By JARED BELL
Herald-Whig Sports Writer

Karlee Gengenbacher is now second to no one.

With 1 minute, 39 seconds left in the second quarter of Saturday's 64-37 senior night victory over Rock Island Alleman at the KHQA/Subway SuperFan Shootout, the senior forward on the Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball team received a pass from freshman teammate Jordan Frericks along the baseline.

Just feet from the hoop, Gengenbacher laid in the basket and sent a section of QND fans into a frenzy.

The bucket was the 1,740th career point for Gengenbacher, breaking the school's career scoring record.

"It was exciting," said Gengenbacher, who finished with 18 points and has 1,744 career points. "I didn't realize it until it happened, but it was a really cool experience."

Gengenbacher, who is a four-year varsity player and a three-year starter, entered the game needing 14 points to break the record.

After Gengenbacher broke the record, she was honored at the game's next stoppage, which was seconds after the record-setting hoop.

"It was a special moment and something that she'll always cherish," QND coach Eric Orne said. "She's worked hard and is very deserving of the accolade."

Knowing she was 14 points away going, Gengenbacher wasted little time getting to business. She scored eight points in the game's first 5:45, added two more baskets early in the second quarter and finished the task just before halftime.

"It was awesome that it was Senior Night and doing it on our last time playing at The Pit," Gengenbacher said. "Knowing that (the seniors) came together to get a big win over Alleman and to get the record ... it was a great night."

The record highlighted an impressive statement win for QND in a matchup of highly ranked Class 2A teams.

The Lady Raiders (24-2), ranked No. 5, jumped on Alleman (20-10) early and never let Class 2A's No. 4-ranked team back into the contest.

"I think they had confidence coming in and I hope we kind of made them a little scared," QND senior guard Claire Obert said. "But we still have a lot to work on."

The way Notre Dame played, it can't have that much to work on.

The Lady Raiders' full-court press and long-reaching half-court defense caused havoc for Alleman and forced the Pioneers into 20 first-half turnovers.

The pressure was so much that Alleman, which committed 29 turnovers in all, struggled to get the ball past half court during stretches.

"You can point to anything you want. Offense, defense, they played far better in every facet than we did," Alleman coach Jay Hatch said. "They were more aggressive, they rebounded better and it's going to take me a long time to think of something that we did better than them."

Playing on senior night, Orne started his five seniors -- Gengenbacher, Obert, Leigh McLaughlin, Lexi Niemann and Julia Rose -- which allowed Alleman to stay close, but once he reinserted Frericks and Kassidy Gengenbacher, his two freshman starters, QND took off.

Notre Dame turned an 8-all game midway through the first half into a 17-10 lead after the first quarter and outscored Alleman 22-7 in the second quarter to take a 39-17 lead to half.

Notre Dame also received 12 points from Frericks and Obert.

--jbell@whig.com/221-3367