Pekin girls advance with double-digit win over Bears

The district playoffs are off to a great start in Packwood.

The Pekin girls? basketball team traveled Saturday to Brooklyn and defeated the B-G-M Bears 55-42 to open postseason play.

Beth Atwood was superb for Pekin (17-4) yet again. The sophomore finished with 23 points, 19 rebounds and seven steals. Atwood is now averaging 19 points per game.

Senior Samantha Wright scored nine points, while her sister Gwynne Wright chipped in seven points. Jessica Horras and Tiana Slaney both assisted in getting the offense rolling in the second half, and Sloan Reighard came off the bench to make two steals and a defensive stop in the third quarter.

?Our defense carried us in the first three quarters and we made too many turnovers on offense,? Pekin coach Davis Eidahl said. ?The last quarter our offense got on track and we were able to get a good lead.?

Kayleen Beck scored 15 points to lead the way for the Bears (16-6) but it wasn?t enough. Sophomore Jolissa Kriegel also played well, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Pekin now looks toward tonight?s game against Iowa Valley in Marengo. Iowa Valley (18-2) won the South Iowa Cedar Conference. The Tigers haven?t played in a week and lost their last game of the regular season to Keota. Iowa Valley doesn?t have a star player and usually relies on balanced scoring across the board to beat opponents.

?We have our work cut out for us,? Eidahl said. ?Our girls are ready to accept the challenge.?