-point output in the 2nd quarter, taking a 55-36 lead at halftime.  Jimmie Carr mentioned during the 2nd quarter on our WAIK broadcast that Centennial was a very good team, despite trailing Galesburg by 20 points. 

Centennial proved this, by having just as hot of a half as Galesburg after halftime.  The Chargers outscored the Streaks 20-10 in the 3rd quarter, but Galesburg was able to hold off Centennial for a 84-74 victory.  Jessica Howard scored 19 points in the win, while Jamie Johnson added 17 points, Jessica Lieber scored 14 points, and Sadee Hamilton added 11 points.  Chelsea Cross led Centennial with 20 points, Katelynn Martinez pitched in 18 points, and Stacia Simmons scored 14 points.  Galesburg went 28-32 (88%) at the free throw line.

Milestone
With the win, Galesburg won their 20th game of the season (20-5).  This is the first season that the Silver Streaks have won 20 games, since the 2007-08 season.  Before that, the Streaks had won 20+ games for 21 consecutive seasons.

Youth is Served at Centennial
Centennial came into this Saturday with a (20-1) record.  Their lone loss on the year was a 42-40 setback at the hands of Sacred Heart-Griffin at the State Farm Classic over the holidays.  They lost twice today, earlier falling to Peoria Central (48-44).  More impressive, is that this team consists of 7 sophomores, 2 juniors, and 1 senior.  Their starting lineup consisted of 4 sophomores and 1 junior.