The Collinsville Lady Kahoks outscored O’Fallon 32-16 in the second half of their regional battle Monday to turn a six-point halftime deficit into a 48-38 win.
Carlee Mahan shoots a 3-pointer against O’Fallon / Photo by Roger Starkey
The Lady Kahoks’ faithful who traveled to Belleville East to watch the game probably did not anticipate the ending after their team was outscored 10-0 over the opening 3 minutes 35 seconds of the game. Collinsville (11-15) used a 10-5 first quarter-ending run to pull within 15-10 after one quarter.
The first quarter was difficult to watch for Kahoks’ fans, but the second quarter was an assault on the senses of basketball fans everywhere. The two teams combined for three field goals (one from CHS), 13 turnovers (nine from CHS) and allowed eight offensive rebounds (four each).
The Lady Kahoks had to wait until 1:45 remained in the quarter before Julie Scheiter knocked down a 3-pointer to put them on the board. Collinsville endured eight turnovers, but only three missed shots, before Scheiter’s bucket. The Lady Panthers (10-15) were 1-5 from the free throw lane in the second quarter and 7-19 for the game.
Collinsville Head Coach Lori Billy borrowed from Charles Dickens, calling the game a tale of two halves. The Lady Kahoks played poorly and were fortunate to trail by only six after the first, Billy said.
“We gave them too many looks, we didn’t box out and we couldn’t get the ball inside.” Billy said. “We were trying to force everything.”
In the locker room at halftime, Billy challenged her players, to win the second half. “We came out with a whole different attitude,” Billy said.
Kassidy Smith responded to Billy’s challenge, scoring all 14 of her points after intermission. Smith grabbed an offensive rebound and bounced the put-back off the backboard and through the hoop to give Collinsville its first lead, 28-26, with 1:15 remaining in the third quarter. The Lady Kahoks did not relinquish the lead the rest of the way.
Collinsville was 12-18 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to maintain the lead. Billy said the team worked on free throw shooting in practice Monday, anticipating that they may shoot a large number. For the game, the Lady Kahoks were 20-28 form the charity stripe.
Aubreeney Brady, who has struggled from the free throw late in games recently was 4-4 from the line. The two late free throws pushed the lead to eight.
The win snapped a Lady Kahoks four-game losing streak that followed a six-game winning streak. Collinsville returns to Belleville East Gym for the next round of Regional action, a 6 p.m. contest against top seeded Bellville West.
Collinsville scorers were: Smith-14, Brady-14, Scheiter-8, Morgan-5, Thompson-3, Buettner-3,
