Lick Creek wins regional title

<p class="p1"><span class="s1">The Lick Creek Lady Eagles held off a strong Buncombe-Cypress squad to capture the SIJHSAA Region 1 basketball championship on Friday, Jan. 16, at Cypress Elementary School.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">In the first round of regional tournament action, Lick Creek faced Shawnee, defeating the Lady Braves by a score 39-23.  </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Angel Helm led all scorers with 12 points. Cori Turner added 7, Brenley Barringer and Hannah Miller with 6 points, Sydney Heath with 4 and Jenna Holshouser and Maggie Cripps chipped in 2 points in the winning effort.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">In the semifinal game, Lick Creek squared off against New Simpson Hill.  </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">After a quick start to grab an 11-3 first quarter lead, the Eagles fell behind 17-16 at the half.  However, the Lady Eagles pulled out the victory by a score of 51-38.  </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Sydney Heath led all scorers with 20 points, Cori Turner added 14, Angel Helm with 10, Brenley Barringer chipped in 4 and Maggie Cripps rounded out the scoring with 3. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">With the win over New Simpson Hill, Lick Creek advanced to play Buncombe-Cypress in the championship game.  </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Buncombe-Cypress led after the first quarter by a score 6-5.  Going into the half, Lick Creek had the advantage by a score 13-10.  After rallying in the third quarter, Buncombe-Cypress again took the lead by a score 23-18.   </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The rugged Lick Creek squad, down by 10 points at one point in the third quarter, came back in the fourth quarter to overtake Buncombe-Cypress.  </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">In the heated game with multiple lead changes, it was the Lady Eagles that pulled out the victory by a final score of 31-30.   </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Angel Helm led all scorers with 16 points, Cori Turner added 9, Sydney Heath with 5 and Maggie Cripps chipped-in 1 to help the Eagles to the victory. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1"> In previous meetings between the two teams earlier in the season, Buncombe-Cypress defeated the Lady Eagles in both match-ups by scores of 51-47 and 55-47.  </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Give credit to Buncombe-Cypress for a great game,” said Lick Creek head coach Michele Rushing.  </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“It went right down to the last play. It was an exciting win for our girls, and we are looking forward to going back to the state tournament. I am very proud of this group of young ladies.”  </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The victory marked the third straight year that the Lick Creek squad has advanced to the state tournament.  </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">With the regional championship, the Lady Eagles finished the regular season with a 21-5 record. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The team will face St. Mark (Steeleville) at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 24, in the first round of the SIJHSAA state basketball tournament at Rend Lake College.     </span></p>

<p class="p1">The Lick Creek Lady Eagles basketball team won a SIJHSAA Region 1 basketball championship on Friday, Jan. 16, at Cypress Elementary School. Lick Creek team members are, in the first row, from left, Angel Helm, Ashley Barringer, Brenley Barringer, Sydney Heath, Jenna Holshouser and Maggie Cripps. In the second row are Julia Hall, Campbell Belcher, Kyleigh Matuszewich, Hannah Miller, Addison Denny, Erin Overstreet, Kalynn Grant, Cori Turner and head coach Michele Rushing. </p>