Published: January 12, 2009 08:36 am      

Lady Red Devils win classic

staff report

CHESTER — The Sesser-Valier-Waltonville girls basketball team won its first tournament since 2003 with a 57-27 win over Valmeyer in the championship at the Lady Jacket Mid-Winter Classic in Chester on Saturday.

“Back in July when I met with these girls for the first time, I told them that we were going to expect to win championships,” said SVW head coach Brian Gibson. “It is a big deal. I’m so proud of them for the dedication they have put into this program the last few months and I'm really glad they got the reward they deserve.”

Ashley Slack scored seven points in the first quarter on her way to a game-high 16 points off eight field goals.

“When she plays like that, we are a good team,” said Gibson.

In the same time frame Kate Laird hit two, three-point plays to help the Lady Red Devils open the quarter with a 15-7 lead.

A 22-4 second quarter helped SVW build a 37-11 lead at the break.

“Chelsea Knight and Stephanie Faulkner were huge for us off the bench,” said Gibson. “Slack and Lorena Marlo got in a little foul trouble in the second quarter and when they came in they were all over the floor making plays.”

Emmalee Metcalf finished with 14 points on 4-for-5 shooting and 6-for-9 from the line. Kate Laird had 10 points and Lorena Marlo ended the game with eight points.

Metcalf was the only player from our team on the all-tournament team, even though we dominated two of the three games we played.

There were two players from Chester, Valmeyer and Marissa-Coulterville on the team along with one each from New Athens, Cairo and Elverado.

“This is just an indication of the balance of our team,” said Gibson. “Emmalee had a great tournament as she was in double figures every game but we are so balanced that it's hard to pick out another player that you have to stop. However, every player we have on the floor can score.”

There will be no rest for the Lady Red Devils (8-6) as they’ll step back onto the court tonight.

“We have exactly one day to celebrate as we have a big week ahead of us,” said Gibson. “We play Trico in a big conference game at home on Monday and then travel to Goreville on Wednesday and Pope County on Saturday. All three teams are in the top tier of 1A teams in Southern Illinois.”

Game time against Trico is scheduled for 6:15 p.m.