Defensive effort on Civic Memorial star helps QND claim Carrollton title

By THE HERALD-WHIG STAFF

CARROLLTON -- Bethalto Civic Memorial forward Katie Broadway took home MVP honors Saturday night at the close of the 34th annual Carrollton girls basketball tournament.

But it was the Quincy Notre Dame defense that deserved top billing.

The top-seeded Lady Raiders held Broadway, an Illinois State signee, scoreless in the first quarter, to just seven points before halftime and 11 points below her tournament average in a 69-57 victory in the championship game.

"We had to have a good defensive plan against one of the state's top scorers," said QND coach Eric Orne, whose fifth-ranked Lady Raiders improved to 22-0. "The team did a good job of locking her up off of their picks."

Orne rotated defenders on Broadway, using Chloe Barnes and Hilary Obert to lock her down.

"They came out and guarded her tight," Orne said. "It wasn't anything special except a great effort by those two."

QND set the defensive tone on the first possession, forcing Civic Memorial (17-6) into a turnover after the Eagles won the opening tip. In fact, Civic Memorial turned the ball over on three of its first five possessions and finished with more than 20 turnovers.

Meanwhile, the Lady Raiders were off and running.

Karlee Gengenbacher scored QND's first six points and the Lady Raiders scored three times in transition in building a 12-2 lead before Civic Memorial burned its first timeout.

"We knew we had a mismatch with Karlee down low and we wanted to get her the ball," said Orne, who got a game-high 21 points from Gengenbacher and 18 points from Barnes. "As you know, if you can get the lead in a championship game, it really helps your team relax."

The timeout was enough to temporarily slow QND.

Civic Memorial closed within 16-11 as Kaci Harkey converted the second of three straight QND turnovers into a short jumper with a little more than a minute to play in the first quarter.

As always, QND had an answer.

The Lady Raiders closed the first quarter by scoring five of the final seven points and started the second quarter on a 13-0 run, opening a 34-13 lead. QND was up 41-20 at halftime.

"We were a lot deeper," Orne said. "We played nine girls and they brought just one off the bench. Realistically, we outran them up and down the court in the first half. Our bench depth played a vital role in our victory."

Civic Memorial trimmed the deficit to 15 in the third quarter as Kayla Eddy made four consecutive shots. Eddy scored 10 points in the second half and 14 overall as the Eagles trailed by 16 going to the fourth quarter.

QND's lead ballooned back to 21 in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, helping them erase memories of last year when Taylorville scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to steal the title from the Lady Raiders.

"It feels great," Orne said. "This was a tough week. Actually, it's been a difficult last three weeks on these girls. We're certainly going to enjoy this tonight."

-- sports@whig.com/221-3365