PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL: Beth McMahon shoots Blue Devils past Comets

Jan. 13—DANVILLE — Momentum shifts in basketball typically come from either an offensive spark or some defensive stops.

For years, Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin girls basketball has been a team based on the latter — defensive stops.

That was the case Friday night at the Vermilion County Tournament.

Bis-Henn/Ross-Al junior Beth McMahon scored 10 straight points in the final 2 minutes, 17 seconds of the third quarter as the Blue Devils rallied from an 8-point deficit to tie the game at 32-32.

McMahon added her third 3-pointer of the second half in the fourth quarter as the Blue Devils defeated the Oakwood Comets 48-40 at the Mary Miller Gymnasium.

"We started to get really down, but we found a way to pick it back up," said McMahon, as Bis-Henn/Ross-Al saw its 5-point halftime advantage (22-17) erased with an 13-0 run by Oakwood. "Our intensity was down. They were scoring and we were slacking on defense."

So, what changed?

"We started making shots and our intensity picked back up," she said. "Once we got our intensity back, we started getting steals on defense and everything went right."

That's not exactly how coach Hannah Cronk envisioned it.

"Well, we needed someone to knock down some shots and she stepped up," said Cronk about McMahon. "But, we put ourselves in that position because our defense wasn't doing what it was supposed to be doing."

Oakwood senior Jaydah Arrowsmith, who had a game-high 21 points, was a key contributor in the comeback for the Comets.

"We put a lot of pressure on Jaydah and it's not fair for us to ask her to do everything," Oakwood coach Stephanie Marsh admitted. "We were able to get her a little extra help in that third quarter and it showed as we played our best basketball."

Both teams came into Friday's game after losses on Thursday. Oakwood lost to Georgetown-Ridge Farm and Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin fell to Watseka.

"Coming off that frustrating game at Georgetown, where I was disappointed with our effort, I thought we came out slow and I thought it was going to be another Georgetown game," Marsh said. "At halftime, the girls believed they could do, we talked about some adjustments and we came out really strong.

"We just ran out of gas in the fourth quarter and couldn't sustain it."

McMahon wasn't the only Blue Devils in double figures on Friday night, Marleigh Schmidt had 14 and Ella Myers chipped in with 13.

"We have struggled with consistency and balance scoring this year, so having three in double figures was really good," Cronk said. "It makes us a tougher team to beat when we do that."

Georgetown-Ridge Farm 50

Armstrong-Potomac 33

Winning the first game of the tournament is always important step and the Lady Buffaloes accomplished that with a triumph over the Trojans.

"It doesn't always look pretty, but as long as you come out with a win, you are happy," Geo-RF coach Brad Russell said. "Armstrong-Potomac has limited numbers, they play hard. They did some things to us that we weren't ready for."

Georgetown-Ridge Farm senior Kendall Roberts scored a game-high 20 for the Buffaloes, while Addi Spesard finished with 10.

Elle Jameson was the leading scorer for Armstrong-Potomac with 13.

Hoopeston Area 51

Westville 36

Brylie Cox and Claire Dixon combined for 15 points in the fourth quarter as the Cornjerkers pulled away to beat the Tigers on Friday in the Vermilion County Tournament.

Cox, who had 8 points in the final frame, scored 14 of her 19 points in the second half for Hoopeston Area, while Dixon, who had 7 points in the fourth quarter, knocked down four 3-pointers on her way to 19 points, as well.

Westville managed just 5 points in the fourth quarter and Gwen Bennett had her team's only field goal — a 3-pointer — in those final eight minutes.

Aubrie Jenkins had a team-high 14 points for the Tigers.

Girls Game 1

Georgetown-Ridge Farm 50, Armstrong-Potomac 33

Armstrong-Potomac (33) — Brynn Spencer 3 0-4 8, Kayla Crull 1 0-0 2, Elle Jameson 4 5-10 13, Adi McCarty 0 0-0 0, McKenna Ackerman 3 0-0 8, Cala Reifsteck 0 0-0 0, Christine Bailey 1 0-2 2. Totals: 12 5-16 33.

Georgetown-Ridge Farm (50) — Kendall Roberts 5 6-6 20, Milee Ellis 0 0-4 0. Savanna Cunningham 3 3-8 9, Payton McComas 0 0-0 0, Sierra Cunningham 0 0-0 0, Sydney Spesard 2 0-2 4, Paris Pope 0 0-0 0, Taylor Foster 0 0-0 0, Madi Spesard 2 3-6 7, Addi Spesard 3 4-6 10, Jaiden Stelzer 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 16-32 50.

A-P 3 6 16 8 — 33

Geo-RF 8 13 16 14 — 50

3-pointers — Armstrong-Potomac 4 (Spencer 2, Ackerman 2). Georgetown-Ridge Farm 4 (Roberts 4). Total fouls — Armstrong-Potomac 21, Georgetown-Ridge Farm 15. Fouled out — none.

Records — Armstrong-Potomac 4-16 overall, Georgetown-Ridge Farm 9-8 overall.

Girls Game 2

Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin 48, Oakwood 40

Oakwood (40) — Taylor Smoot 0 0-0 0, Rylee Wright 1 0-0 2, Jaydah Arrowsmith 7 3-7 21, Nikita Taylor 2 2-4 6, Luci Morris 0 0-0 0, Bella Bradford 1 1-2 3, Gracie Hanner 4 0-2 8. Totals: 15 6-15 40.

Bis-Henn/Ross-Al (48) — Ava Acton 0 2-6 2, Ella Myers 3 5-6 13, Gentry Elson 0 0-0 0, Merleigh Schmidt 6 2-2 14, Beth McMahon 7 0-0 17, Mayzee Myers 1 0-0 2, Alivia Reifsteck 0 0-0 0, Ella Acton 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 9-14 48.

Oakwood '11 '6 '15 '8 '— '40

Bis-Henn/Ross-Al '18 '4 '10 '16 '— '48

3-pointers — Oakwood 4 (Arrowsmith 4). Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin 5 (McMahon 3, Myers 2). Total fouls — Oakwood 17, Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin 15. Fouled out — none.

Records — Oakwood 7-16 overall, Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin 10-10.

Girls Game 3

Hoopeston Area 51, Westville 36

Westville (36) — Lani Gondzur 2 1-2 5, Jazmyn Bennett 0 0-0 0, McKynze Carico 2 0-0 4, Hadley Jones 1 0-0 2, Gwen Bennett 2 4-5 9, Madison Duke 0 0-0 0, Aubrie Jenkins 4 5-6 14, Daylin Zaayer 1 0-2 2. Totals: 12 10-15 36.

Hoopeston Area (51) — Shay Leyden 2 0-0 4, Auri Sigerill 0 0-0 0, Kaedyn Goodrum 0 1-2 1, Brylie Cox 6 7-10 19, Claire Dixon 7 1-2 19, Maddie Barnes 1 2-4 4, Addyson Keinhofer 1 2-2 4. Totals 17 13-20 51.

Westville '13 '8 '10 '5 '— '36

Hoopeston Area '16 '12 '7 '16 '— '51

3-pointers — Westville 2 (G.Bennett 1, Jenkins 1), Hoopeston Area 4 (Dixon 4). Total fouls — Westville 19, Hoopeston Area 17. Fouled out — Duke.

Records — Westville 3-16 overall, Hoopeston Area 10-10 overall.