Little Ten and Interstate Eight Renew All Star Hoop Rivalry
I-8 Girls Run Away With Opener
By Bill Lidinsky
In the evenings opening contest Saturday night at Somonauk, the Interstate Eight senior girls capitalized on a slight inside size advantage and just a little more quickness to run off with a 67-52 victory over their counterparts from the LTC.
Dwight’s Megan Kohrt led all scorers with 16 points, twelve of which came in the first half of play as the I-8 broke open a 12-12 tie after one quarter to grab a 33-23 lead going into the locker room at the half.
“Once we had our groups on the floor for awhile, they starter gelling more and more together as we approached the intermission,” said I-8 and Seneca head basketball coach Barb Beck. “We had the best senior girls in our conference all in one place for one game. It’s a lot of fun for me as a coach and for the all stars as well when you can work with that.”
But the LTC battled back in the third period to pull to within six at 44-38 at the 1:20 mark of the stanza on Ali Hoskins free throw. Hoskins from Newark paced the Little Ten in scoring along with Kristen Richardson of Indian Creek. Both tallied eight points apiece on the night.
But that would be as close as the LTC would get. Kohrt hit two field goals in the last 1:10 of the third period sandwiching a bucket by Seneca’s Sara Brockman at the :45 mark as the I-8 went up 58-38 after three periods.
“We had a lot of quickness on our team tonight, especially with the Plano girls,” Brockman said. “We also did a good job rebounding the ball and were able to extend the lead into the fourth quarter. This game was a great experience for me.”
Plano’s senior guard tandem of Katie Cooper and Roxy Mosca opened the fourth period on the floor together for Beck and the I-8. They immediately help push the lead to 60-38 on a 10-0 run. Cooper scored four of her game total of nine points during this span and the contest was pretty much over.
“This I-8 all star team was very quick. It helped when Roxy and I were on the floor at the same time since we’ve been playing together since we were in the seventh grade,” Cooper said. “In the fourth quarter our group communicated very well and we were able to put the game away. But win or lose it was just great for me to play one last game with all these fabulous girls I’ve played against for so long.”
The LTC never gave up even until the end scoring seven of the last nine points to close the 15 point defeat. Serena’s Karlee Osborne had four of her game total of six tallies during the run. Despite losing she cherished her experience as a senior all star.
“We were outsized and the I-8 was just a little quicker than we were tonight. We didn’t box out too well either, but I was proud of the way our team played,” Osborne said. “I was really honored to be a part of a game like this. I loved playing with the girls from the Little Ten. It’s one of the best week’s I’ve had playing basketball. It’s something I’ll always remember.”