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 The Class 2A basketball powerhouse from Glasford has a bit of a
history with Mount Pulaski. Back in 2013 the Lady Toppers knocked
off the then Class 1A no. 3 state-ranked Illini Bluffs in the
sectional championship hosted by Mount Pulaski, who was ranked no. 6
in the state at the time. The Lady Toppers were the underdogs in
that contest and pulling off the win in front of a standing room
only purple and gold crowd was one of the greatest moments in
history for the team that was led by Jessica Awe, Erika Leever and
Andrea Dickerson. Mount Pulaski would go on to earn a second place
trophy at the state tournament that year.
Back to Illini Bluffs, fans may remember that the Lady Tigers were
led that season by All-Stater Taylor McClintock. Well, there's
another McClintock from Illini Bluffs and she happens to be the
younger sister of Taylor. Her name is Sydney and Thursday night she
was a handful for the Toppers.
Sydney, a senior, poured in 17 points to lead the Lady Tigers in the
56-40 win. She was pretty quiet with only two points in the first
half, but came alive in that second half to score 15 points. She was
also 9 for 10 shooting from the line in the second half as the Lady
Tigers pulled away from the Lady Toppers.
A solid supporting cast aided McClintock in the winning effort.
Teammates Tierra Lemmerman, Katie David and Bille Fox all had 10
points apiece for Illini Bluffs.
Mount Pulaski was led by, no surprise here, phenomenal freshman
Skylar Hayes, who sits atop the area leaders in scoring, with 22
points. Yes, she sits at the top of the area girls' leaders,
averaging right around an impressive 22 points per game. Did you
catch she's a freshman?
Even though the loss drops Mount Pulaski to 12-11 on the season,
Head Coach Eric Leever gave credit to his team for hanging in there.
Leever was also aware of the fine performance the Lady Tigers had at
the free throw line. Illini Bluffs was 27 for 37 from the line,
which accounted for nearly half of the team's points. "They shot
really well from the line. You can't take that away from them," said
Leever. "We are still giving up too many opportunities on the
boards. I felt a couple times we could have rolled over and we
didn't. They were a strong and aggressive team and we finally played
a little bit like that ourselves. Even in a loss I am still pretty
pleased with the effort we gave tonight."
Leever was also very pleased to see senior Breanna Rentmeister in
double figures with 10 points Thursday night.
The Lady Toppers put together a decent first quarter that started
with a steal and layup by Hailey Moore and then it was Hayes with
the soft jumper off a pass from Alyssa Bridge that gave Mount
Pulaski a 4-2 lead. Pretty soon Elizabeth Siebert hit a jumper from
the outside and the Lady Toppers had a 6-4 lead at the 5:00 minute
mark.
That would be the last lead for the Lady Toppers though and at the
end of one quarter Illini Bluffs led 12-8.
The Lady Tigers put together a 7-0 run to begin the second quarter.
Finally Rentmeister hit a short jumper for Mount Pulaski at the 3:32
mark and cut the lead to 19-10. No matter what, Mount Pulaski could
not overcome the 8-10 point deficit that haunted them most of the
game from this point on. At the half Illini Bluffs was up 26-16.
Bridge managed to briefly cut the lead to 26-18 with her basket to
open the third quarter scoring but again, Illini Bluffs always had
an answer. That answer usually had McClintock, Lemmerman, David or
Fox in the equation. Rentmeister's nice move in the lane around the
2:00 minute mark resulted in two points and breathed a little hope
into the fans as the score was now 34-26. Mount Pulaski continued to
trail 36-27 at the end of the third quarter.
The Lady Toppers kept playing hard and hung in there to start the
fourth quarter. Hayes hit the baseline jumper to spark the crowd
with 6:08 left to play and the score 37-29. Hayes went baseline
again a minute later and tossed in two more points to make the score
39-31, still in favor of those Lady Tigers.
From this point on the crowd got louder and the Lady Toppers got
quieter. Illini Bluffs went on a 9-0 run in a little over two
minutes and that really hurt.
Finally, Ashley Houser came off the bench and swished a shot from
the baseline corner with 1:32 remaining in the game. Houser's basket
cut the lead to 15 points, 48-33.
Hayes would give the fans one last little bit of hope with her
basket and one to make the score 48-36. But the Lady Tigers
continued to stretch the lead, due much in part to the free trips to
the line in the final minute of the game. Despite Hayes going on to
score the last four points of the game, even she could not overcome
the Lady Tigers going 14 for 20 at the free throw line in that final
quarter.
Furthermore on this night no one could stop McClintock. No one. She
is a solid defensive and offensive threat who plays the game with a
very level head. She may be bigger than her older sister, Taylor,
but she plays the game very much the same way, keeping her composure
no matter what and just letting her game speak for itself.
Junior Varsity
Flashing back to the Junior Varsity game, those freshmen and
sophomores gave the crowd an exciting finish. Tied at 35-35 going
into the fourth quarter, it was Mount Pulaski going on a tear
scoring eight consecutive points.
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Shelby Bailey started the quarter by hitting nothing but net on her
jumper and then Madison Thomas proceeded to toss in two free throws,
calm and collectively. After Morgan May took a charge and got the
Mount Pulaski crowd fired up, Emily Wakeman marched up to the free
throw and sank both baskets herself but one was taken away because
she had apparently stepped on the line. Thankfully, that was not a
factor in the game. Bailey went on to make another free throw in the
scoring run and finally Callie Anderson hit two free throws and it
was the Mount Pulaski JV up 43-35 with 1:23 left to play.
Illini Bluffs mounted their own comeback, outscoring the Lady
Toppers 8-1 in that final minute of play. However, as the Lady
Toppers held on to a slim 44-41 lead with less than five seconds
remaining,
Mallory Johnson decided to drive the basket for a layup for Illini
Bluffs at the buzzer. Her basket was good but it still gave Mount
Pulaski the 44-43 JV victory.
The Lady Toppers are back in action next week at home on Thursday
night versus Tri-City at 6 p.m.
Mount Pulaski Varsity scoring
Hayes 22
Rentmeister 10
Moore 2
Houser 2
Siebert 2
Bridge 2
Illini Bluffs Varsity scoring
McClintock 17
Lemmerman 10
David 10
Fox 10
Stafford 4
Roberson 4
Schafer 1
Mount Pulaski JV scoring
Hayes 14
Mott 11
May 5
Anderson 4
Chandler 4
Bailey 3
Thomas 2
Wakeman 1
Illini Bluffs JV scoring
Stafford 16
Roberson 10
Kallister 9
Johnson 3
Patterson 2
Buchen 2
Gillenwater 1
[Teena Lowery]
Side notes:
Following the game Thursday night I
briefly talked to Sydney McClintock, who told me she has committed
to Illinois Central College to play college basketball.
Her older sister, Taylor, spent one year playing basketball at
Mercer University in Georgia. I learned from Mr. and Mrs. McClintock
that Taylor is now much closer to home, playing basketball at
Western Illinois University.
I recall hearing a story from Eric Leever about how following the
Lady Toppers win over Illini Bluffs in that 2013 sectional
championship, the coach for the Lady Tigers reached out to him and
offered support and advice as the Mount Pulaski coach prepared for
his first trip to the state tournament. I remember thinking "That
coach must be a class act."
A year later my son, Michael, was a junior at Mount Pulaski and he
pitched a really good game on the mound versus Illini Bluffs. He
apparently impressed the Illini Bluffs baseball coach, who in turn
recommended him to a college coach. Again I thought, "That coach
must be a class act." Another year later, my son was a senior and he
got "lit up" on the mound by Illini Bluffs but my husband and I got
a chance to thank the Tigers baseball coach because Michael ended up
getting a scholarship at that college, Illinois Central College.
Funny how things work out.
Personally, I really like those nice folks over at Illini Bluffs and
in my opinion, they are simply class acts. I will just add this
little tidbit, if you are a parent reading this and you have a son
or daughter in any sport/activity/club, please remind them how
important it is in how they conduct themselves on and off the
field/court/classroom, etc. People are watching and taking notes and
when the right person sees your child at the right time, good things
might happen.
Finally, congratulations to the McClintock girls!
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