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(Senior Heather Monk shoots for two of her game high 12 points. Monk also grabbed 11 rebounds in the Lady Eagles’ win over South Adams.) photo by hiatt

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by Don Hiatt

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The Lady Eagles hosted the South Adams Starfires on Thursday night. The Lady Eagles battled hard on senior night and came up with the 49-23 win.

“We moved the ball well tonight,” said Coach Jamie Perlich. “We got the ball down to Monk tonight and then we started hitting the outside shot.”

South Adams was the first to score, but senior Haleigh Gross answered with a basket to tie the game 2-2 with 6:07 left in the first quarter. The Starfires and Lady Eagles would battle back and forth until Gross scored again at 3:27. Churubusco received another basket from Chandler Blake to make it 6-2 Lady Eagles. South Adams scored a basket but fouled senior Heather Monk. Monk went to the line and made 1-2 making it 7-4 Churubusco to end the first quarter.

“We had great defensive pressure,” stated Coach Perlich. “That really opened up the offense for us tonight.”

The Starfires scored four in a row to take the lead starting the second quarter. But they fouled Gross and she made both free throws to give the lead back to Churubusco. The Lady Eagles received another two points from Lacey Pulley off an-out-of bounds play, but South Adams answered with a big three-pointer to tie the game 11 all with 5:30 left until half. The Lady Eagles then went on a 10-0 run getting baskets from Monk, Montana Martin, Pulley, and two free throws from Savannah Labenz to end the half 21-11 Churubusco.

“It was great to see Gross and Monk play a great game tonight on senior night,” said Coach Perlich. “It was nice to see the seniors step up on their special night and do what it took to get the win tonight.”

Monk started the third quarter with making a basket for the Lady Eagles. The Starfires made two free throws. Then Gross made a basket and again, the Starfires made two free throws. Churubusco went on an 8-0 run receiving baskets from Labenz, Martin, and two from Pulley. The Starfires went 1-2 from the free-throw line to end the third quarter 35-16 Churubusco.

“Tonight was an emotional night,” stated Coach Perlich. “It was senior night. Sad that Young couldn’t play at all but she has been a huge part of this program since she was a freshman and still is.”

Monk also started the final quarter scoring a basket for the Lady Eagles.  South Adams made two from the free-throw line. Monk scored another basket assisted by Blake. Then both teams battle from the free-throw line. The Starfires went 1-6 from the line while the Lady Eagles went 3-6. Kristine Bechtold pulled down a rebound off a missed South Adams free-throw that set up a three-point basket from Jacey Keener. The Starfires went to the free-throw line and made two. Then Pulley went 1-2 from the line and Ashlee Wakeman went 1-2 also. Wakeman also made a two-point basket to end the game 49-23 Churubusco.

 “Tonight, the longer we pressed, the better it looked,” explained Coach Perlich. “The girls started to read it better and get a feel for it. So we are going to continue to work on that. In order to be successful, in the last game of the regular season and sectionals, we are going to have to press. We are going to have to try to press the teams into doing something that they don’t like.”

The Lady Eagles are back in action Friday night to end the regular season at home against Lakeland with a 6:00 varsity start.

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