O’Fallon seeks 3-peat at Mascoutah Girls Holiday Tournament
The O’Fallon Panthers quest to 3-peat at the Mascoutah Girls Invitational will tip off a week’s worth of holiday basketball tournaments.
In the midst of its second four-game winning streak of the season, O’Fallon’s championship defense gets an early start when it takes on Althoff (0-8) in the opening game of the 16-team event on Monday at 8:30 a.m..
O’Fallon (8-1), which defeated Highland, 49-48, in the title game a year ago after beating Belleville East to win the 2017 championship, heads into the holidays playing perhaps its best basketball of the young season.
For coach Nick Knolhoff and his team, playing in one of the top girls holiday hoops events in the state is one they look forward to each year.
“We love the Christmas Tournament at Mascoutah. It’s very well run and just a great event each year,’’ Knolhoff said. “Our fast start to the season is our pace of play. We like to run and get transition points and I have two posts who run the floor very well. We have a lot of new pieces this year and each girl is doing her role for the team. ‘’
That winning combination will have to continue this week as 11 teams including East St. Louis (8-3), Nashville (7-1), Central, Belleville West (7-3), Freeburg (7-2), Mater Dei (7-2), Highland (6-3) and Okawville enter play with winning records.
Eight first round games will be held Monday with play resuming on Friday., The title game is set for 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Junior forward Amelia Bell (14.6) and senior point guard Kayla Gordon (13.2) lead a balanced O’Fallon attack, which could be put to the test in a quarterfinal round game against either Belleville East or Freeburg on Friday. But first, O’Fallon can’t overlook Althoff.
“Highland could be the biggest challenge. They return four starters from last year’s team and we met in the championship last year and could happen again this year,’’ Knolhoff said. “The wildcard is East St. Louis at 8-3 and are playing really well with two freshman. We could also maybe play Mater Dei in the semifinals.’’
Kirsten Taylor (12.0) and Bella LaPorta (11.2) lead the Highland attack which also features one of the premier point guards in the St. Louis area in senior Ellie Brown (9.1 ppg.).
Lebanon Christmas Tournament
Undefeated Father McGivney headlines a quality field for the Lebanon Christmas Tournament which begins Thursday at Lebanon High School.
The Griffins (10-0), led by the one-two scoring punch of Anna McKee (14.6) and Madison Webb (14.3) have been one of the surprise teams in the early going of the 2019-20 season and are coming off an impressive 56-48 win over Marquette last week
The Griffins will take on the Greenville junior varsity beginning at 3:30 p.m. The Greenville JV team is playing in the place of host Lebanon, which suspended its program this season due to a lack of numbers.
Tournament play begins at 9 a.m. Thursday and will continue with eight first round games. The tournament championship game is set for Monday, Dec. 30 at 8 p.m.
Other top teams competing include Gibault (8-5), New Athens (6-3), Dupo (5-5), Columbia (5-5), Greenville varsity (5-5), New Athens (6-3) and Marissa (6-2).
Bloomington Tournament
Undefeated Civic Memorial (10-0) will head north to take on Normal West Thursday in the first round of the Bloomington Tournament. The tile game is set for Dec. 30 at 7:30 p.m. at Illinois Wesleyan University.
MICDS Tournament
Collinsville (4-6) looks to get back on track when it takes on Pattonville in the MICDS Tournament which begins Thursday. The title game is set for Dec. 30.
