ALAH girls beat St. Teresa and Clinton; huge win over Tuscola in season finale

Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond girls’ basketball team welcomed St. Teresa to the home floor on Monday night for the final home game.

Both teams got off to a slow start with the Bulldogs leading by one at the end of the first quarter 14-13.

ALAH got things rolling in the second quarter scoring 17 points to St. Teresa’s 10 and took a 30-24 lead into halftime.

The Knights tenacious defense kept the struggling Bulldogs from getting on track offensively in the third period, holding them to only 10 points, extending the ALAH lead 44-34 heading into the final stretch.

Chipping away at the Knights lead, St. Teresa got to within 3 points at the 4:57 mark in the fourth Claire Seal scoring 8 points in the final 3:03 minutes helped secure the Knights victory 52-44.

Freshmen Claire Seal led all Knight scoring with 17 points and 11 rebounds followed by senior Mackenzi Bowles with 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks; Mallory Nichols added 9 points off three 3-pointers; Charley Condill, 7 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 steals; Alexa Miller, 4 points along with 4 assists and 5 steals; Makenzie Brown 3 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals; and Shaylie Miller had 2 points.

The ALAH girls’ and boys’ teams traveled to Clinton on Tuesday evening for matchups with the Maroons and both were victorious with a total of five Knights in double figures.

The girls played first and got off to a terribly slow offensive start as points were hard to come by scoring their first points near the 4:00 minute mark, trailing 3-7 as the end of the first quarter.

The Knights cold shooting continued into the second quarter finally scoring a bucket almost two minutes in and ended with 13 points but still trailed 16-19 at the break.

The Knights picked up the pace outscoring the Maroons in the third quarter 10-4 and took the lead for the first time 26-23 heading into the final period. ALAH added 17 points in the fourth to Clinton’s 12 and won by a final score of 43-35.

Junior Alexa Miller and sophomore teammate Charley Condill led the Knights in scoring with 10 points each along with 4 steals and 3 rebounds for Miller and 8 rebounds and 3 steals for Condill.

Mackenzi Bowles added 6 points and 2 blocks while Claire Seal scored 6 points along with 7 rebounds and 5 steals on the night. Kailee Otto had 5 points and 3 steals; Makenzie Brown with 4 points and 8 rebounds; and Shaylie Miller ended with 2 points.

The final game of the season was on the road to Tuscola.

The Knights Thursday night victory over the Warriors, 51-48, was undoubtedly one of the biggest of the 2021 season.

Cocach Condill stated, “Finishing our last week of the season going 3 and 0 was our goal when we started. We equated the schedule as a regional semifinal (St. T) regional championship (Clinton) and sectional caliber game (Tuscola). The team really took to that scenario and I think we were playing our best ball at the end of the season, which is every coach’s goal.” He added, “We were really challenged the last four games of the season (Sullivan on the prior Saturday) not just physically but from a mental toughness standpoint. I loved the growth I saw from everyone on the roster.”

ALAH scored the first basket of the game three minutes in and trailed10-11 going into the second period. Both teams scored in double figures the second quarter, but the Knights lead by four points, 25-21 at the half.

Holding Tuscola to only 10 points in the third quarter, Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond continued their lead 41-31 heading into the final quarter.

Tuscola fought back in the fourth quarter but ALAH’s third quarter run left too great a deficit to overcome even though the Warriors outscored the Knights 17-10 in the final period.

Alexa Miller led all Knights scorers with 19 points along with 5 steals and 3 assists. Kailee Otto had 9 points and 7 rebounds and teammate Claire Seal also had 9 points in the game. Charley Condill added 7 points and 10 rebounds. In their last game, senior’s Makenzie Brown had 4 points and pulled down 12 rebounds followed by Mackenzi Bowles with 3 points and 7 rebounds to end their high school careers.

“Regarding the two seniors, they are leaving a huge hole but also leaving a large imprint on the ALAH girls basketball team. I look forward to watching their athletic careers as they hope to play at the next level in softball and basketball,” Condill said.

Condill concluded, “It was a special season under special circumstances but ending 14-2 and being the only team in ALAH history to win their last game (usually left as the distinction of only the state champions) was truly the cherry on top.”