It wasn't the prettiest basketball game ever played by the Lady Tornadoes but the girls did enough to pick up an Apollo Conference win defeating the Mt. Zion Braves 54-49. With the win, the Taylorville Tornadoes secure a tie for the Apollo Conference with the Mahomet-Seymour Bulldogs. The Effingham Flaming Hearts can join them if they can pick up a win against Mt. Zion on February 13th.
As far as the game went, Mt Zion jumped out to a quick lead, but Taylorville would take over and lead the rest of the first taking a quick 18-11 lead when the buzzer sounded. Grace Rogers put in six points with Addison Tarr hitting five including a big 3-pointer.
During the second quarter, the Tornadoes continued to add to their lead as they would lead 32-20 including six points from Kyleigh Heimsness. The Lady Tornadoes would head to the locker room on a six-point run.
After halftime, the Mt. Zion Braves would make their adjustments and Taylorville shooting would go cold, as the Braves outscored Taylorville 20-12 including 7 points from Ava Anderson. The Tornadoes would still hold the lead at the end of the third quarter, 44-40, thanks to a buzzer-beating layup at the end of the quarter.
In the fourth, Mt. Zion would cut the deficit to just two points, but couldn't make any clutch shots, before the game turned into a free throw shooting contest. Taylorville would hang on to win 54-49.
The Tornadoes go non-conference from here on out with two big games on Thursday and Friday against Sacred Heart Griffin and O'Fallon before facing Southeast in the first round of the playoffs, on Monday.
Taylorville improves to 17-9 while Mt. Zion falls to 11-19. Before the game, the Tornadoes and Braves got together to honor Jack D. Brinkoetter and Charlie Spurlock. The two ten-year-olds were involved in a sledding accident that claimed Brinkoetter's life. The teams wore shirts that recognized both boys during warmups.
Point totals:
Addison Tarr 16
Kyleigh Heimsness 16
Grace Rogers 9
Lia Champley 8
Mazie Fleming 5
Mt. Zion
Jocelyn Turner 14
Ava Anderson 11
Gabby Wisher 9
Maddie Austin 9
Ellie Jenkins 6
