Neoga Falls In Opener At State, To Play For Third

The Neoga crowd awaits the game at the Class 1A State Tournament.

NORMAL -- Turnovers in the second quarter doomed Neoga in a 60-44 loss to Brimfield at the Class 1A State Girls Basketball Tournament Thursday at Redbird Arena.

Neoga played well in the opening quarter but seven turnovers in the second period let Brimfield roll to a 39-26 halftime lead.

Both teams were shooting well in the opening quarter as Neoga connected on six of 10 for 60 percent while Brimfield hit seven of 14 for 50 percent. Haylee Campbell hit Neoga's first two shots of the game to tie the score at 4-4. Sydney Richards connected on two free throws and pushed Neoga into its first lead. Neoga held a lead with a little over two minutes to go in the quarter but Brimfield scored the next three baskets for a 17-12 tally. Another Campbell basket pulled Neoga within three at the end of the quarter

Brimfield then pushed the lead to seven at the start of the second period as Neoga suffered turnovers, finishing with seven for the quarter to trail 39-26 at halftime. Brimfield shot the lights out of the ball in the quarter hitting 10 of 14 for 71.4 percent. Neoga was no slouch, connecting on 54.5 percent but Brimfield got more looks due to the turnovers.

Avery Fearday proved to be the catalyst for Neoga in the second period, hitting four of five baskets for eight points. Brimfield had five players score as Sophie Bedell and Jaclyn Fabry connected for seven each.

Turnovers again haunted Neoga in the third quarter as the Indians coughed up the ball four times. Although Brimfield shot far worse with only 37.5 percent, they pushed ahead by 21 and finished out with a 53-34 lead going into the final period.

The lead went to 57-34 at the start of the final period but Neoga fought back. Haylee Campbell connected on two free throws before teammates Fearday and Hakman nailed back-to-back three-pointers and pulled the lead down to 15.

Brimfield came right back with a basket by Elly Doe and a free throw by Sophie Bedell. A final basket by Fearday put the final at 60-44.

Fearday led the way for Neoga with 15 points on seven of 11 shooting from the field, one of those a three-pointer. Chipping in with 12 points each were S. Richards and Campbell. Campbell led the way in rebounds with eight. Fearday led in assists with four.

Brimfield was led by Lune with 18 points while Bedell added 16 and Elynn Peterson 11. Brimfield improves to 30-4 on the season and will face Galena at 11 a.m. Saturday for the state championship.

Assistant Coach Seth James commented after the contest. "It wasn't exactly the outcome we wanted but to be here is a huge blessing. We felt we got off to a wonderful start. Our kids really got into their heads at the beginning. But they are long and quick. They pressure you from end to end and they were pretty patient.

"Overall we're very proud of the girls.  We weren't surprised by them because we knew they were good and we had a game plan. We just told the girls to put this game behind them and get ready for tonight."

Neoga dropped to 28-8 on the season and will play Selena at 7 p.m. today for third place.

Galena defeated Serena, 58-31 in the second contest.

Class 1A State Tournament

NEOGA (44)

Hakman 1-1 0-0 3, S. Richards 5-14 2-2 12, Fearday 7-11 0-1 15, Moore 1-4 0-2 2, Campbell 5-9 2-2 12, B. Richards 0-0 0-0 0, Worman 0-0 0-0 0, O'Dell 0-0 0-0 0, Sampson 0-1 0-0 0, McKinney 0-0 0-0 0, Osborn 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 19-40 FG (47.5%) 4-7 FT (57.1%)

BRIMFIELD (60)

Bedell 7-14 2-3 16, Doe 2-5 0-2 4, Peterson 5-13 0-0 11, Lune 7-10 3-4 18, Favry 3-6 0-0 7, Vaughn 0-0 0-0 0, Weiwel 0-0 0-0 0, Hessing 2-3 0-0 4, Troxell 0-0 0-0 0, Heinz 0-0 0-0 0, Kappes 0-0 0-0 0, Meyer 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 26-51 FG (51.0%) 5-10 FT (50.o%)

Neoga               14    12      8    10    --    44

Brimfield           17    22    14     7    --    60

3-point FG -- Neoga 2-6 (Hakman 1-1, Fearday 1-2, S. Richarsd 0-1, Moore 0-2), Brimfield 3-11 (Peterson 1-2, Lune 1-2, Favry 1-4, Doe 0-2, Bedell 0-1).

Neoga fans wait for the Class 1A State Tournament to begin.

Mackie White, the daughter of Dustin and Danielle White, was set to root for Neoga.