GENESEO, Ill. — This past week was a tough stretch for the Fulton High School girls basketball team.

After completing pool play at the Temple's Tip-Off Classic with an 0-3 record, the Lady Steamers were hoping just to leave with consolation Saturday afternoon against fellow winless team Elmwood in the tournament's seventh-place game.

Only one team in the tournament can finish at 0-4, and it wasn't Fulton, though defeating Elmwood 41-38 was anything but easy.

"A win's a win, and now we have something in the win column," Fulton head coach Amanda Abbott said. "I think we came out strong, especially against their man-to-man (defense), and that's what got us the win."

Fulton went on a 13-3 run to close out the first quarter, thanks in large part to stepped-up offensive play from forward Lindsey Renkes, who'd been a little-used option earlier in the tournament. Renkes scored 10 of her game-high 17 points in the period, including a runner just before the buzzer.

"I didn't want to shoot, but I was told to shoot, so I started driving to the basket," Renkes said of her increased production.

The Lady Steamers led by as many as 17 points (25-8) at the 5:21 mark in the second quarter, but didn't score another point in the half, allowing Elmwood (0-4) to start climbing back into it.

Fulton righted the ship in the third quarter, holding its lead, but went through a stretch of nearly five-and-a-half minutes without a point. During that time, post rebounding became particularly key. Four different Lady Steamers had at least eight rebounds, with Kelsey Munck's 13 leading the way.

"We had to work harder as a team," Munck said. "We just wanted to go home with a win."

"Post players don't get the glory, but they kept things alive for us," Abbott added. "Without them, we wouldn't have won the game."

But — with reserve center Jenn Smith already out with the flu — post players Sabrina Rock and Elaina Raab started getting into foul trouble as early as the first half, with Rock picking up her fourth in the third quarter. That gave Elmwood more freedom to move in the paint, and the Lady Trojans took advantage.

"We had to adjust with Sabrina out," Abbott said.

That was tougher than expected. Elmwood overcame a 14-point Fulton lead with a 10-0 run over a 3:20 stretch in the fourth quarter, but the Lady Trojans let the Lady Steamers off the hook in the final seconds and trailing by three.

Elmwood didn't press or foul Fulton — with the Lady Steamers converting just seven of 26 free throws — over an 18-second stretch in the final 30 seconds, until it was too late.

"We have to learn how to finish and how to keep a lead," Abbott said. "We can't let somebody back in like that. We have to do what we can to keep it."

Erie finishes second

After defeating Geneseo 45-43 in the semifinals of the tournament early Saturday afternoon, Erie pushed Annawan to the brink in the championship game that night before falling for the first time this season, 49-45.

"That's a huge, huge win for us," Erie coach Brian Howell said of the win over Geneseo, last year's North Central Illinois Conference champion. "The girls were very excited. That went a long way for our confidence. They know they can play with anyone and that they can be one of the best teams in the area."

Erie (4-1) spotted Annawan a 13-2 lead in the first 4 1/2 minutes of the first quarter, but the Cardinals' tenacious defense — which resulted in 29 Bravette turnovers — helped bring Erie back. The Cardinals finished with two all-tournament selections in Sydney Stewart (nine points against Annawan) and Carissa Saad (a team-high 12).

"They've bought into the idea that defense wins championships, that it causes a lot of turnovers," Howell said. "I thought (after the first quarter) that we at least played with them or even outplayed them (the rest of the way)."





Temple's Tip-Off Classic

At Geneseo

Seventh place-game

Fulton 41, Elmwood 38

FULTON (1-3) — Kayla Anglese 1-11 2-10 2 3 4, Lindsey Renkes 7-21 3-8 8 2 17, Kim Rogis 0-7 2-4 4 2 2, Kelsey Munck 1-4 0-3 13 0 2, Sabrina Rock 2-4 0-0 9 5 4, Rachel Harris 0-3 0-1 3 1 0, Elaina Raab 2-2 0-0 8 3 4, Erica Bielema 1-2 0-0 1 2 2, Liz Sanquist 3-8 0-0 2 1 6, Kelly Holland 0-1 0-0 0 0 0. Team rebounds 8. Totals 17-63 7-26 38 19 41.

ELMWOOD (0-4) — Kayte LaFollett 1-10 3-4 9 3 5, Sam Palacios 0-3 1-2 0 3 1, Jess Bybee 0-1 0-0 5 2 0, Korri Crawford 5-17 4-6 2 1 16, Amelia Schultz 1-4 0-0 4 5 2, Jenni Morton 0-6 5-7 11 4 5, Sheena Jones 3-9 2-8 11 2 9, Courtney Ramsay 0-0 0-0 1 0 0. Team rebounds 5. Totals 10-51 15-27 47 20 38.

Fulton 17 8 8 8 — 41

Elmwood 7 7 7 17 — 38

3-point field goals — Fulton 0-4 (Anglese 0-2, Harris 0-1, Bielema 0-1), Elmwood 3-20 (Crawford 2-12, Jones 1-2, LaFollett 0-6). Assists — Fulton 7 (Munck 4, Rogis 3), Elmwood 6 (LaFollett 4). Steals — Fulton 7 (Renkes 2), Elmwood 12 (LaFollett 5).





Championship

Annawan 49, Erie 45

ERIE (4-1) — Kortney Minge 1-9 1-2 1 0 3, Lauren Saad 2-8 0-0 2 5 4, Carissa Saad 4-16 2-2 2 3 12, Katelynn Blasdell 3-6 2-3 5 2 8, Sydney Stewart 3-9 2-4 5 4 9, Katelyn Griffin 4-6 0-0 4 1 8, Alex Howard 0-1 1-2 2 0 1. Team rebounds 9. Totals 17-55 8-13 30 13 45.

ANNAWAN (5-0) — Aron Jackson 0-8 0-0 6 4 0, Chloe VanOpdorp 2-7 0-1 4 1 6, Jordan Jackson 2-7 0-0 12 2 4, Lauren Spivey 4-8 0-0 7 3 8, Kelly Buresh 7-13 6-6 9 1 21, Alecia Wilson 2-4 2-4 1 2 8, Katie Koning 0-2 0-0 1 0 0. Team rebounds 6. Totals 17-49 8-11 13 46 49.

Erie 9 15 9 12 — 45

Annawan 18 11 8 12 — 49

3-point field goals — Erie 3-10 (C. Saad 2-6, Stewart 1-2, L. Saad 0-2), Annawan 5-19 (VanOpdorp 2-5, Wilson 2-4, Buresh 1-4, A. Jackson 0-6). Steals — Erie 17 (C. Saad 5, Blasdell 4), Annawan 9 (VanOpdorp 4). Assists — Erie 8 (C. Saad 4), Annawan 11 (A. Jackson 5). Turnovers — Erie 19, Annawan 29.



Semifinals

Erie 45, Geneseo 43

ERIE (3-1) — Minge 1 0-0 0 2, Stewart 7 5-7 4 20, Griffin 0 0-0 2 0, Howard 0 0-1 0 0, C. Saad 1 0-0 3 2, L. Saad 4 0-1 3 11, Blasdell 5 0-1 4 10. Totals 18 5-10 16 45.

GENESEO (2-2) — Bergeson 0 0-0 0 0, Wagner 1 1-5 0 4, Miller 3 0-1 4 7, Wethington 0 0-0 4 0, Piekos 1 0-0 0 2, DeFauw 5 0-2 5 10, Rice 4 0-0 4 9, Hudson 3 3-9 1 9, Adams 1 0-0 0 2. Totals 17 4-17 18 43.

Erie 12 12 11 10 — 45

Geneseo 10 10 10 13 — 43

3-point field goals — Erie 4 (L. Saad 3, Stewart 1), Geneseo 2 (Wagner 1, Miller 1).