Chatham Clarion
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Issue Date: Feb. 19, 2009
Girls snap losing skid, advance to regional
finals
By Joe Pritchett
Chatham Editor
The Glenwood High School girls basketball team shook off a five-game losing skid to end the
regular season by defeating Decatur Eisenhower 57-39 Tuesday night in the semifinals of the Class
3A Taylorville Regional.
The Titans (16-13), the top seed, will face No. 2 seed Decatur MacArthur (18-9) Thursday night at 7:
30 p.m. in Taylorville. MacArthur defeated Taylorville 52-40 on Tuesday night.
The regional winner advances to the Lincoln Sectional on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 6 p.m. against the
winner of the Champaign Central Regional.
•In addition, Glenwood's Melissa Pickett, Erin Egolf and Alyssa Esperum each advanced from
Tuesday's 3-point shootout competition and will shoot again on Thursday prior to the regional title
game.
•Glenwood, which lost its final five conference games to finish in fifth place in the CS8 at 7-7, took
control from the outset against Eisenhower (6-23), which played a zone early on before switching to
man-to-man later.
Three early buckets from senior Allie Hogan and a bank 3-ball from Pickett put the Titans in front 9-0
with 3:05 left in the first quarter.
Following a couple of 3's from Eisenhower's Hannah Evans, Esperum closed the period with a
deep corner jumper and corner 3-ball with two seconds left to put GHS up 16-8.
In the second quarter, Eisenhower closed to within 21-16 with 4:52 left before Glenwood closed the
half on a 13-6 run, with Egolf, Hogan and Emily Lundin all contributing before Pickett buried a huge
wing 3-ball with three seconds left to put GHS up 34-22 at halftime.
"The offense played well tonight," Glenwood coach Mark Lash stated. "We got some easy looks and
we executed well. Defensively, I thought we could play better, especially with our perimeter pressure,
but we got off to a good start and I never once thought we were in trouble."
The Panthers hit five 3-point field goals in the first half, keeping them within shouting distance, but
none in the second half.
Glenwood was never threatened in the second half, maintaining at least a 12-point lead to the end.
The final 18-point margin represented the Titans' largest lead of the contest. However, GHS was just
14-of-25 from the free throw line for the game.
Hogan led the Titans with 15 points, 12 coming in the first half, while Egolf had 12.
"It's not very often we have the size advantage, but we had one tonight," Lash added. "Allie really
stepped up early and established our inside game.
"They started out in a 2-3 zone, but once we got a lead and some separation, they had to switch to
man," Lash continued. "I'd much rather teams play us man to man. When we're on and we're
executing, we can get easy baskets against the man defense."
Pickett added eight points, all in the first half, while Lundin had seven and Esperum six for
Glenwood. Alexa Frank scored four points, Kim Wilson added three and Sydney Alstott two for the
Titans. Sarah Gray led the Panthers with 12 points.
Glenwood had 26 rebounds, to 22 for Eisenhower. Pickett led the way with seven boards, followed
by: Frank (5), Egolf (4), Lundin (4), Hogan (3), Alstott (1), Esperum (1) and Nicole Joerger (1). Pickett
had two 3-point field goals, while Esperum had one.
The Titans finished 20-of-45 from the field and 3-of-12 from 3-point range. GHS had 13 turnovers,
and 18 fouls.
Eisenhower was 13-of-34 from the field, 5-of-7 from behind the arc and 8-of-15 from the free throw
line. The Panthers committed 22 turnovers and had 13 fouls.
finals
By Joe Pritchett
Chatham Editor
The Glenwood High School girls basketball team shook off a five-game losing skid to end the
regular season by defeating Decatur Eisenhower 57-39 Tuesday night in the semifinals of the Class
3A Taylorville Regional.
The Titans (16-13), the top seed, will face No. 2 seed Decatur MacArthur (18-9) Thursday night at 7:
30 p.m. in Taylorville. MacArthur defeated Taylorville 52-40 on Tuesday night.
The regional winner advances to the Lincoln Sectional on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 6 p.m. against the
winner of the Champaign Central Regional.
•In addition, Glenwood's Melissa Pickett, Erin Egolf and Alyssa Esperum each advanced from
Tuesday's 3-point shootout competition and will shoot again on Thursday prior to the regional title
game.
•Glenwood, which lost its final five conference games to finish in fifth place in the CS8 at 7-7, took
control from the outset against Eisenhower (6-23), which played a zone early on before switching to
man-to-man later.
Three early buckets from senior Allie Hogan and a bank 3-ball from Pickett put the Titans in front 9-0
with 3:05 left in the first quarter.
Following a couple of 3's from Eisenhower's Hannah Evans, Esperum closed the period with a
deep corner jumper and corner 3-ball with two seconds left to put GHS up 16-8.
In the second quarter, Eisenhower closed to within 21-16 with 4:52 left before Glenwood closed the
half on a 13-6 run, with Egolf, Hogan and Emily Lundin all contributing before Pickett buried a huge
wing 3-ball with three seconds left to put GHS up 34-22 at halftime.
"The offense played well tonight," Glenwood coach Mark Lash stated. "We got some easy looks and
we executed well. Defensively, I thought we could play better, especially with our perimeter pressure,
but we got off to a good start and I never once thought we were in trouble."
The Panthers hit five 3-point field goals in the first half, keeping them within shouting distance, but
none in the second half.
Glenwood was never threatened in the second half, maintaining at least a 12-point lead to the end.
The final 18-point margin represented the Titans' largest lead of the contest. However, GHS was just
14-of-25 from the free throw line for the game.
Hogan led the Titans with 15 points, 12 coming in the first half, while Egolf had 12.
"It's not very often we have the size advantage, but we had one tonight," Lash added. "Allie really
stepped up early and established our inside game.
"They started out in a 2-3 zone, but once we got a lead and some separation, they had to switch to
man," Lash continued. "I'd much rather teams play us man to man. When we're on and we're
executing, we can get easy baskets against the man defense."
Pickett added eight points, all in the first half, while Lundin had seven and Esperum six for
Glenwood. Alexa Frank scored four points, Kim Wilson added three and Sydney Alstott two for the
Titans. Sarah Gray led the Panthers with 12 points.
Glenwood had 26 rebounds, to 22 for Eisenhower. Pickett led the way with seven boards, followed
by: Frank (5), Egolf (4), Lundin (4), Hogan (3), Alstott (1), Esperum (1) and Nicole Joerger (1). Pickett
had two 3-point field goals, while Esperum had one.
The Titans finished 20-of-45 from the field and 3-of-12 from 3-point range. GHS had 13 turnovers,
and 18 fouls.
Eisenhower was 13-of-34 from the field, 5-of-7 from behind the arc and 8-of-15 from the free throw
line. The Panthers committed 22 turnovers and had 13 fouls.