Bob Kerans Girls Thanksgiving Basketball Tourney Set Nov. 22-25

Bob Kerans was a longtime supporter of ladies athletics, both as a coach and administrator. He and his family are still supporters of this tournament, which is the longest running girls basketball tournament in Illinois.

ALTAMONT -- Coach Katie Lurkins:

“Last year we had a combination of experience and youth. We lost Brooke Runge to graduation. Brooke scored 18 points per game for us last year and added four assists per game. She is currently playing at Parkland College in Champaign.

 'This year’s team is young and athletic and is dedicated to the success of this season and the seasons to come. Although we only have one upperclassman we have sophomores with varsity experience and youth with solid fundamentals. We look forward to playing fast, causing havoc on defense, and getting to the rim. With a highly competitive schedule we are ready to face challenges and mature this season. all who were excited to play.”

The Lady Indians return five letterwinners from last year’s squad, four of which are sophomores.

Coach Lurkins commented on each:

“Ana Fulk is a 5-foot-6 junior. She is a strong, dedicated player who works hard and is very coachable; a silent leader on our team. Claire Boehm 5’6” sophomore guard-oriented player who has developed a consistent outside shot and focused on becoming a confident player for our team. She scored 3.5 ppg last year and had 2.6 rebounds per game.

“Brianna Grunloh 5’3” sophomore is a hard-nosed, body-sacrificing defender and is polishing her offensive skills. She is a leader on the court and inspires her teammates. She scored 2.8 ppg last year and added 1.7 assists. Peyton Osteen 5’8” sophomore. She’s a pure shooter that can also battle with the bigs. Last year she had to play out of position; this year we look for her to excel in the natural three spot. She is a team player and the “pick me up” when her team needs her. She scored six ppg last season, averaged 4.6 boards per game and almost two assists per game.

“Grace Nelson 5’10” sophomore who is long, athletic, and focused; she can shoot outside and get to the rim from anywhere on the court. Defensively she causes havoc with her long arms, speed, and understanding of the game. An example for teammates with her work ethic and commitment to the game. Last season, Grace averaged 28.4 ppg, 6.3 rebounds, 3.4 steals and 3.1 assists. Grace was our conference MVP last year as well as an all-stater.”

Regarding this year’s tournament, Coach Lurkins said, “Experience in playing together and making on court decisions while strengthening their commitment to improve. Since we only have one upperclassman, we are focusing on development and teamwork while remaining competitive. Also, I hope they enjoy the opportunity to play in a tournament with such great tradition and history.”

EFFINGHAM -- Coach Jeff Schafer:

“We finished 7-9 last season with the majority of those being Apollo Conference games. We lost our two leading scorers in Annie Frost, an All-Apollo forward her freshman and sophomore years, and Taylor Armstrong who is playing at Millikin.

"We return point guard Sawyer Althoff who leads us in assists and is a great defender, Madison Mapes who shares the point guard duties, Ellie Niebrugge who averaged 8 ppg and Meredith Schaefer who averaged 8 ppg. Also last year bench players Marissa Allie, Olivia Moser, Coralin Ohnesorge, and Krista Phillips.”

Looking ahead to the tournament, Coach Schafer remarked, “Just to see where we are at in this point of the season. Looking for roles to start to develop, and build on the success we had this summer. They play hard and play together, that is about all a coach can wish for. How that translates into wins, I have no idea.”

FLORA -- Coach Josh Fox:

“We went 10-4 last season. We had four seniors last season that were big pieces to the team, but we also had some younger girls step up. We were very balanced on scoring for the most part and were very unselfish with the ball. We lost Jencie Behnke, Emma Walden, Taylor Brown and Raegan Henson from last year’s team. Each of them were big parts of the team. We will have some younger girls that will have to step up and fill their roles this year.

"Coming back, I will have my point guard Laney Carder, power forward Paige Behnke and two guards, Allie Parker and Alyssa Young, that played a lot of time. Laney led the team in assists last season, and Paige led the team in points and rebounds last season. Allie and Alyssa are seniors that should be great leaders for the team.”

Coach Fox concluded, “Coming into the tournament we are looking forward to playing together as a team and working on being a great defensive team.”

NEWTON -- Coach Brad Harris:

“Last season was a productive season in that we had the opportunity to play games. We finished the shortened season 9-6. We lost five seniors from last year's group. They were a great group that worked well together. Whitney Zumbahlen led the way with Allison Einhorn, Madison Blake, Shaley Murray and Lindsey McClain all contributing in a variety of ways, with teamwork, rebounding, and scoring.

"We are returning six letterwinners, including four seniors. Morgan White, Sydney Dobbins, Ava Kessler, and Amber Russell will be leading the way for the Lady Eagles. Alexis Hetzer, Brooke Schafer and Elley Bennett are underclassmen that will contribute a lot each night. We also have other sophomores and freshmen that should contribute as the season moves forward.”

Speaking about this year’s tournament, Coach Harris said, “We need to show up each night and compete as a team. This group can accomplish a great deal when they work together as a team.”

VANDALIA -- Coach Michelle McNary:

“As with many other teams, it was a crazy season with Covid and trying to piece together a team while we had a few girls out at times. We finished the season 8-10 and 4-5 in a very tough South Central Conference. We lost three seniors to graduation and had no juniors so it was a great time to get some of our younger girls on the court for some varsity experience. Our biggest win of the season came against state ranked, Neoga.”

Coach McNary listed the following players from last year’s team who were lost to graduation: Bailey Stewart - 10 pts, 7 reb, 3 assists, 2 steals/game, Madyson Hill - 13 pts, 5 reb/game and Gracie Pruett - 3 pts, 2 steals, 2 assists/game.

Key returners listed by Coach McNary are: Junior, Anna Forbes - 12 pts, 7 reb, 3 assists, 2 steals/game and Sophomore, Katie Eckhardt - 5 pts, 3 reb, 3 steals, 3 assists/game.

Coach McNary’s thoughts about the tournament: “We are fairly young with no seniors so we will be looking to see who can step up for us this year. The keys for us starting the season will be taking care of the ball and rebounding. I feel like we have a great group of girls with a lot of talent and I am excited to see what they can do over the next few seasons.”