Hawkettes Fall to CRB, 48-23

END SEASON IN FIRST ROUND REGIONAL ACTION

A solid first quarter last night gave fans hope that the Hawkettes might be able to pick up their seventh win of the season and advance in the regional tournament, but CRB put the clamps on EG the rest of the game on its way to a 48-23 triumph.

EG came out strong behind seniors Tia Lowe and Katlynn Gannon in the first quarter—going head to head with the Crusaders and ending the first period with a two point lead, 9-7. Lowe hit a three-pointer right off the bat to open EG scoring and she racked up six points in the first quarter with Gannon adding three.

But things soon took a turn for the worse. EG was still up by two, 11-9, early in the second quarter but CRB tied it all up with a basket by junior post Katie Dentlinger, a three-year starter in the post for the Crusaders. That ignited the home team as they went on a 13-0 run, taking a 24-11 advantage into the break.

It was more of the same in the second half as turnovers, foul trouble and a lack of offensive rebounding did in the Hawkettes, who ended their season at 6-16. CRB advances to a Saturday night second round game against Adair-Casey, ranked No. 15 in the state, at Adair.

Lowe led the Hawkette scoring with 8 points and Gannon had 6. Rounding out the scoring were Jasmine Kinney, 3; Molly Neese and Chelsi Wilkens, 2 each; and Liz Gunn, 1.

Four seniors—Lowe, Gannon, Neese and Kinney—closed out their EG basketball careers.

EYE ON GJ SAYS: These four seniors have given a lot of themselves to the EG cause, as they have excelled in volleyball, basketball, track, softball and cheerleading the last four years. Highlights were upper division finishes in the tough 2A dominated West Central Conference in volleyball in 2008 and 2009 and basketball in 2008 and 2010 and advancing to the regional basketball semifinals last year where they were just 4 points short of advancing to the regional championship game and a possible berth in the state tournament. Good job seniors, and thank you for representing your school with honor and distinction!

EG will be a young team next year with leadership coming from two juniors (Liz Gunn and Brittany Gunn) and four sophomores (Wilkins, Brooke Popp, Shelby Cooklin and Emily Jacobson). They will be joined by several talented freshmen who did well as 8th graders this past season. Wilkens, who had a stellar season as freshman center, is the only returning starter and will be the anchor for the team as she has faced all the top inside players from teams like AC, CAM and EEHK in the Rolling Hills this season. Wilkens averaged 4.7 rebounds and 3.7 points per game over the 21-game season.

Elswhere in Region 8 action last night, Ankeny Christian got by Earlham in overtime, 48-46, to advance to the quarterfinal round against No. 1 ranked Martensdale-St. Mary's. Iowa Christian lost to Guthrie Center, who will play the winner of Saturday's CRB-AC game at Adair on Tuesday. CAM and Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton advanced with easy wins and will face each other for the third time this season in Anita on Tuesday with the winner moving on to the semifinal round at Red Oak.

In Region 7, Orient-Macksburg was eliminated by Corning, 49-23. In Region 2, Glidden-Ralston was drubbed by No. 2 Ar-We-Va (Westside), 85-19, to end its season at 4-17, and Paton-Churdan lost to Southeast Webster-Grand, 65-23, closing out the year winless in 21 games. Ar-We-Va (19-2) and Southeast Webster-Grand (9-13) meet Tuesday in Westside in the quarterfinal round with the winner advancing on to the semifinal round in Denison on Friday.