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Panthers start strong, cruise to win over Hillcrest
Pekin girls basketball hits double-digit wins
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
PACKWOOD - The Pekin girls basketball team had a runway to the rim in the first quarter of a blowout win over Hillcrest Academy. The Panthers used a 10-point defeat to Lone Tree in their last game as fuel for a 49-31 victory over the Ravens on Tuesday.
Pekin went up 14-3 after one quarter of play and never looked back. The Ravens cut into the deficit slightly in the third, but stood little chance of making a comeback due to what Pekin coach Neil Hartz described as a complete defensive performance.
“Our girls were starting to realize that if we have ball pressure it helps with them not being able to make the free passes to the posts or to the shooters,” Hartz said. “If we get the ball pressure on them, it takes away angles. We worked a lot on that.”
The Panthers switched in and out of full court pressure defense to disrupt passing lanes. Pekin’s press slammed the door early, and was effective in ensuring the Ravens’ offense wouldn’t find another push after they trimmed the lead to 13 with 5:50 to play.
“Us sped up created turnovers for them, which created easy buckets for them,” Hillcrest coach Chris Nachtigall assessed. “We did (have) some possessions where we slowed ourselves down and made some good passes, got some open looks. We just needed to continue that momentum and that didn’t happen for us until the second half.”
Pekin’s Anna Hadley led all scorers for the game with 18 points. Abby Guise was also in double figures with 12.
The rest of the Panthers supporting cast also chipped in to help preserve the lead. Kendra Schultz and Ezra Parsons each scored five points, while Carlie Gambell, Addison Smith and Maddy Petrehn each had three.
“It makes the team a lot more diverse and we’re able to all split the win evenly,” Gambell said of Pekin’s scoring distribution. “We don’t rely on one person, and it’s really nice for everybody to get in there and get their points.”
Claire Withrow was the lone Hillcrest player in double figures with 15 points, including three made 3-pointers. Niva Helmuth finished with six points, while Brynna Boshart and Marryn Boshart each scored four.
The win improved Pekin to 10-7 on the season, including a 9-5 mark in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference North. Hillcrest dropped to 5-12 and 3-11 in the SEISC North.
During Monday’s game, Pekin players sported black and orange ribbons in support of Fairfield High School, which lost a member of its student body, senior Emmelia Miller, in a car accident Saturday. Two Pekin teachers, Ashlyn Hotchkiss and James Lyman, were injured in the crash. Lyman is an assistant for the girls basketball team.
"Coach Lyman called them on the phone and (said), ‘Go play. Do what we’ve got to do, I’ll be back,’" Hartz said. “So that’s what they did, and it’s a terrible situation. The girls wanted to honor (Miller) so they had the black and orange ribbons in their hair, which I thought was a big sign for our girls that we’re here for Fairfield."
Pekin next faces and out of conference matchup against English Valleys. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. Thursday at Pekin High School.
Hillcrest will be at home for its next game and face off against Louisa-Muscatine. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. Friday at Hillcrest Academy.
