HS girls’ hoops: Staunton and Greenfield-Northwestern on four-game winning streaks, Gillespie defeats South Fork
Staunton’s Lilly Bandy goes up for a fastbreak layup over Gillespie’s Mia Brawner during the girls’ championship of the Macoupin County Basketball Tournament in Bunker Hill Jan. 20. The Bulldogs defeated the Miners 62-58 for the title and the two arch-rivals will rematch with South Central Conference supremecy on the line in Staunton Feb. 2. Enquirer~Democrat photo by Jackson Wilson.
Mt. Olive outlasts Bunker Hill, North Greene
By JACKSON WILSON
Enquirer Democrat Reporter
Staunton and Greenfield-Northwestern have re-established positive momentum as the high school girls’ basketball regular season enters its final two weeks.
Both teams are on four-game winning streaks heading into February.
In other action, Gillespie defeated South County and Mt. Olive outlasted Bunker Hill.
Staunton
Staunton improved to 4-2 in the South Central Conference with a convincing 53-13 victory over rival Southwestern in Piasa Jan. 26.
The Bulldogs are 19-6 overall.
With the loss, the Birds dropped to 4-18 and 0-6 in the SCC.
Greenfield-Northwestern
Greenfield-Northwestern proved that Illinois High School Association classes only told so much of the story as the Tigers took down two larger schools on neutral ground.
The Tigers, which are now 19-10 on the year, defeated Granite City 43-38 Jan. 26 and Jerseyville 35-34 Jan. 28.
On Jan. 30, GF-NW was back in Class 1A action against North Greene and rolled to a lopsided 50-18 victory.
Gillespie defeats South Fork, preparing for Staunton rematch
Gillespie used a 20-11 surge in the second quarter to take command of a Jan. 30 home game against South Fork in ‘The Pit.’
The Miners, which had endured a rough 71-39 conference loss at Hillsboro in their previous match Jan. 26, improved to 15-13 with a 58-44 win.
Gillespie’s conference record is 3-3 heading into a highly-anticipated county championship re-match against Staunton. The two arch-rivals will square off with league supremecy on the line in Staunton at 6 p.m. Thurs., Feb. 2.
Mt. Olive outlasts Bunker Hill, North Greene
On Jan. 24, Mt. Olive outlasted Bunker Hill in a 34-32 nailbiter.
Two days later, the Wildcats picked up a 43-35 road victory at North Greene.
Mt. Olive, now 5-15, is on a winning streak for the first time this season.
Meanwhile, Bunker Hill has lost 12 games in a row. The Minutemaids have only managed one victory in 20 contests.
Other action
Carlinville fell to 12-13 with back-to-back home losses against Greenville (65-45) Jan. 26 and South County (48-45) Jan. 30.
North Mac looked sharp against Riverton en route to a 66-40 home triumph Jan. 24, but immediately fell flat right out of the gate at Vandalia Jan. 26. The Panthers outscored the Vandals 37-31 in the second and third quarters only to still find themselves trailing because they had stalled for just two points and fallen behind by 14 in the first eight minutes.
North Mac ran out of gas at the end and Vandalia locked up a 64-45 conference victory with a 17-6 surge down the stretch. In defeat, the Panthers dropped to 14-13 overall and 1-5 in the SCC.
