The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
The La Harpe/Dallas City Eagles 7th grade girls team were sent off with a raucous pep-rally at La Harpe Elementary School on Friday, December 6th. Students from La Harpe and Dallas City both attended and cheered on the girls to get them pumped up for their IESA State Basketball appearance on Saturday, December 7th. The Eagles left their pep rally with high hopes and spent the evening bonding as a team in Springfield at the hotel, and taking in a shoot around/walk through at University of Illinois-Springfield.
This is the first girls basketball appearance at State for the co-op. La Harpe last appeared in 2005 (7th grade) and 2006 (8th grade) with back-to-back 3rd place finishes which had been the highest finishes in school history in girls basketball. Dallas City was last represented in State girls basketball in 1992, in which they finished with an Elite 8 appearance. The prior year of 1991, they were able to reach the championship game and took home 2nd place.
Confidence. It was clear to all observers, that the Eagles found their confidence after a narrow 20-19 loss at home to Carthage in the last week of the regular season. The Eagles only made 5-18 free throws in that game, and felt the game slip from their grasp after a late 19-17 lead. This shift in mental mindset blazed the Eagles through the post season start. After notching big wins vs Nauvoo and Cambridge, the Eagles entered state with a Quarterfinal matchup against 22-1 Cissna Park.
The Eagles never trailed in the matchup vs Cissna Park, as they took an early 6-2 lead through 1 quarter. The game remained low scoring throughout the 2nd, and Alyssa Marsden hit a big 3 pointer at the end of the quarter to send the Eagles into halftime with a 11-5 lead. Things picked up for LH/DC in the 3rd quarter, as they went on a 13-2 run including an early 3 pointer by Aly Wibbell to put the Eagles up 14-5 just after halftime. As the final buzzer sounded, the Eagles prevailed 28-10. Journey Miller led all scorers with 10 points, and 6 rebounds. Aly Wibbell chipped in a steady 5 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists. Also scoring were Maci Wibbell and Kinley Thompson who each made a couple big shots in key moments to finish with 4 each, Alyssa Marsden had 3 and Alex Miller added 2. With the win, the Eagles were guaranteed to play at least two more games.
La Harpe/Dallas City returned Saturday evening to matchup with a very successful Normal Epiphany team who came into the game with a record of of 27-1. The deep team had a lot of speed and aggressiveness on defense. The Eagles never blinked at the challenge ahead, and opened the 1st quarter on a 14-0 run! Epiphany scored a long buzzer three pointer to end the 1st at 14-3. The Eagles were confident, and continued their march with a 21-6 lead at halftime. Epiphany attempted a comeback in the 3rd quarter by outscoring the Eagles 7-5, but La Harpe/Dallas City was able to close them out on a 11-4 final quarter to win big 37-17. Journey Miller led all scorers again with 15 points, and also grabbed 6 rebounds. Aly Wibbell filled the stat sheet with 10 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Kinley Thompson had a big game as well with 8 points and 8 rebounds. Alyssa Marsden and Alex Miller also scored 2 a piece.
All eight girls contributed on both wins, and were playing their best ball of the year when it was their turn to be on the court. With the Eagles win, they now will travel back to Assumption, IL to take on Carrolton St. Johns on Thursday, Dec 12th at 7:30 pm for the State Championship. There will be another pep-rally at La Harpe Elementary at 2 pm on Thursday to send them off.
Both La Harpe and Dallas City plan to send fan buses to boost their crowd support, and root on the Eagles in their attempt to bring home a State Championship!
The players and coaches were escorted back into town around 10:53pm Saturday night by the police and fire departments and dozens of fans. It was so very much appreciated.