Streak stays alive with strong start
Two-time defending large school girls Holiday Classic champs Springfield made quick work of Peoria Notre Dame. The Senators led the Irish 30-8 after one quarter en route to a 79-60 victory. The 30-point first quarter ties a girls tournament record for most points scored in a quarter, and the 79-point outburst is the sixth-highest single-game total in the tournament 15-year history. Springfield is now 9-0 all-time in State Farm Holiday Classic play.
Classic showdown looms
Now Springfield will meet Peoria Richwoods’ girls. The Knights have won the Holiday Classic four times and own the highest winning percentage ever (minimum 15 games) with an .854 winning percentage (35-6 all-time after today’s first-round win). The Senators and Knights have never met at the Holiday Classic. In each of the past two years, Springfield Sacred-Heart Griffin has knocked off the Knights. Springfield does own two regular season wins over the Knights in the past three years. The Senators beat Richwoods in the 2008-09 season – (It was Richwoods’ last loss en route to a state title that year) – and again in the 2009-10 regular season.
Closing in on a milestone
Heading into tonight’s first-round match-up with Normal Community, Maine South senior guard Michelle Maher is just 24 points shy of reaching the 1,000 point plateau. Maher, who was an all-tournament selection two years ago as a sophomore at the Holiday Classic, has 976 career points.
