East Peoria let a double-digit halftime lead slip away Feb. 9 in a girls basketball road loss to Pekin.
The Dragons finished 6-8 in the Mid-Illini Conference with a 54-51 victory over the Raiders at Dawson Hawkins Gymnasium.
Kelsey Shoemake was 6-of-7 at the free-throw line to lead East Peoria with 14 points.
Carrie Myers added a dozen points for the Raiders, who were up 29-19 at the break.
Every game between the squads was close this season.
East Peoria won by a point at the Manual Holiday Tournament Dec. 30 before Pekin took the first Mid-Illini meeting Jan. 9 by the same margin.
Raiders Nicki Alwan and Rebekah Minter delivered surprising offensive contributions with eight points apiece.
Erica Harper joined Minter with a pair of three-pointers.
Lauren Cash electrified the home fans with a game-high 20 points for the Dragons.
Washington 37, EP 32
The Raiders’ season of close calls in the league continued Thursday.
After recognizing seniors Emilee Brown and Minter, East Peoria rallied from a 12-point deficit before falling to Washington.
The Raiders ended up in eighth place in the conference with a 2-12 record.
Of the girls’ dozen defeats, nine were by single digits.
Brown and Harper were co-leaders on the night with eight points.
Turnovers again were a problem for East Peoria against the Lady Panthers’ trapping defense.
“We’re not going to win games if we don’t take better care of the basketball,” EPCHS head coach Pete McGinnes said.
The Raiders were held to one field goal in the first quarter and trailed 15-5 after Paige Marchini ignited a 12-0 run for Washington with two treys.
It was 19-7 at the 6:43 mark of the second period before the East Peoria defense flustered the visitors.
The Lady Panthers did not score the rest of the half as the Raiders cut their deficit to five.
In the 7-0 spurt, Harper, Shoemake and Alwan all chipped in offensively at Allison Gymnasium.
The momentum carried into the second half as Minter canned a trey and Brown tied it with a bucket at 6:14.
Washington eventually ended a scoring drought of nearly nine minutes to attain a 27-23 lead entering the fourth quarter.
The lead swelled to nine points as Lady Panther Lexi Grayer had half of her game-leading 10 points at the outset of the last period. She was the only player on either side to reach double figures.
The Raiders were down 10 until six straight points made it 34-30 with 1:46 remaining.
