Turnovers hurt in loss to West Central
By JEFF LAMPE
For The Weekly Post
MONMOUTH – Turnovers and the flu conspired to keep Elmwood (10-3) out of the title game at the United Tournament last week.
After winning its first two tournament games, Elmwood lost to West Central, 50-40, on Dec. 13.
The Lady Trojans then went on to rout Farmington in the third-place game, 55-20, on Dec. 15. Illini Bluffs (11-4) beat West Central in the tourney title game, 57-41.
That was the game Elmwood had planned to play, but those plans were cast aside when the Lady Trojans turned the ball over 21 times, lost starter Liv Meyers to the flu and gave up 37 points to West Central’s prolific guard Shelby Bowman in a loss.
“We let a girl score 37 points on us and we were turning the ball over and just didn’t have good composure and just didn’t play our game,” Elmwood Coach Gregg Meyers said. “(Bowman) can shoot it from 4 feet behind the line. We knew we had to pressure her, but she also drives well.
“And we weren’t pinching and helping and doing the little things we know how to do.”
Elmwood led after one quarter and was down 30-27 after three, but Bowman scored 14 in the fourth quarter to boost West Central.
Lauren Rushing led Elmwood with 17 points and Melody Glenn added 11, but Elmwood struggled with unforced turnovers all game.
The Lady Trojans started slowly against Farmington, leading 14-11 after one quarter, but held the Lady Farmers to nine points the rest of the game.
“We knew they had been playing better and were better than their record showed,” Coach Meyers said. “So that helped us get into it and get back to better balance.”
Glenn hit 6 of 10 trey attempts to lead with 18 points, while post players Rushing had 13 and Liv Meyers returned to score 10, with 8 coming on offensive putbacks, and grab 6 rebounds.
“It was a double-edged sword against Elmwood,” Farmington Coach Brad Whitcomb said. “Either you let the Glenn girl make her threes or then you have the Meyers girl and another good post player inside.”
Elmwood is off until a Dec. 26 10:30 a.m. game against Galva at the Lee Westerman Tournament at Princeville, where the field also includes an 8-2 Tremont team that has been playing well.
Coach Meyers said his team’s 10-3 record is close to what he expected coming into the season.
“The West Central game was one I thought we should have had,” he said. “But I feel like we’re getting a much better idea about who we are and what we can do. I feel like we’re in a good spot going forward.”
ROWVA-Williamsfield
R-W (8-5) shrugged off a four-game losing streak against tough competition with a two-game win streak over lesser foes, despite missing some key contributors out with the flu.
“We’ve been much more focused on execution and our assists have gone way up due to better ball movement and better finishing at the rim through contact,” Coach Michael Weitekamp said.
R-W won at home over Bushnell-Prairie City on Saturday, 55-19, to follow a 64-24 win at West Prairie on Dec. 14.
Against BP-C, Avery Rigg led with 16 points, Emma Seiboldt added 14 and six other players scored. R-W led 16-2 after one quarter and was up 34-8 by halftime.
In the win at West Prairie, Rigg scored 19, Lizzie Johnston added 15 and Seiboldt had 13. Those three leading scorers combined for six 3-pointers.
The Lady Cougars were to play at Peoria Heights on Tuesday and are then off until a Dec. 29 home game vs. Peoria Christian.
Farmington
Farmington (2-13) won its second straight at the United tournament on Dec. 13 against the home team, 44-42.
Anna Webel led with 12 points, Kyleigh Miller and Maria Hayden scored 11 apiece and Emily Vallianatos added 7.
“Mariah Hayden has really come along and has started to look for her shot,” Coach Whitcomb said. “That has opened things up for us to have a fourth person scoring. I’m hoping she continues to keep playing with confidence, because that’s really going to help.”
After eight straight solid quarters in its wins, Farmington played well in another quarter to be down just 14-11 against Elmwood on Dec. 15.
“I was super proud of us because we were playing well,” Whitcomb said. “Then the second quarter came along and some of our shots stopped falling and I think it really kind of played with our minds a bit and we lost confidence and it got away from us. But we are getting there.”
The Lady Farmers managed just nine points in the last three quarters against Elmwood.
Webel had eight points, all in the first quarter, to lead the Farmers and Vallianatos added six.
The Farmers fell to Class 1A’s fifth-ranked team, Havana (11-1), on Monday, 62-26, and were to play home vs. Abingdon-Avon on Tuesday.
Princeville
The Lady Princes (5-8) saw a four-game win streak end on Dec. 15 in a 60-37 loss at Lewistown. Kinley McGinn and Brianna Brodie led Princeville with 10 points apiece, while Destinee Harwood scored 8 and Tess Gazza tallied 6.
Princeville also lost Monday in a non-conference at home game against Illini Bluffs, 36-29. McGinn led with 11 points, while Harwood and Brodie added 8 apiece.
The Lady Princes return to action Dec. 26 at 9 a.m. against Tremont in the 11th annual Lee Westerman Tournament at Princeville.
Brimfield
Brimfield (8-3) was off until a game today (Dec. 22) at home vs. North Fulton.
Ranked ninth in Class 1A in the latest AP girls poll, the Lady Indians tip off against El Paso-Gridley on Dec. 27 at 10:30 a.m. to open play at the State Farm Classic in Normal.
Brimfield is seeded No. 3 in the small-school field behind No. 1 seed Paris (ranked eighth in Class 2A) and No. 2 seed Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin.
