Girard girls clinch CNC, best regular season ever; boys win overtime thriller
On Senior Night, both Girard squads came ready to play. Fans at Ted R. Taylor Gymnasium were treated with a historic regular season finish for the girls and an overtime nail-biting thriller on the boys side. PHOTO CREDIT JOYCE KOVACIC
STAFF REPORTS
The Girard Trojan basketball teams provided excitement for all in attendance on Thursday, a fitting end to the regular season which fell on Senior Night.
Senior Kelli Cuthbertson readies herself for the game on a night where the Lady Trojans secured the CNC title for the second straight year. JOYCE KOVACIC
GIRARD GIRLS WIN SECOND STRAIGHT CNC TITLE
On the girls side the Lady Trojans clinched their second straight CNC title with a 50-30 victory over Galena.
Galena came to town with an 11-8 record but was no match for the Lady Trojans. Girard dominated all aspects of the game and never gave the Bulldogs a chance to overcome a 22-5 first quarter deficit.
Senior Ashley Ray led the Trojans in scoring with 17 points, while fellow senior Calea Augustin and junior Sydnee Crain both added 13 of their own. Each senior on the team also contributed points in the game with 3 from Olivia Hanson, 2 for Kelli Cuthbertson and 2 from Lauren Franklin.
Led on and off the court by these five graduating seniors, this season has been one for the record books. With help from juniors Crain and Jacey Murphy and sophomore Gabbi Sands, the Lady
OUT WITH A BANG. Senior Ashley Ray scored a game high 17 points on Thursday night. Helping the Lady Trojans to their best regular season finish in school history. PHOTO JOYCE KOVACIC
Trojans finished the regular season with a 19-1 record. This marks the best regular season ever recorded by a Lady Trojan basketball team in school history. This is also the seventh undefeated CNC title for Girard in the last 11 years.
Coached by Brad Herlocker, Girard will look to make a deep run in the state tournament.
BOYS WIN OVERTIME THRILLER
Senior Isaiah Fisher dominated the second half, posting 15 points (19 total) in the overtime win over Galena. JOYCE KOVACIC
The boys contest proved to be a game for the ages, as Girard was able to pick up a 59-50 overtime victory over a Galena team that came to town with a 17-2 record and fighting for a share of the CNC title.
Girard has been plagued this season with nail-biting losses, unable to pull out a victory in the final minutes of many close games. However, Thursday night’s contest proved to play into the Trojans’ hands.
In a game mostly controlled by Galena, Girard was able to take the lead late in the second half before tying it up to force an extra period.
In overtime, Ted R. Taylor gymnasium was fired up with heated fans on both sides and the environment inside the building was electric.
The play became rougher and more intense as the overtime period went on, until Galena’s disgruntled Hunter Green was ejected following a technical foul.
Girard’s Isaiah Fisher stepped to the line to shoot four free throws, two for the personal foul and two for the technical. Fisher was able to knock down two of them to extend the Trojans lead to a two-possession ball game.
At this point, momentum completely swung into Girard’s favor.
Shortly after, Galena was forced to foul and send the Trojans to the free throw line.
A conundrum soon followed as the Bulldogs attempted to foul sophomore Caleb Muia, but senior Eric Wilson stepped up to the free throw line.
Wilson missed his first free throw, but following a disagreement by the Galena coach, the officials sent Muia to the line instead.
Muia drilled them both to extend the lead.
Late shots were well defended by the Trojans and the Bulldogs could not find a way to score in overtime, being outscored 9-0 in the period.
Many Trojan players played very good basketball throughout the contest, with Wilson and Fisher leading the team in scoring.
Wilson had a very big first half, scoring 11 points in the first two quarters.
Following the halftime break, Fisher started to dominate in the post, scoring 15 points in the final two quarters and overtime.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. Sophomore Evan Troike (L) and Senior Eric Wilson slap hands after securing the upset win. JOYCE KOVACIC
Fisher led the team in scoring with 19 on the night, while Wilson followed with 14 of his own. Garrett Hall led the Bulldogs with an impressive 23 point effort.
With the victory, Girard concludes their season with a 12-8 record, going 4-3 in the CNC. The win also handed the Frontenac Raiders the outright CNC title, preventing the Bulldogs from a share of the crown. Frontenac also finished with an overall record of 12-8, but went 6-1 in the league. With the loss Galena dropped to a 17-3 record (5-2 CNC).
Both Trojan squads will be back in action next week in the 4A DII Sub-state Tournament in Girard. The boys will start their tournament on Thursday, while the girls will play their first round game on Friday.