Streaks Hang on vs. Quincy

There have not been many times this year that the Streaks were not the most aggressive team on the floor, but tonight clearly Quincy was the most aggressive team. In a loosely called game, Quincy consistently was the aggressor going for steal after steal.

From the Register Mail...

On a night when the Western Big 6-leading Rock Island Rocks suffered a loss, the Galesburg High School girls basketball team might have seen visions of not being able to close the gap on first place late in Thursday’s game with Quincy at Thiel Gym.

With the hustling Blue Devils giving them all they could handle, the Silver Streaks led only 55-52 with just over 3 minutes to play and shortly after, P.A. announcer Bill Allison announced United Township’s 42-32 win over the Rocks.

“Very few times have we played a team that was as aggressive a team as us,” said Galesburg coach Evan Massey. “Tonight, there were times they were more aggressive than us. Hats off to them, it’s to their credit.


But the Streaks (19-4) survived by hitting just enough free throws down the stretch — one each by Myra Diggins, Jessica Lieber and Sharron Diggins — for a 58-52 victory to improve to 5-3 in the WB6 and stay close behind the 5-2 Rocks.

“I don’t think there was ever a situation where we really felt comfortable,” said Massey. “We never hit enough shots to get any momentum.”

The Streaks shot 19 for 56 in the game.

Quincy (8-9, 0-7) certainly didn’t look like the team that has lost 24 straight conference games when it jumped to a 7-3 lead to start the game and forced 10 Galesburg turnovers in the first 5 minutes. The Streaks finished with 36 turnovers, many of them steals by ball-hawking guard Jordan Eisenberg.

Although Galesburg managed to gain a 19-11 lead after a quarter, the spunky Blue Devils cut the gap to 29-27 by halftime and grabbed a 41-33 lead late in the third quarter before a flurry by the Streaks cut the deficit to 43-42 by the start of the fourth quarter.

Sharron Diggins’ two free throws and a rebound basket,  Paige Klinck’s 3-pointer, Lieber’s  3-pointer and a 3-pointer by Sharron Diggins gave GHS a 55-48 cushion that helped them survive the final 4 minutes.

“Our plan was to attack the press,” said Quincy coach Greg Altmix of his team’s aggressive approach. “If you catch and hold, you’ll be in a bad position. “They understand you have to play hard. When you give it everything you’ve got, you can build an offense and defense off that.”

Eisenberg was one of three Devils to score 11 points — Araiya Dade and Hannah Reller were the others — and Jordan Fletcher scored 10.

“I think we were 3 for 10 from the line in the second half and missed four or five layups,” said  Altnix. “That’s kind of been the story this season.”

Lieber’s 24 points led Galesburg — she was 6 of 9 from 3-point range — and Sharron Diggins had 13.

“Right now, we’ve just got to get through the weekend,” said Massey, whose team plays its final two games in the Martin Luther King tourney on Saturday after playing three last weekend. “I don’t think we’re physically exhausted, but mentally I think we’re running on empty.”

The Streaks play Peoria Notre Dame at 10:30 a.m. Saturday and Normal U-High at 6 p.m. in Thiel Gym.