Highland wallops Belleville West for first title in 30 years
Highland senior Madison Wellen made her first four shots from the floor to highlight an 18-3 scoring run to start the game, and the Bulldogs never trailed as they went on for a 67-39 win over Belleville West on Saturday in the title game of Scott Credit Union Highland Tournament.
Voted MVP of the weeklong, 16-team tournament, Wellen made a pair of 3-point shots and added a short jumper — all in the first 1:23 — while Alex LaPorta added a pair of baskets for Highland (19-3), which built a 21-5 lead after one quarter. When the Bulldogs took a 31-17 advantage at halftime, they were well on their way toward winning their tournament for the first time in 30 years.
Highland defeated Edwardsville to win the first Scott Credit Union Highland Tournament in 1987 and hadn’t won since.
“We didn’t really talk much about it because we didn’t want to get into all of the hype about being the team that hadn’t won its own tournament in 30 years. But coming into this week, this is something we felt we could do,” Wellen said. “We got off to a good start and got the game played at our tempo. That was a real key to the game.”
LaPorta added 14 points, while freshman Ellie Brown added 13 for Highland, which also got a big defensive effort from junior Rece Portell. A quick 5-foot-6 guard, Portell held West guard Chamya Darough scoreless in the first half and to only nine points for the game. Darough scored 30 in the Maroons’ upset win over Teutopolis in a semifinal Friday.
“We put Rece on her because of her speed and told her to face guard (Darough). What a tremendous job she did of that,” Highland coach Mike Arbuthnot said. “We came out early and hit some shots, and I think we kind of put West back on its heels a little bit.”
Kwanisha Carroll-Quarles led Belleville West with 15 points, while Sydney Thurwalker added 12.
Nashville 55, Hillsboro 51
Junior guard Rachel Kell scored 18 points as the Hornettes held off Hillsboro to win the consolation title. Nashville (18-5) broke open a close game with a 19-5 scoring run in the second quarter over the Hiltoppers, who fall to 19-5 for the season.
Paige Kasten added 14 points for Nashville, and Karly Stanowski added 10. Sophomore Sammi Matoush led Hillsboro with 19 points.
Mater Dei 55, Central 41
Logan Braundmeier scored 17 points, and Shannon Lampe added 11 as the Knights took home the fifth-place trophy with a win over Breese rival Central.
O’Fallon 70, Teutopolis 60
The Panthers got a 30-point effort from senior Marta Durke as they walked over the Wooden Shoes in the third-place game.
This story was originally published January 21, 2017 at 11:36 PM with the headline "Highland wallops Belleville West for first title in 30 years."