‘One calm, cool customer’: Senior guard keeps Pana girls hoops on track after state run
RIVERTON — Anna Beyers surpassed 1,000 career points on a layup at the start of the second quarter.
It prompted a momentary pause as Pana coach Jan Braden presented a commemorative game ball to the senior guard during Tuesday’s 73-39 girls basketball victory over Heyworth in the Riverton Christmas Classic at the Hawk Center.
Beyers regarded that as a big feat personally but in usual characteristic manner immediately pivoted her attention to the next upcoming game.
Trusting the newcomers
Beyers shoulders quite a burden for the Panthers as the only returning starter from last year’s state run in which Pana garnered third place in Class 2A — not to mention a new coach at the helm.
Pana (13-5) has still managed to thrive without leaning too much on Beyers.
“I'm getting used to it but I'll have to trust my teammates,” Beyers said. “That's a big factor this year. But other than that, they're doing a great job.”
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The NCAA Division III Illinois Wesleyan University commit still works off the ball, not unlike last year when Rachel Holthaus served as the point guard. This year, that falls on freshman Kennedy Bowker as well as sophomore Ayda Coleman and seniors Jenna Hadowsky and Morgan Beyers.
Braden said Bowker has come in and made a difference despite battling a lower body injury.
“Anna would do whatever we asked of her,” Braden said. “She'd play point, she'd play post but her not having to handle the ball as much is a good deal for us.”
A force all over the floor
Beyers helped facilitate the offense in the middle of Heyworth’s zone defense and even complemented senior forward Chloe Ashcraft in the post.
“I'm not used to that,” Beyers said of the post, “but I think adversity is good, especially when you play basketball.”
Beyers totaled 23 points and seven rebounds while Ashcraft recorded a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Senior guard Aryn Alde poured in 17 points with four 3-pointers.
Pana also knocked off Riverton 78-29 earlier in the morning and advances to the semifinals against Deer Creek-Mackinaw on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Petersburg PORTA/A-C Central faces Mount Pulaski in the other semifinal at 6 p.m.
Beyers averages 17.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, 4.1 steals and 2.3 assists per game so far this season. She was named Illinois Basketball Coaches Association all-state third team and all-South Central Conference first team last season with 9.8 points, 5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.9 steals per game.
“She is a one calm, cool customer,” Braden said. “They told me when I got the job this year that she doesn't talk much. Well, I haven't found that from her, so we have a really good relationship and a lot of communication. She has a really good basketball IQ and all that does is make the players around her better.”
Ashcraft lauded Beyers’ toughness.
“She's very strong and very active, which I think is a key thing for being a post player,” Ashcraft said. “And she's great to have down low with me. I like having her down there.”
Beyers said it was hard losing all of those preceding seniors such as Holthaus and all-stater Jillian Hamilton but added she couldn’t ask for more from this new group.
“We're getting along pretty good,” Beyers said. “We're really quick. We don't have a lot of height, but a lot of people are stepping up and we're going to go far I think.”
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Down the wire
Mount Pulaski senior guard Alexis Wade found an opening and capitalized.
She drew a foul with 1.7 seconds left in regulation and hit the go-ahead free throw en route to a thrilling 58-57 victory over Hillsboro in the day’s final game at the Hawk Center.
Wade finished with 23 points and went 6 of 8 from the free throw line. Grace Davis had 12 points while Alyson Murphy and Hailee Daigh had 10 apiece.
“That’s what she does,” Mount Pulaski coach Ryan McVickers said of Wade. “We know she’s going to make plays and big-time players make big-time plays, and that’s what she did.
“We definitely wanted to take the last shot and we kind of got it to her on the screen-and-roll that we like to do and she just attacked the basket and ended up getting fouled. It worked out.”
Hillsboro jumped ahead 55-53 on Ella Greenwod’s 3-pointer with 52 seconds left. Mount Pulaski’s Kenzi Chandler answered with a 3-pointer 10 seconds later to reclaim a one-point lead. Hillsboro evened the contest on Addy Lowe’s two successful free throw attempts with 19.8 seconds left.
Mount Pulaski (14-3) additionally beat Auburn 68-49 earlier in the day.
“That was just ice-cold, nothing but the bottom of the net, not afraid of the moment and just buried it,” McVickers said of Chandler’s only bucket of the game. “That was fun.”
Other tournament games
In other games at the Hawk Center, Jameora Townsend led Springfield High’s junior varsity squad to a 50-39 win over Auburn’s varsity group. Townsend had 15 for the Senators while Aniyah Rhinehouse had 10.
Addison Wheatley led the Trojans with 11.
In another game, Morgan Langheim had seven of her team-high 24 points in the fourth quarter as Pawnee slipped past Decatur Lutheran 47-45.
Langheim busted out of the gates with eight points in the first period. Teammate Ava Rodriguez had 13 points and hit Pawnee’s lone 3-pointer.
Juju Mize poured in a game-high 26 points for Decatur Lutheran.
Greenlee Dust scored four points to lead Lutheran/Calvary in a 50-9 loss to Heyworth before also dropping to host Riverton 52-26.
Brandy Petitt led the Hawks in their win over Lutheran with 14 points.
Buffalo Tri-City/Niantic Sangamon Valley netted a 59-44 win over Decatur LSA, led by Sarah Finley’s 25 points and Kamryn Sturdy’s 23 points.
Petersburg PORTA/A-C Central rolled to 49-6 win over the Pana JV squad. Karlie Hoke and Carson Arthalony had 10 points apiece for the Bluejays.
Contact Bill Welt: 788-1545, bill.welt@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/BillWelt
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: IHSA girls basketball: Pana senior Anna Beyers underpins new team
