Journal Star Version of Morton vs. Galesburg

This is the Journal Star version of our loss to Morton. As you can see as you read the story, the winner in sports has the right to give their spin on the game.

It is meaningless to the outcome of the game, but as poorly as we played, and as much as they dominated the boards-- 9 total rebounds for us-- really?? It makes no difference in the outcome, but it certainly is not close to accurate.

Jane Miller's story....


Morton’s offensive game plan against Galesburg on Monday afternoon consisted of two basic elements.

“Free throw and layups,” said Morton coach Bob Becker. “If they wanted to play, they weren’t going to take outside shots.”

The Potters’ defensive game plan worked even better in the 60-38 win over the Silver Streaks in the Winter Classic Tournament.

The game was almost a carbon copy of last year’s Morton win on the same Knox College floor.

The Potters (18-2) allowed Galesburg just 38 points and held them to four 3-pointers, just like last year. The Streaks attempted just 17 3s.

Morton, with a height advantage at every position, outrebounded the Streaks 28-9.

“Our offense let us down and their length bothered us in terms of our ability to run the offense,” said Galesburg coach Evan Massey.

Morton held a 15-0 lead by the time Sharron Diggins scored Galesburg’s first points, on a layup with 2:25 left in the first quarter. Morton finished the first period with a 17-6 lead and was up 34-15 at the half.

But the Streaks got on a roll in the third quarter and cut what was an 18-point lead to 10 with 3:24 left.

Morton outscored Galesburg 8-4 the rest of the quarter, then started the fourth with a 12-point run.

“We got it down to 10 and then had seven possessions with no baskets,” said Massey. “That what killed us. We were the Chicago Bears of girls basketball today — our defense could do things but our offense couldn’t.”

Post players Cortney Allenbaugh and Sarah Livingston each had 21 points for the Potters and Allenbaugh had 10 rebounds.

“(Allenbaugh) and Sarah went to work,” said Becker. “If you take care of the ball and get the extra pass, you’re going to get a wide open (layup) and they realized that and did a nice job of executing it so many times that it was fun to watch.”

Sharron Diggins scored 14 points, nine from the free-throw line. Jessica Lieber was held to five points and no 3s. The Streaks had just nine field goals.

NOTRE DAME 60, EAST MOLINE 58: Hannah Wallace scored 16 points and Olivia Elger added 13 in a win over the Panthers.

ROCK ISLAND ALLEMAN 51, CENTRAL 33: The undermanned Lions scored just two points in the second quarter. Jheri Alexander scored 20 points and Jemia Carpenter 10 for Central.