East Peoria, IL - It was another exciting day of action inside Lorene Ramsey Gymnasium on Monday, as the third-ranked Illinois Central College Women's Basketball team hosted the second of three days of its 44th Annual ICC Holiday Tournament. Offense was aplenty throughout the day, as the winning team in each game scored at least 82 points. Palm Beach State, #24 Mid Michigan, #2 Kirkwood, and #3 Illinois Central all won on Monday to set up what's sure to be an action-packed Tuesday slate. That slate is led by the historic matchup (107th all-time meeting) of #2 Kirkwood versus #3 Illinois Central for the Holiday Tournament Championship, with that battle tipping off at 4:00 PM from Ramsey Gym.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30TH SCHEDULE
7th Place Game | 10:00 AM | McHenry County (1-12) vs. (RV) Kankakee (10-5)
Consolation Championship | 12:00 PM | #24 Mid Michigan (10-3) vs. Palm Beach State (6-10)
3rd Place Game | 2:00 PM | North Central Missouri (11-6) vs. Lake Land (6-7)
Championship | 4:00 PM | #2 Kirkwood (12-0) vs. #3 Illinois Central (12-1)
FULL & UPDATED BRACKET (with each game's final scores)
CLICK HERE
PALM BEACH STATE 88, McHENRY COUNTY 67
While the margin may read 21 points, the McHenry County Scots still displayed a concerted effort to keep it competitive. In fact, the Panthers led by just one point after a quarter, largely in part due to the efforts of one Scot, Cassidy Serpe, who scored 13 of her 22 points in the opening 10 minutes. Meanwhile, a rejuvenated Palm Beach State squad put the blasters on in the second frame, exploding for 30 points in the quarter. A big spark for coach Maureen Smith in the second came off the bench, and that was Kenyah Moss, a post who truly was one of the driving forces that turned the tide, completing the first half with 14 points, eight of which were scored in the second to give Palm Beach State a 52-30 lead going into the locker room. Circling back to the fight from the Scots, coach Kent Jones had his team make another round of adjustments after some conversing at the half, and won the quarter over the Panthers, 20-19. This time, it was consistent double-double threat Bella Frohling leading the way, scoring 10 points in the third quarter alone. However, the gap that Palm Beach State had created with that second quarter still left the natives of Florida with a 71-50 advantage with one quarter remaining. Meanwhile, the Panthers had one burst of fire left, scoring 27 points in the final quarter, with Janiah Suprius (seven Q4 points) leading the way, plus Macey Kovach capping a high-quality morning from behind the arc with game threes number six and seven to complete a 21-point effort. Serpe had another high-scoring quarter, with an eight-point frame bringing her final tally to 22 points. In the end, the Panthers will take the 21-point victory, but the Scots leave with plenty of positives regardless of the margin of defeat.
PALM BEACH STATE LEADERS
Janiah Suprius | 25 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists
Macey Kovach | 21 points, 3 rebounds
Kenyah Moss | 20 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals, 3 assists, 2 blocks
McHENRY COUNTY LEADERS
Bella Frohling | 22 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks
Cassidy Serpe | 22 points, 4 rebounds
Mikayla Saas | 10 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists
QUOTES FROM PALM BEACH STATE COACH MAUREEN SMITH
On how much of a factor Kenyah Moss was considering the slow start
"Yeah, I mean, we always start slow. It's just our m-o. Aside from that, yeah, Kenyah definitely gave us some good minutes, and it was nice to see. She was the tallest kid out there on the floor, so I think she felt comfortable in understanding her role, her dominance, that she could have in there."
On what difference the 30-9 outscoring of McHenry County in the second quarter made
"It's frustrating as a coach to need to get into that good cadence and flow, but it is nice to get that sort of production from a bench player, especially early, because it does help the starters get offensive confidence also."
On resurfacing the confidence of Janiah Suprius after an "off" 16 points (averages nearly 30 ppg) on Sunday
"Janiah's just one of those players - the superstar that doesn't know she's a superstar, believe it or not. The kid gives good minutes, but she's really unselfish with the basketball. I'm constantly trying to get her to be more aggressive. We're still going to get that production from her. She's a true freshman, man. She's still learning how to control the tempo of the game as a freshman."
On the experience of continuing to bring her team up from Florida to the wintry abyss of Illinois in late-December
"Oh, absolutely. They love when I hand them the Panther beanie and I say 'hey, we're going to be going into a colder climate, dress warm, we'll probably have an opportunity to see snow'. The main reason we come out here is this is one of the premier tournaments, especially right after Christmas. It's always good competition. For us, it's an easy flight to St. Louis non-stop, and then getting from there to here, but yeah, it's really about wanting our kids to play against the best."
#24 MID MICHIGAN 82, (RV) KANKAKEE 64
The second game of the day was quite the interesting one. Both teams were fresh off games with surrendered leads and played with a different spark, wanting to reverse their fortunes from the day prior. The first quarter was a balanced one, with the Lakers getting five different players to score, while the Cavaliers had six different players score, with Mid Michigan holding a slim 20-16 lead after 10 minutes. The Lakers would hit four shots from behind the arc in the second quarter, while the Cavaliers were generating opportunities at the free throw line. However, Kankakee would go 1-of-12 at the charity stripe in the opening 20 minutes, and Mid Michigan would be in front by nine points (38-29) at halftime. Each side was in a tight race for the third, knotted up at 16-all for the frame. Gracie Mellinger carried a big part of the Laker effort, scoring 10 points in the quarter, including going 5-of-6 at the free throw line. With the tied quarter, the nine-point margin stayed the same, with Mid Michigan in front 54-45 with 10 minutes to go. The Lakers pulled ahead with a seven-player scoring effort in the final frame, with Mellinger (seven points in the quarter) and Grace Chinavare (six points in the quarter) help tilt the scoreboard back more towards the Lakers. Of note, the Cavaliers were able to reverse their fortunes at the free throw line, going 6-of-9 in the fourth, include a 3-of-4 effort from post player and double-double threat Ava Simpson. In the end, Mid Michigan had their highest-scoring quarter of the afternoon (28 points), and came away with the 18-point winner.
MID MICHIGAN LEADERS
Gracie Mellinger | 21 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals
Grace Chinavare | 16 points, 7 rebounds
Delaney Seaman | 12 points, 5 assists, 2 steals
Madison Smith | 9 points, 9 rebounds, 6 blocks, 3 assists, 3 steals
KANKAKEE LEADERS
Adriana Barber | 17 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists
Alana Ross | 13 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals
Ava Simpson | 10 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks
#2 KIRKWOOD 83, LAKE LAND 32
The Kirkwood Eagles were guns blazing from the get-go, shooting a remarkable 56% from the field (9-of-16), while conversely locking in on defense, holding Lake Land to 0-of-12 shooting. The second quarter was somewhat similar, with the Eagles shooting 56% from the field again (10-of-18), while the defense kept Lake Land at 2-of-12 (17%). Kirkwood's lead swelled to 51 points during the third quarter (ended up tying the final score for the game's largest margin), with the Eagle defense reigning supreme, holding the Lakers to three single-digit scoring quarters. During that third quarter, Olivia Wren hit a pair of treys, completing a 14-point effort. Alas, Lake Land would finish the game on a high note with a 13-point quarter, led by a seven-point quarter from Natalie Brownback.
KIRKWOOD LEADERS
Olivia Wren | 14 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists
Molly Roling | 9 points, 7 rebounds
Kennedy Blakely | 6 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists
LAKE LAND LEADERS
Natalie Brownback | 10 points, 3 rebounds
Casey Jackson | 7 points, 3 rebounds
Emily Miller | 5 points, 5 rebounds
#3 ILLINOIS CENTRAL 84, NORTH CENTRAL MISSOURI 67
The third-ranked Illinois Central College Women's Basketball team defeated North Central Missouri by 17 points on Monday evening. Four players reached double figures in
Lily Luczkowiak (17), Kamryn Heider (13),
Addy Engel (12), and
Maziah Shelton (11) as the Cougars advanced to Tuesday's championship. The Cougars took a 7-2 lead on baskets from Engel, Heider, and
Larissa Taylor in the early going. Three-pointers by
Kaitlin White and
Hannah West increased the lead to 21-13 as the Cougars led 23-17 at the end of one quarter. A Luczkowiak steal led to an Engel basket (assist
Ellie VanMeenen) and two scores by Luczkowiak made it 29-20. The Cougars turned up the defense as VanMeenen turned a block into a layup, followed by an Engel trey (assist
A'Meah Lester) for a 36-22 advantage. Free throws, another long-range bomb by West (assist White), and a Luczkowiak layup gave ICC a 50-27 lead at intermission. The second half was somewhat choppy as neither team could find much of a flow. Highlights were seven third quarter points by Luczkowiak and Shelton's nine fourth-quarter points as the Cougars cruised to the win. Final stats showed ICC shooting 30-60 (50%) from the field and 5-13 from 3-point range (39%) while holding NCMC to 35% field goal shooting (24-68).
COUGAR LEADERS
Lily Luczkowiak | 17 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals
Kamryn Heider | 13 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists
Addy Engel | 12 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals
Maziah Shelton | 11 points, 7 rebounds
NORTH CENTRAL MISSOURI LEADERS
Lexi Burns | 18 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals
Addilyn Henke | 12 points
Sidney Aeschliman | 10 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals
QUOTES FROM ICC HEAD COACH KARRIE REDEKER
On what sort of effort it took from the team considering how much of a tough, grind-it-out game it was
"It was a really fun first half. I really loved the energy that we had. I thought we had a lot of kids that were emptying the tank. It was kind of like we got bored or something in the second half - I hadn't really seen that out of this group."
On the minutes from Ellie VanMeenen, between hustle plays on Sunday and drawing two charges in this game
"Yeah, she really was a game-changer yesterday. Today, she did a really good job on their best player, and that's a tough thing to do. She does a really good job of using her strength and her speed to shut down the other team's best player. It's not always noted in the stats, but just really continuing to praise her for those efforts - and it really makes a difference."
On what exactly makes the ICC - Kirkwood matchup "different" than any other
"We talked about this before we played them earlier (November 8th; Kirkwood won in Ramsey Gym, 65-53). At the junior college level, it's hard to really formulate those rivalries. You're kind of thrown into it in the junior college realm. You have to really take pride in your program. We have the banners. We can tell our kids that Kirkwood has however many, and it goes way back. We've had Coach Ramsey talk to teams before games to get them to understand what this means. I think moreso, the rivalry is just being excited to be a part of it. We want to establish ourselves as a team that's tough to be here. We'll have to play better than we did today."
