Young Nashville off to fast start

When highly successful Nashville girls basketball coach Wayne Harre stepped down at the end of the 2014-15 season there were those thought the Hornettes program would suffer.

After all, Harre-led teams had won 412 of 490 games during a 15-year coaching tenure which included 15 straight regional titles and the 2013 Class 2A state title.

But with longtime Hornettes assistant Doug Althoff taking over, Nashville hasn’t missed a beat in the first month of the 2015-16 season. With its 54-49 win over preseason River-to-River Conference favorite Carterville on Tuesday, Nashville is 7-2 heading into a 10-day break before competing in the annual Mascoutah Invitational on Dec. 28-30.

“And the two games we lost to Collinsville and Mascoutah at out tournament (Nashville Invitational) we were right there. I think we lost by two points in one game and four in the other. We just couldn’t quite get over the hump,” Althoff said. “So far we’ve played pretty good basketball and what I really like is that we seem to be playing a little better each game.”

Also leaving after a sensational four-year career was Harre’s daughter Jordi, who was a Class 2A all-state guard a year ago. Harre is now playing volleyball and will play softball this spring at Kaskaskia College in nearby Centralia. But Wayne Harre didn’t leave the Hornettes program without talent.

Althoff’s first Nashville team features four sophomores and a junior in its starting lineup.

Sophomore guards Paige Kasten and Mackenzie McFeron are back as two-year starters while Rachael Kell also plays a guard spot in the Hornettes three-guard offense. Sophomore Carly Stanowski is a physical, but undersized center at 5-foot-9 while Janie Holle completes Nashville’s starting five.

McFeron leads Nashville in scoring at 14 points per game while Stanowski is also in double figures at 11.4.

“McFeron is also our point guard, but she’s also quick and can take it to the basket. She’s also one of those players who has a knack of getting to the foul line a lot,” Althoff said. “We’re young, but a lot of these kids started or at least saw a lot of playing time last year as freshmen. We’re maturing as we go along here.”

Heralded freshman Brook Bowman has yet to see much action due to an injured knee.

New Athens, Dupo soaring

One year after posting the best record in school history with a 27-2 mark and a berth in the Class A sectional title game, the New Athens Yellowjackets haven’t missed a beat and are off to a 7-1 start heading into a showdown in the rugged Cahokia Conference on Friday at Class 1A state power and undefeated Lebanon.

The Yellowjackets, whose only loss of the season was to Lebanon (45-34) have been led by Alina Lance (12.6 scoring average) and Abby Marlow (8.8). The Lebanon-New Athens game will begin at 6:15 p.m. with the boys game to follow.

Dupo, which finished a respectable 10-12 a year ago, is within two wins of equaling its total wins a year ago and is currently 8-3 for the season. The Tigers, who have already lost twice to New Athens, feature one of the top 1-2 combinations in the Cahokia Conference in Leia Campbell (13.8 ppg.) and Megan Brown (10.0).

Tournaments, tournaments and more tournaments

Girls basketball fans will get their fill of some of the top teams and players in the metro-east compete in tournaments throughout the metro-east area following the Christmas holiday.

Tournament schedules have been released for events scheduled to be held at Edwardsville, Jerseyville, Wesclin and Mascoutah.

Tournament action at the Wesclin/Lebanon Holiday Tournament will begin Dec. 26 and will run through Dec. 30. Class 1A state power Lebanon and Cahokia Cahokia Conference rivals New Athens and Columbia are other strong teams in the field.

At the Jerseyville Tournament, which will be held Dec. 28-30, Hardin-Calhoun, the Class A state tournament runnerup a year ago, will be the team to beat with Piasa Southwestern providing the most competition. Collinsville, Freeburg and Civic Memorial are also in the solid field.

The Edwardsville Tigers Classic will be held Dec. 28-29 at Edwardsville High School. A perennial Class 4A state title contender, Edwardsville will be pushed in its own event by top teams such as Teutopolis and Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin.

The 16-team Mascoutah Invitational will be held Dec. 28-30 at Mascoutah High School. Two-time defending champion and 2015 Class 2A State Tournament runnerup Central headlines the field and will take on tournament newcomer Christopher at 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 28. Other first round games include Althoff-Highland at 8:30 a.m., Nashville-O’Fallon at 10 a.m., Belleville East-Mater Dei at 11:30 a.m. and Carbondale-McCluer South at 1 p.m.

The Central-Christopher game will be followed at 4 p.m. by the Centralia-Okawville game. Host Mascoutah will take on Riverview Gardens at 5:30 p.m. with the finale of the day featuring Belleville West and Mount Vernon set for 7 p.m.

The title game will be played on Dec. 30 beginning at 7 p.m.

A milestone for Maddie

Mascoutah High School senior Maddie Nekola joined some exclusive company last week when she went over the 1,000 point mark for her high school career. A rare three-sport athlete for the Indians, Nekola, a 5-8 guard averages 14.4 points per game for the Indians who are 7-2 for the season.

Candy Cane Classic concludes

The first holiday tournament champion of 2015 will be crowned on Saturday at Gibault High School when the always competitive Candy Cane Classic concludes with four games. Action begins at 9 a.m. with the seventh place game. The title game is set for 1:30 p.m.

This story was originally published December 16, 2015 at 10:28 PM with the headline "Young Nashville off to fast start."