Mount Pulaski Lady Toppers roll
into postseason with 72-27 win over Neoga
[February 17, 2026]
The Mount Pulaski Lady Toppers are now in the postseason and
they are ready to roll. They defeated the Neoga Indians 72-27 on
Monday night with Alyson Murphy pouring in 30 points and Addison
Brown adding 23 points. Elayna Marten hit double-figures with 11
points as the Lady Toppers breezed past the semifinals of the Class
1A regionals on their home court.
First quarter
To start the game it was Alyson Murphy with the first four baskets
to put Mount Pulaski up 9-6. Neoga tied the game with a three at the
3:42 mark and that would be an end to their offense the rest of the
quarter. The Lady Toppers completed a 10-0 run to take a 19-9 lead
at the end of the first quarter.
Second quarter
Things got much worse for the Indians in the second quarter. Mount
Pulaski would pour in 30 points here. Six 3s dropped through the
net. The Lady Toppers defense was just ripping apart the Indians and
Neoga would not score a basket until midway through the quarter.
Addison Brown hit the first three in the quarter in a matter of
seconds. Murphy then poured in the next seven points, capping off
this 10-0 run with a corner three by the Neoga bench. That put Mount
Pulaski up 29-9. That rolled into a 20-0 run as Elayna Marten scored
a two, Murphy scored two free throws and hit another three and
finally at the 4:29 mark Marten hit a three to put Mount Pulaski out
of reach with a 39-9 lead. What a dominant run by the Lady Toppers!
Over the next two and a half minutes Mount Pulaski would come up
with ten more points and the Indians would drop in a few, too.
Martin and Marten each scored two points and Brown’s two 3s were
sandwiched in between those two buckets, leading the way towards a
49-19 lead at halftime.
Third quarter
Murphy and Brown would be neck and neck in scoring in the third
quarter with nine points apiece. Brown was not giving the net a
break, she kept it dancing with three more 3s. Murphy was all over
the court, showing no signs of slowing down. Layups, free throws and
even a bank shot kept Murphy lighting up the scoreboard. Again it
was Marten and Martin with two more points and the Mount Pulaski
lead was an impressive 71-23 when the quarter ended.
[to top of second column] |
Fourth quarter
Just a running clock here and one point by Ella Martin. That was
Mount Pulaski’s story. The Neoga Indians finished their season by
scoring two more baskets and they had to settle for the 72-27
trouncing by Mount Pulaski.
This game started at 6:00 p.m. and was over by 7:02 p.m.
The Lady Toppers improve to 28-1 on the season.
Mount Pulaski will play for a regional championship at 6:00 p.m. on
Thursday, February 19, 2026.
The Lady Toppers will play Stewardson-Strasburg for the
championship.
Stewardson-Strasburg defeated Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond 41-40
in the other regional semifinal Monday night in Mount Pulaski.
Mount Pulaski 72
Murphy 30
Brown 23
Marten 11
Martin 5
Cooper 3
Neoga 27
Ballinger 9
Hartke 6
McKay 4
M. Frankie 4
C. Frankie 2
Coy 2
[Teena Lowery]
|
