Kewanee girls break basketball tourney jinx with MLK weekend win

COVID-19 wreaked havoc with the Martin Luther King Jr. girls basketball tournament on Friday, Jan. 14, and Saturday, Jan. 15, at the National Guard Armory in Kewanee.

Mundelein had to withdraw its varsity and sophomore teams, and Orion pulled its sophomore team out.

Kewanee senior guard Emily Eggimann goes up for the shot while surrounded by most of Geneseo's players.
Kewanee senior guard Emily Eggimann goes up for the shot while surrounded by most of Geneseo's players.

The revised schedule had the varsity round robin leading off with Kewanee defeating Orion 39-28 on Friday, followed by Geneseo overcoming Brimfield 69-55.

More: Photo gallery: Kewanee girls vs. Geneseo

Saturday morning had Geneseo cruising by Kewanee 67-13, then Brimfield overwhelming Orion 64-25.

After a break, the afternoon games had Brimfield over Kewanee 75-22 and Geneseo over Orion 69-30.

Orion led Kewanee 6-5 at the end of the first quarter on Friday, but the Boilermakers surged to an 18-5 advantage in the second quarter. With a 23-11 lead at halftime, Kewanee edged Orion 10-9 in the third period. The Chargers had an 8-6 edge in the fourth but couldn’t close the gap.

Kewanee junior guard Marissa Stevens looks for an opening against Geneseo.
Kewanee junior guard Marissa Stevens looks for an opening against Geneseo.

Boiler girl Marissa Stevens scored a game-high 12 points. Lainey Kelly and Emma Crofton added seven each; Kirra McLean-Garcia, six; Emily Eggiman, five, and Larissa Meyer, two.

Kewanee had four triples, two by McLean-Garcia and one each by Stevens and Crofton. Orion had one.

At the free-throw line, Kewanee hit 11 of 16. Eggiman and Kelly shot 3-for-4 and Stevens 5-for-7. Orion was 5-for-10. Kewanee was whistled for 18 fouls and Orion for 16.

Geneseo rolled up a 26-4 lead in the first quarter, and padded it with a 16-3 margin in the second quarter. The 25-6 advantage in the second half closed out the scoring.

Geneseo’s Kammie Ludwig led all scorers with 30 points.

Scoring for Kewanee were Meyer, five; Kelly, three; Eggiman and Stevens, two each, and Liberty VanStaden, one. Kewanee’s Meyer had the team’s only triple. Geneseo had four. The Boilermakers made two of six free throws. VanStaden hit one of two. The Lady Leafs put in seven of 12. Kewanee made nine fouls and Geneseo, four.

Kewanee's Lariss Meyer dees up against Geneseo Alisande Rapps.
Kewanee's Lariss Meyer dees up against Geneseo Alisande Rapps.

Brimfield scored more than 21 points in each of the first three quarters, while holding Kewanee to six or seven. The Indians led 66-19 going into the fourth period, when they put up nine points and allowed the Boilermakers only three.

Indian Ella Lune was the game-high scorer with 33 points.

Stevens led Kewanee with six; Meyer and Crofton, five each; Eggiman, three; Kelly, two, and Kiarra Rodgers, one. Meyer and Crofton each had a triple, while Brimfield had six.

Kewanee popped in two of four attempts at the free-throw line. Eggiman and Rodgers were 1-for-2. Brimfield made three of six. The Boilermakers committed seven fouls and the Indians, three.

Geneseo topped the team standings with a 3-0 record. Brimfield was 2-1, Kewanee 1-2 and Orion 0-3.

Lady Leaf Ludwig was named the Most Valuable Player, as she was in 2020. Because of COVID-19, the tournament was not played in 2021.

Kewanee junior Lena Miller is fouled as she goes up for the shot.
Kewanee junior Lena Miller is fouled as she goes up for the shot.

Joining Ludwig on the All-Tournament team were Kewanee’s Marissa Stevens; Brimfield’s Ella Lune, Elynn Peterson, Sophie Bedell and Jaclyn Fabry; Orion’s Jennie Abbott and Geneseo’s Danielle Beach, Alisande Rapps and Ann Wirth.

The sophomore round robin was played at Kewanee High School. Geneseo defeated Brimfield 49-28 Friday. Brimfield overcame Kewanee 57-26 on Saturday morning, with Geneseo over Kewanee 56-15 wrapping up the tournament in the afternoon. Geneseo sophs finished 2-0, Brimfield 1-1 and Kewanee 0-2.

Wethersfield girls at LTC tourney

Saturday, Jan. 15, was the final day of pool play at the Lincoln Trail Conference’s girls basketball tournament, which Stark County High School is hosting in Wyoming.

Annawan hung a 62-34 loss on ROWVA-Williamsfield. Abingdon-Avon was a 57-55 winner over West Central; Knoxville, 52-43 over United; and Princeville, 52-40 over Ridgewood.

Bracket games are:

  • Monday, Jan. 17 — 6 p.m. Ridgewood and ROWVA-Williamsfield. 7:30 p.m. United and West.

  • Losers will play for seventh at 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 22. Winners play for fifth place at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

  • Wednesday, Jan. 19 — 6 p.m. Annawan and Princeville. 7:30 p.m. A-Town and Knoxville.

  • Losers play for third place at 6 p.m. Saturday. Winners play for the championship at 7:30 p.m.

  • Thursday, Jan. 20 — 6 p.m. Mercer County vs. Stark County. 7:30 p.m. Galva vs. Wethersfield.

  • Losers play for 11th place at noon Saturday. Winners play for ninth place at 1:30 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Star Courier: Kewanee girls break basketball tourney jinx with MLK weekend win