Lady Vandals crush Greenville, now 5-0

 

Two days removed from its only close game of the season – a down-to-the-wire 42-37 win at Piasa-Southwestern Saturday – the Vandalia girls basketball team wasted little time making sure there would be no such drama Monday in its South Central Conference East Division opener against Greenville.

Fueled by an unforgiving full-court press, the Lady Vandals raced out to an 18-0 lead against the overwhelmed Comets in the opening four minutes of the game. The sixth-ranked team in Class 2A cruised from there, improving to 5-0 with a 69-36 victory at VCHS.

“That’s what we’ve been talking to the girls about a lot, coming out strong and putting a lot of pressure on early,” said Lady Vandals coach Mike Butler of the quick start. “We’ve done that pretty well this year.”

Butler’s team couldn’t have done it much better than they did Monday.

The Lady Vandals had six steals and another forced turnover during its game-opening blitzkrieg, scoring 14 points off those turnovers.

Shelby Charlock had three steals during that span, and she capped the run with a 3-pointer at the four-minute mark.

The Lady Vandals’ offense went ice-cold for a six-minute stretch directly thereafter – but it didn’t matter.

Greenville didn’t even get on the scoreboard until just 40 seconds were remaining in the first quarter, and the Lady Comets (4-5) trailed 36-8 at halftime thanks to VCHS’s relentless defensive pressure.

“We don’t want to let up on defense any time,” said Butler, whose team forced Greenville into 17 first-half turnovers. “You can slow down on offense when you’re ahead, but we want to play defense all the time.”

The Lady Vandals’ first-half lead would have been even greater had it not converted just 4 of 13 free throws. 

“We talked about that at halftime,” said Butler with a laugh, “but we did a little better in the second half, I think.”

The Lady Vandals hit 4 of 4 free throws in the third quarter, helping them take a 60-14 lead into the final period.

The backcourt duo of Cearlock and Walton led the Lady Vandals offensively with 17 and 12 points, respectively. But their defensive efforts were just as important, as they combined for seven steals and countless deflections that led to turnovers.

“Amanda and Shelby do a good job on the front part of that press,” Butler said. “They’re quick and Amanda’s got long arms. They put a lot of pressure on them.”

Cearlock added a team-best six rebounds and three assists. Laura Hobbie also had 12 points, chipping in four rebounds and at least three assists.

Vandalia will be back in action Thursday at SCC-East rival Hillsboro. Butler expects the improved Hiltoppers to present his team a challenge.

“We’re looking for a tough game at Hillsboro,” Butler said. “They’re going to put some pressure on you, and they’ve always got some kids that can shoot the ball if you give them a good look at the basket.”

Greenville did manage to come away with a victory in the junior varsity game, using a 16-0 run at the start of the fourth quarter to overcome a six-point deficit and cruise to a 44-37 win over the Lady Vandals.

Audra Donaldson and Haley Wollerman led Vandalia with seven points apiece, while Rachel Hickerson had six. Amber Durbin chipped in five.

Saturday’s Game

Vandalia 42, Piasa-SW 37

Things were simply not going the Lady Vandals’ way.

Hobbie had just fouled out, and host Piasa-Southwestern had just reeled off 11-straight points to take a two-point lead late in the game.

But Walton countered with a 3-pointer that gave VCHS the lead for good, and Piasa came up empty on an opportunity to tie the game in the final minute. Vandalia tacked on an insurance basket in the final seconds, coming away with a victory that impressed their coach.

“We talked after the game about how not every game’s going to be pretty,” Butler said. “You’ve got to gut some out. We did that and made plays when we had to.

“Piasa was a physical team, and we had some things go against us like foul trouble. But the kids battled back. It would have been easy to kind of fold up, but they didn’t. They kept playing hard.”

Walton led the Lady Vandals with 14 points, while Cassie Warner had 12. Kayla Houston and Hobbie chipped in seven and six points, respectively.

The victory was Vandals’ second straight over the Lady Birds (7-2), a traditionally strong program that has won 52-straight SCC-West contests.

The JV Lady Vandals were also victorious, 34-26.

Hannah Coney and Maresha Mitchell led a balanced scoring attack with six points apiece, while Megan Shreve had five and Hickerson and Maggie Childers had four each.

Last Thursday’s Game

Vandalia 79, Gillespie 19

Ten Lady Vandals registered in the scoring column in a nonconference rout.

Cearlock’s season-high 22 points led Vandalia, while Cassie Warner had 14 and Laura Hobbie had 10. 

Amber Durbin chipped in eight points off the bench for VCHS, which led 24-4 after one quarter. The Lady Vandals outscored Gillespie 25-0 in the third quarter.

The JV Lady Vandals fell in a game that was the polar-opposite of the varsity contest, 33-32.

Wollerman led the way with 10 points, while Donaldson had seven.

Regional Assignments Released

The IHSA is doing the Lady Vandals no favors… again.

A year after drawing eventual state semifinalist Teutopolis in the championship of its own Class 2A regional, VCHS will be traveling to T-Town this year to participate in perhaps the toughest regional in the state.

In addition to the state-ranked Lady Shoes (9-0), potential opponents include Effingham-St. Anthony (7-1) and/or perennial powers Pana and Nokomis.

Baffling as the hand the Lady Vandals’ have been dealt may be, they have no choice but to deal with it.

“We will show up when we’re supposed to, where we are supposed to and play,” Butler said. “I think the four-class system has messed things up, as far as I’m concerned. … but we have no control over that, so we’ll show up, and if we’re good enough, we’ll win it; if somebody’s better than us, so be it.”

Notes: The Lady Vandals’ scoring has been remarkably balanced so far, as Cearlock leads the team with an average of 12.6 points per game, while Hobbie, Warner and Walton are all averaging 11.4 ppg… After giving up just 34 points per game last year, the Lady Vandals’ defense has actually improved, giving up just 30.8 ppg so far this season.