Mount Pulaski Lady Toppers win
regional championship
[February 20, 2026]
The Mount Pulaski Lady Toppers won the IHSA Class 1A Regional
Championship on Thursday night in Mount Pulaski. The Lady Toppers
defeated the Stewardson-Strasburg/Windsor Lady Hatchets 50-27.
Addison Brown led Mount Pulaski with 16 points.
Elayna Marten tossed in 11 points.
First quarter
Addison Brown was putting on a shooting clinic in the first quarter.
She made her first four shots to propel Mount Pulaski to a 15-4
lead. After a two to start the game, Brown drained three 3s and had
the crowd immediately in awe. The girl can shoot lights out and she
was definitely on a mission early. Another girl on a mission was
Olivia Smith. She may have had a pep talk and some incentive from
Jan Bowers and it sure worked. Smith had two baskets in the first
quarter and like normal she was a beast on the defensive end. Elayna
Marten rounded out the first quarter scoring for Mount Pulaski with
a three and when the eight minutes was up the Lady Toppers trotted
back to the bench with an 18-9 lead.
Second quarter
After a few trips to the free throw line and three points added to
the score early in the quarter, the Lady Toppers started hitting
field goals at the 5:44 mark. Ella Martin would score twice for
Mount Pulaski in the paint and it was great to see the freshman
getting involved in the offense. Alyson Murphy got her first bucket
at the 4:12 mark and just like that the lead was 27-12. Brown made
her first three attempt of the second quarter at the 2:55 mark and
wow, was she ever smooth from beyond the arc. The crowd was
captivated. With Marten driving baseline to capture Mount Pulaski’s
last points before the half the score was 33-14. A very nice first
half for Mount Pulaski.
Third quarter
Scoring might have started a bit slow in the third quarter but the
game was still moving fast. Murphy got a rebound at the 6:04 mark
and put it back up and in for two. This was the beginning of Mount
Pulaski outscoring the Lady Hatchets 15-1. In this stretch, Smith
and Cooper were perfect from the free throw line. Marten scored off
a steal and hit a three. Brown fought for a rebound and scored two
points on the putback, and Martin scored again in the paint. These
girls were definitely giving the crowd their money’s worth. Fun
basketball. The third quarter did not end so fun for the Lady
Hatchets, who were down 48-19.
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The 2026 Class 1A Regional Champion Mount Pulaski High School Lady
Toppers. Photo by Teena Lowery
Fourth quarter
The only pressure here was for Mount Pulaski to hit that running
clock button. Audrey Cooper seemed to say, "I'll take care of that."
It took a couple of minutes of running back and forth down the court
with nobody scoring. But finally Cooper had the ball and went in for
the layup. With a 50-19 score and 5:57 on the clock, Marty just let
it run. The subs came in and the only scoring left was done by the
Lady Hatchets.
The final score of 50-27 was quickly in the books.
Just like the last game, this one started at 6:00 p.m. and was over
at 7:02 p.m.
The Lady Toppers make winning fun and fast. Still plenty of time to
get Pizza Man after these wins.
Mount Pulaski improves to 29-1 on the season.
The regional champs will play Shiloh at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday,
February 24, 2026 in the sectional tournament at Argenta-Oreana High
School.
Mount Pulaski 50
Brown 16
Marten 11
Smith 8
Martin 6
Cooper 5
Murphy 4
Stewardson-Strasburg 27
Hayes 12
Johnson 6
Von Behrens 4
Holland 4
Walker 1
[Teena Lowery]
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