Mount Pulaski loses regional championship to St. Teresa 67-39

[February 08, 2019] 

The Mount Pulaski girls ended their 2018-19 basketball season with a 67-39 loss to St. Teresa in the Class 1A Regional Championship.

The Bulldogs charged out to a 22-8 first quarter lead.

By halftime St. Teresa held a 33-15 advantage with Mount Pulaski getting all of their points from senior Skylar Hayes.

Seniors Abigail Fitzpatrick, Morgan May and Savanah Moore found their way into the scoring column in the third quarter but the heavily-stacked Bulldogs still controlled the game with a 46-28 lead.

The fourth quarter saw Mount Pulaski run out of gas and go down a senior. Fitzpatrick fouled out of her final high school game at the 6:08 mark. Fitzpatrick earned a standing ovation from the purple and gold crowd for the hard work she put in all season long on the court.

St. Teresa stretched the lead to 59-35 with 3:29 left to play. Mount Pulaski's remaining starters all came out of the game with 1:13 left as the Bulldogs had no trouble taking the regional championship by a final score of 67-39.

Skylar Hayes led Mount Pulaski with 24 points. Hayes finishes her MPHS basketball career as the leading scorer in school history with 2,317 points.

Mount Pulaski ends their season with a 20-12 record. Mount Pulaski head coach Eric Leever was proud of his team's effort all season long and particularly the 20 wins.

"It had been six years since we've had a 20-win season so that was huge for us," began Leever. "These kids have worked really hard for that. Our senior class was super-strong this year. I thought Abigail (Fitzpatrick) made a huge difference for us throughout the season. I am going to chalk some of those wins up to her. I mean just the hustle plays, the hands on every loose ball, hitting the boards every night consistently, those are going to be some big shoes to fill."

Fitzpatrick, a volleyball standout headed to SIU-C, had not played basketball since her eighth grade year at MPGS. The senior did an outstanding job this season for the Lady Toppers and gave it her all and then some consistently night in and night out.

"Losing four seniors will be tough," Leever continued. "We had great minutes out of Isabella Wade this year. She was a starter for us every night. Chloe Olson gave us good minutes all season. The senior class is going to be tough for us to replace. Kaylee Wilham last night came off the bench, shot the ball really well and gave us a great effort on the defensive end.

Mount Pulaski coach Eric Leever talks to his team during a timeout versus St. Teresa. Mount Pulaski lost 67-39 to the Bulldogs.

"Tonight again she gave us great minutes. I hope that's a turning point for Kaylee to stay focused because she really turned it on the last two nights for us. She gave us huge contributions and I can't say enough about Kaylee. That was great."

As for the opponent who took home the championship plaque, Leever noted the Bulldogs played with three times the intensity as when Mount Pulaski handed them a 58-54 loss in the Ed Butkovich Gymnasium back on January 7.

"St. Teresa came out from the tip tonight intense," said Leever. "I thought we did a decent job on them a few weeks ago at home. But they came out strong. They were physical. Their full-court press, they look to trap immediately, they hit the boards every time and you know, we didn't. They get 3-4 opportunities every possession. That's big. They are tall. They are strong. They're athletic. They jump really well. But they came out and played physical and they took care of business. They knew what they had to do. They had a game plan and they executed it really well. Hats off to them and good luck to them in the post season."

Mount Pulaski 39

Hayes 24
May 7
Moore 6
Fitzpatrick 2

St. Teresa 67

Newbon 17
Peters 11
Switzer 11
Fyke 11
Snow 6
Wilson 4
Oladipupo 3
Ford 2
Nutakor 2

Teena Lowery]