Illini Central crushes Mount Pulaski on Senior Night

[February 01, 2019] 

The Lady Cougars of Illini Central came strolling quietly into the Ed Butkovich Gymnasium Thursday night to take on the Lady Toppers on Senior Night. The Lady Cougars Varsity squad is a young and impressive bunch that features just two girls on the bench. The starting five consists of three juniors and two sophomores. The ladies let their play on the court do the talking and in the end the youngsters shocked Mount Pulaski with a 53-31 victory.

Mount Pulaski put the four seniors - Skylar Hayes, Abigail Fitzpatrick, Morgan May and Savanah Moore - on the court with junior Isabella Wade.

The biggest lead of the night for Mount Pulaski was 2-0 thanks to an early bank shot by junior Isabella Wade.

After falling behind 5-2 Mount Pulaski got baskets by Morgan May and Wade again to take a 6-5 lead this time.

Khloe Damm, a 5'9 sophomore, tied the score 6-6 on a free throw with 1:19 left to play in the first quarter.

Savanah Moore gave Mount Pulaski a 7-6 lead on her free throw but after a beautiful spin move under the basket by Kyndel Arthalony the Lady Cougars were back on top 8-7. The first quarter came to a close with the score 8-7.

In the second quarter Damm started the scoring with two points in the lane for Illini Central.

May hit a soft jumper for Mount Pulaski to keep the score tight at 10-9 but it didn't take long for IC to run away from the Lady Toppers.

In the blink of an eye that lead quietly escalated to 22-9 as Damm and Arthalony were simply unstoppable.

Meanwhile, Mount Pulaski could not buy a basket and after going over six minutes without a point, Skylar Hayes finally got her first basket of the night to fall. With halftime quickly approaching Mount Pulaski was down 22-11.

The Lady Toppers did manage consecutive baskets from May and Hayes to start the second half, but again it was just a really ambitious young bunch from Illini Central that was putting on a display of great basketball.

After Arthalony hit back-to-back bank shots, IC held a 30-17 lead over Mount Pulaski.

To prove MP's bad luck on this night, a nice drive through the lane by Wade almost resulted in two points. Instead the ball spun around and around the rim and eventually out. That seemed to be a common theme for MP on this special night.

Finally, Hayes connected for a three as the one minute mark approached, but the Lady Toppers still found themselves down 32-22 as the third quarter closed.

The fourth quarter was all IC. The Lady Cougars defense continued to be stellar and on MP's end the Lady Toppers couldn't even grab a rebound when it hit their hands. Arthalony and Damm guided the Lady Cougars out to a 44-27 lead.

Wade rattled the rim at the 3:30 mark but again the ball circled in and out. Mount Pulaski was forced to foul down the stretch and IC continued to make good on those free baskets.

Lady Toppers Seniors - Morgan May, Abigail Fitzpatrick, Skylar Hayes and Savanah Moore.

The Lady Cougars lead grew to 47-27 after Arthalony sunk three more free throws. Abigail

Fitzpatrick scored the final basket for Mount Pulaski on Senior Night, just in the knick of time. The senior, who didn't even pick up a basketball in her high school career until this season, fouled out just four seconds after scoring. She exited with her team down 49-31.

The Lady Cougars finished the game off at the free throw line and just like they that crushed Mount Pulaski 53-31 on Senior Night.

Kyndel Arthalony, a 6'0 junior, led all scorers with 26 points. Khloe Damm poured in 21 points for Illini Central.

Skylar Hayes led Mount Pulaski with 12 points.

THE LADY TOPPERS IN ACTION

Scoring

Mount Pulaski 31

Hayes 12
Wade 8
May 8
Fitzpatrick 2
Moore 1

Illini Central 53

Arthalony 26
Damm 21
Canada 4
Ratliff 2

[Teena Lowery]