What is the best way to celebrate an East Peoria girls basketball win over Morton?
Shopping, of course.
With a promise by Raider head coach Pete McGinnes of a shopping trip to Union Station in St. Louis if East Peoria beat the Potters Jan. 26, the girls delivered a spectacular performance.
A 61-52 Raider victory on the road ended a 15-game slide against Morton. It also was the first time since McGinnes came to East Peoria for the 2003-04 season that his team beat the Potters.
“The girls played hard tonight,” EPCHS head coach Pete McGinnes said. “It was a good win for our girls.”
Before this breakthrough, the last Raider win over Morton, 59-45 in the Class AA Woodruff Regional semifinals, was Feb. 17, 2003, when the squad was coached by Kristen D’Alfonso and all-time leading scorer Betsy Glover was the East Peoria floor leader in an 18-win campaign. It completed a three-game season sweep of the Potters.
Emilee Brown was outstanding for the Raiders on this night with a career-high 19 points. She consistently beat the Morton defense to the basket and hit a couple clutch three-pointers. Her steal in the final 35 seconds clinched the win.
Kelsey Shoemake of East Peoria added a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds to win the inside battle with Potter freshman post player Sarah Livingston.
“She did a nice job getting possession,” McGinnes said of Shoemake.
The Raiders shot an incredible 13-of-16 (.813) from the field in the second half to outscore the defending Mid-Illini Conference champion Potters 38-28.
Shoemake was 3-of-3 from the floor in the first quarter and East Peoria led most of the way before settling for a 14-14 draw.
Brown and Shoemake combined for all of the Raiders’ points in the second period.
Brown’s three-point play at the 2:52 mark forged the sixth tie of the first half at 21.
A Mariah Nimmo three-pointer with 56 seconds left, part of a 13-point first half for the point guard, lifted Morton to a 24-23 halftime edge.
East Peoria went on a 16-5 run over the last 5:38 of the third quarter to take a nine-point lead entering the fourth.
The visitors shot 6-of-7 in the frame and their crisp passing was on display.
“We got a lot of easy looks,” McGinnes said.
Carrie Myers followed a Brown bucket at 5:38 with a score of her own one minute later on a great bounce pass from Shoemake.
The Raiders dominated in the last 1:40 with eight consecutive points.
Rebekah Minter banked in a three, then nicely fed Shoemake for a hoop.
Another reserve, Jenni Leverton, nailed a three with 14 seconds to go in the third to make it 40-31. After a big outing in the preceding sophomore game, Leverton also came down with a couple key boards.
The East Peoria run stretched into the fourth quarter as the guests registered the first seven points.
Myers started the spree before a Charlotte McBrayer field goal on a give-and-go with Shoemake.
Brown’s trey at 5:47 gave the Raiders their biggest advantage of the night.
Nimmo tried to keep Morton close with nine of her game-high 25 points in the fourth, but East Peoria stayed poised.
The Raiders continued to get past Potter defenders as a practice tool paid dividends.
McGinnes pulled out the football pad in an effort to encourage driving to the basket with authority.
In the last three minutes, Morton’s energy level increased and it actually got within 57-52 with 36 seconds remaining.
After East Peoria missed the front end of a one-and-bonus, the Potters got the rebound.
But Brown, whose basketball IQ was praised by McGinnes, made a steal and a combined 4-for-4 at the free-throw line by Myers and McBrayer finalized the win.
“She read it perfectly, it was huge,” McGinnes said of the Brown theft.
With injured starting guard Erica Harper unavailable for the second game in a row, all the other Raiders contributed.
Myers had nine points, McBrayer six and Nicki Alwan five for East Peoria.
Although Nimmo had 25 points, the Raiders held her to 10-of-29 shooting. No other Potter had more than seven points.
EP 45, Lewistown 37
The Raiders won on the road Thursday behind three double-figure scorers.
Myers led East Peoria, which improved to 6-6 in non-league games, with 14 points.
Brown sank four treys to compile 12 points, the same output Shoemake contributed.
The Raiders shut out the Class 1A Lady Indians for the entire first quarter.
The rest of the game basically was even after Lewistown had a 16-11 advantage in the fourth period.
Metamora 43, EP 34
The Redbirds clinched at least a share of their fourth conference crown in the last eight years with a road victory Saturday.
East Peoria (8-15, 2-9) stayed in a seventh-place M-I tie with Dunlap after it was denied a third consecutive win.
Only four Raiders scored as Metamora swept the regular-season series.
Brown led East Peoria with 12 points.
Myers had nine points, Shoemake eight and Alwan five at Allison Gymnasium.
One bright spot for the Raiders was a 14-of-19 effort at the charity stripe.
Justine Phillips led the Redbirds with 17 points.
Postseason: East Peoria is a No. 6 seed in the Class 3A Woodruff Regional.
The Raiders will face No. 3 seed Washington in the quarterfinals at 8 p.m. Feb. 15.
It will back-to-back meetings for the conference teams, who close out the regular season Feb. 11.
The winner will meet second-seeded Notre Dame at 8 p.m. Feb. 17.
Defending state champion Richwoods is the No. 1 seed.
East Peoria, Ill. —
