CHARLESTON - After the Christmas festivities, it's right back to basketball season. The Charleston boys' holiday tournament may have vanquished after last year, but the girls' tournament is still a go. Last year's tournament runner up, Teutopolis, decided to leave the year's tournament and Galesburg looks to repeat as the tournament champion.
Charleston
The Charleston Lady Trojans are coming in with a 4-9 record and a 0-7 mark in the Apollo Conference. The Trojans lost two seniors in leading rebounder April Lunt, 7.1 per game last year, and Madison Spence who averaged 7.8 points per game.
Senior Megan O'Dell leads the teams in scoring at 12.4 points and 3.5 assists per game. Mary Jackson leads the team with 8.8 rebounds per game, while Courtney Gossett has season total of 38 steals.
"Overall there are two teams that are the cream of the crop in Galesburg and Taylorville," said coach Jeff Miller. "Especially with Galesburg breaking tournament and state records last year, and with their sub-five game style. The other six look a lot alike, and it can truly be anybody's ballgame."
Decatur Eisenhower
The Panthers come in with a 4-5 overall record with a 1-3 record in the Big 12 Conference. Eisenhower lost last year leading scorer, 17.9 points per game, and all-tournament selection Krizza Allen as well as Maya Houston, who averaged 8.5 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.
This year, the team is led by a trio of scorers. A pair of seniors in Sydnee Sturdivant, 14 points per game, and Marshaya Sangster, 11.2 points per game. Junior, Shay Robinson chips 9.5 points a contest.
Coach Sean Flaherty said: "We are still working on finding that chemistry need to be consis-tent, we found it last year in this tournament and won 10 of our last 15 and the regional. We have more athletic ability this season and we are still putting the pieces in place finding our roles. At this tournament we will keep tinkering with our talent and find what's best for us as a team down the home stretch."
Effingham
The Effingham Lady Hearts might have looked to reload this year after losing four seniors from their regional championship team. Three of the four are now playing college ball. Those include last Sam Zerrusen at Millikin, Tatiana Colclasure at Missouri Christian School and Haley Jamerson at Lincoln Land.
This team is currently balanced in scoring with three sophomores battling for the title of leading scorer. Younger sister of Zerrusen, Josie Zerrusen, averages seven points per game, while Caitlin Kauffman (7.8 ppg), and Stephanie Robb (8.0 ppg) add to the balanced attack. Junior Kelli Utz leads the team with 8.3 points per game.
Effingham is currently 8-2, and 5-2 in the Apollo Conference. Their two losses come from conference opponents Salem, and Newton.
Head coach Jeff Shafer said: "The tournament should be a great experience for us. We will get to play three teams we don't normally see. It will be a good test for us as we will see a lot of different styles over the three days. We need our seniors to play well and our young kids to keep growing up on the job."
Galesburg
Most coaches should know the name Evan Massey now. The legendary coach brings in an overall coaching record of 727-268 with 20 regional championships, 10 sectional championships and seven teams qualifying for state in which three team finished fourth, one third place and the other state runner up in 32 years of coaching. Massey hasn't had a team finish with a losing season since 1986-1987.
The Lady Silver Streaks lost a player in Jessica Howard that put Galesburg on the map. Howard led the team in scoring at 15.5 points per game and set a state record for most 3s in a season. She was also a huge part in helping Galesburg set a national record for most 3s made in a season (397).
Galesburg is led in scoring by Jessica Lieber at 17.8 points per game; Sharron Diggins, 13.8 ppg; Sade Hamilton, 12.5 ppg; and Myra Diggins, 10.4 ppg. The team is currently 7-2 and 1-2 in the Western Big 6 Conference.
Massey said: "We are continuing to sub five at a time, and sub often. We are trying to make the game offensively and defensively as fast as we can."
Paris
The Paris Lady Tigers look to improve from last year's sixth place finish in the tournament after losing to Decatur Eisenhower 46-36 in the fifth place game. Paris' Carrie Keys, lost to graduation, finished the game leading Paris with 13 points, and 10 rebounds. Along with Keys, the team also lost their lone all-tournament selection Alexis Barnes.
This year the 3-9 overall Lady Tigers, 2-4 in the Apollo Conference, are led by junior point guard, Megan Temples who is scoring 11 points per game.
"Well we start out playing a well coached and very tough Taylorville team so we need to come ready to play," said coach Bob Abernathy. "I think if we rebound and take care of the basketball we have as good as chance as anyone in the tournament."
Rantoul
The Rantoul Lady Eagles have faced tough times lately. After a 27-3 regional championship winning team in 1998, Rantoul has come up short on winning seasons. Last year's team fin-ished eighth in the tournament after losing to host Charleston.
The Rantoul team brings back majority of last years team, and is led by Hannah Wascher's 11.9 points per game. The Lady Eagles bring a 2-10 overall record with a 1-4 margin in the Corn Belt Conference.
Coach Jeff McKaufsky said: "We have to be patient with the ball. We know we are going to see a lot of pressure. We need to limit our turnovers."
Taylorville
The Lady Tornadoes look to be a strong contender in the Red {ool with a current 9-2 overall record. They are 3-2 in the Central State Eight Conference with their two losses coming to Rochester and Chatham-Glenwood.
Taylorville returns most of their offensive production from last years fourth place tournament team, and regional runner up. All-Tournament selection Rani Wright is back while Savannah Buckles leads the way with 9.5 points per game
Coach Carey McVickers has won the tournament before with Nokomis High School, and is focused on team improvement. "We hope to keep improving and four games in three days allows teams to work on things we need to work on," he said.
Urbana
The Urbana Lady Tigers, 3-7 overall and 1-3 in the Big 12 Conference, are back in the holiday tournament. Urbana has wins over Mahomet-Seymour, Rantoul and conference opponent Normal Community.
The Lady Tigers have lost their last three games to conference members Champaign Central, Champaign Centennial, and Bloomington.
Senior returning letterman Tiffany Waltethour, is a 5-10 forward averaging 12.9 points per game. Jessica Mack, a 5-4 junior, is averaging 10.3 points per gme, and has made seven of the teams eight three pointers. Waltethour is the teams leading rebounder by pulling down a total of 68 rebounds.
The team is coached by Aimee Smith. Last year's team finished with a 6-17 record, and the last time Urbana won a regional championship was in 2008 after going 18-9.
CHARLESTON GIRLS' BASKETBALL HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT
Red Pool: Taylorville, Paris, Charleston, Rantoul
Gold Pool: Galesburg, Effingham, Decatur Eisenhower, Urbana
Wednesday
2:30 p.m. - Urbana vs. Effingham
4 p.m. - Galesburg vs. Decatur Eisenhower
5:30 p.m. - Taylorville vs. Paris
7 p.m. - Charleston vs. Rantoul
Thursday
9 a.m. - Effingham vs. Decatur Eisenhower
10:30 a.m. - Galesburg vs. Urbana
Noon - Paris vs. Rantoul
1:30 p.m. - Charleston vs. Taylorville
4 p.m. - Decatur Eisenhower vs. Urbana
5:30 p.m. - Effingham vs. Galesburg
7 p.m. - Taylorville vs. Rantoul
8:30 p.m. - Charleston vs. Paris
Friday
2:30 p.m. - Seventh-place game
4 p.m. - Fifth-place game
5:30 p.m. - third-place game
7 p.m. - Championship game
Read more: http://jg-tc.com/sports/basketball/galesburg-looking-to-repeat-as-champ-at-charleston-girls-tourney/article_fb865932-2de6-11e1-9635-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz1hejwNDo2
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