MASCOUTAH INVITATIONAL
MASCOUTAH - In the Mascoutah Invitational championship quarterfinals, Alton won over the host Indians 74-55, while Okawville won over Breese Mater Dei Catholic 54-42, O'Fallon defeated Breese Central 57-19 and St. Louis Vashon got past Freeburg 61-41. Alton's girls have started the season 14-0 and look to capture a championship at 4:30 p.m. Thursday against 14-2 O'Fallon at Mascoutah.
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"Jarius (Powers) and Kiyoko (Proctor) stepped up big to lead the way," Alton's head girls coach Deserea Howard said. "Jarius poured in 22 points and Kiyoko followed closely behind with 18. They were the scoring leaders we couldn't have pulled it off without the swarming defense and sharp passing from Laila, Alyssa, and Lacey.
"I was really proud of how much this was a team effort. Each player understood their role and executed what we needed them to do. We got in some earlier foul trouble that we had prepared for since we knew we wanted to play high pressure and each player stepped up big to guard their two main players Alayna and Rhiley.
"It's team efforts like this that are carrying us through this season and I can't be more proud. We had huge bench play from freshman Kyridas Orr and Senior Khaliyah Goree and it's a true testament to how hard they work each day."
In the consolation quarterfinals, East St. Louis defeated McCluer 65-29, Belleville East won over crosstown rival Belleville West 57-52, Highland won over Riverview Gardens 62-14 and Nashville won over Centralia 45-31.
The championship semifinals saw Alton go to 14-0 with a 58-53 win over Okawville, while O'Fallon won over Vashon 67-60. In the fifth-place semifinals, it was Mater Dei won over Mascoutah 53-50, and Breese Central won over Freeburg 50-45. In the consolation semifinals, East Side won over Belleville East 64-56 and Highland defeated Nashville 38-23.
The East St. Louis Flyers are now 8-10 and play against Highland, who went to 15-4, in the consolation final at noon.
