Heritage places sixth at Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond Tournament
By Fred Kroner
For the 15th time in the team’s first 18 games, the scoring leaders for the Heritage girls’ basketball team were freshmen.
Freshman Brooklyn Powell tallied a career-high 19 points on Saturday (Dec. 23) as the Heritage girls’ basketball team roared back from an early deficit to defeat Decatur Eisenhower, 52-42, in the Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond Tournament.
Eisenhower led, 24-13, at halftime, but Powell took over in the second half to spark the comeback.
She scored 17 of her points in the second half, including 11 in the fourth quarter. Heritage trailed, 35-32, entering the last eight minutes.
Powell’s scoring outburst was a season’s high for any Heritage player this season. The Hawks also eclipsed their single-game scoring mark for the year.
Addi Hopper netted 14 points. Loran Tate hit eight points. Bri Ploense made five points. Gracie Tate contributed four points and Bailey Lubben added two points on 2-of-2 accuracy from the free throw line.
In the fifth-place game on Saturday (Dec. 23), the Hawks were tied with Rantoul, 34-34, entering the last quarter, but fell short, 51-36.
Powell totaled a team-high nine points and was followed in the scoring column by Loran Tate (eight points), Gracie Tate (eight points), Hopper (six points) and Ploense (five points).
On Friday (Dec. 22), Hopper tallied a team-leading 10 points in a 74-32 tournament loss to Shelbyville.
Loran Tate hit a season-high eight points. Scoring four points apiece were Lubben, Ploense and Gracie Tate. Powell added two points.
In first-round action on Thursday (Dec. 21), Hopper and Ploense tossed in six points apiece in a 54-22 loss to Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg.
Heritage fell behind, 16-6, in the first quarter.
The Hawks’ other point-makers were Gracie Tate (four points), Powell (three points), Loran Tate (two points) and Lubben (one point).
Heritage (2-16) returns to action on Saturday (Jan. 6) at Fisher.
