JERSEYVILLE - Jerseyville’s St. Francis Holy Ghost Knights captured the Illinois Elementary School Association Class 1A Eighth-Grade Girls Sectional Championship on Wednesday against Springfield Christian with a 23-21 to win, then beat Lockport Taft 37-11 in the final four this weekend.
St. Francis Holy Ghost lost to 38-26 Sigel St. Michael, last year’s state champions in the final four game and plays for third place on Thursday.
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The girls are shown above. The coaches and girls are Coach Lisa Jones, Lydia McIntyre, Maggie Alexander, Neely Goetten, Maggie Alexander, Vanessa Lorton, Mary Jones, Maleah Derrick, Anna Kribs, and Coach Kelly Goetten.
St. Francis won the regional over St. John’s in Carrollton 32-29.
Neely Goetten, a state hurdles champion, has been one of the stars of the team, averaging 14 points a game. St. Francis has a strong overall team in every position. Kribs and Derrick have also been outstanding in the postseason, Coach Goetten said
Coach Goetten said the run for the girls has been “really exciting.”
“Coach Lisa and I both went to state in basketball in high school,” Coach Goetten said. “It is really cool to have that kind of experience again and feel the excitement.”
Lisa was on the Jersey squad, while Kelly was a Southwestern basketball star. Lisa played college ball at Illinois College and Kelly at McKendree.
