Blue Ridge Girls Basketball Loses Conference Game at Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley

GIBSON CITY, Ill. -- After falling behind 11-4 in the first quarter, the Lady Knights went on a 13-2 run that gave them a 17-13 lead with 2:51 left in the second quarter.

However, foul trouble and turnovers spelled Blue Ridge's doom, resulting in a 57-49 Heart of Illinois Conference loss to the Lady Falcons.

"They played hard again," Blue Ridge coach Stephanie Schroeder said. "That's all I can say."

Jacquelyn O'Neal (pictured above) started the first half run with her second field goal of the first quarter to cut the Lady Knights' deficit to 11-6. O'Neal scored six of her 10 points in the first half to help her team gain a 19-16 advantage late in the second quarter.

She also had three of her four blocks and four of her 13 rebounds in the first half, as Blue Ridge held GCMS to six points in the second quarter, including only three in the first 7:52 of the quarter.

However, after the Lady Falcons' Courtney Gramley made the first of two free-throw attempts with 7.8 seconds left in the first half, Jaymi Nettleton scored two points in the paint after rebounding the second foul shot to put GCMS in a 19-19 tie at halftime.

The Lady Falcons were awarded a total of 28 free-throw attempts in the game, making 20 of them. They also cut down their turnovers in the second half, only committing six of their 17 turnovers in the half, whereas Blue Ridge finished the game with 26 turnovers, including 12 in the second half.

Regan Romshek and Angel Gaesser scored eight and six points, respectively, in the third quarter to lead GCMS to a 37-32 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Romshek finished the game scoring in double figures with 11 points while Gaesser had nine points. Jaymi Nettleton was the game's leading scorer with 17 points, including 6-of-6 shooting from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, with the Lady Knights trailing 51-44 and 2:33 remaining, Jamison Brandt (pictured above) was called for her fifth foul. However, according to Schroeder, the foul should have been called on Gabby Pearl.

"[Jamison] wasn't even in the play," Schroeder said. "That kind of turned the game for us."

Melinda Wilson (pictured below, on left) ran into some foul trouble as well. She helped Blue Ridge's 13-2 first-half run by scoring an and-1 off a steal in the frontcourt in the first quarter to cut her team's deficit to 13-11.

Wilson finished the game with 11 points and seven steals, but was called for her fourth foul with 4:59 left in the fourth quarter. She did not score a single point since.

Korrie Gilbert (pictured below, on left) was the team's leading scorer with 12 points, including six in the fourth quarter. Four of those six points were scored on 4-of-4 shooting at the foul line.

As a team, Blue Ridge had 17 free-throw attempts, making 13 of them.

With the loss, the Lady Knights fall to a 5-7 record overall and 2-3 in the HOIC. This upcoming Thursday, they will begin playing in the Okaw Valley Holiday Tournament in Bethany.

Meanwhile, the Blue Ridge junior varsity team lost to GCMS as well by a score of 43-22.

Liz Cordes led the Lady Knights in scoring with eight points, including four of the team's six second-quarter points and the team's only two points of the third quarter.

Miranda Gillis and Cheye Beres each had six points while Breanna Watterson finished the game with two points.

For the Lady Falcons, Blythe Berton was the leading scorer with 14 points.