Pekin girls? basketball team stays unbeaten

PACKWOOD ? The Pekin girls? basketball team has had no trouble jumping out to early leads this season, but against Winfield-Mount Union Tuesday, the shoe had finally landed on the other foot.

The Pekin girls fell into an 8-0 hole early but with hot shooting managed to crawl back to a 58-47 win over the Wolves.

Led by Cheyann Lankford?s 17 points, the Panthers slowly chipped away at the deficit in the first quarter and tied the game at 12-all early in the second period. The Panthers carried a 26-24 lead into the locker room at halftime and continued to build a lead in the second half, going up by as much as 14 points with seven minutes remaining.

Pekin?s Brandy Millikin scored 14 points and came down with 10 boards, and Emily Ellis had 13 with two 3-pointers. Samantha Wright added 10 points, while Leslie Stone tallied four points, seven boards and two blocks.

?We had good balance. Four girls were in double figures,? said head coach Davis Eidahl. ?I think it was just good, all-around play.

Now at 4-0, the Panthers? quick start has left even their head coach a little surprised.

?The thing that?s surprised me early on is the hard work and the way the girls work together,? said Eidahl. ?They?ve blended together real well, and I thought it would take us until the end of December to get where we?re at.?

The Panthers (4-0, 4-0 SEISC north) will host Cardinal today.

PEKIN ? Lankford 5-13 7-8 17, Millikin 6-12 2-4 14, Ellis 2-11 7-9 13, Wright 4-4 1-1 10, Stone 0-3 4-8 4, Jensen 0-2 0-1 0, Totals 17-45 21-31 58

3-point goals ? Ellis 2, Wright 1. Rebounds ? Millikin 10, Stone 7, Jensen 4, Lankford 1, Wright 1. Assists ? none. Blocks ? Stone 2, Jensen 1, Lankford 1. Steals ? Lankford 3, Wright 2, Millikin 2, Jensen 2.