On Monday night the Neoga Indians quest for a second straight state appearance came up one step short in an electric atmosphere at the St. Anthony Super Sectional. The Indians fell to Christopher 50-45 to end their best two year run in school history.
The game started out Christopher’s way, as the Bearcats came out of the gates leading 7-0. CHS was led by 6’2 junior Amiah Hargrove who scored eight in the opening quarter. Neoga finally got the board with almost three minutes left to go in the quarter, with a Brynn Richards three. The Indians would climb closer with some free throws by Haylee Campbell. Jessica Gordon for CHS hit a three of her own that would be the difference in the quarter, as the Bearcats led 12-9 after one.
To start the quarter, don’t let Hargrove get going because when she does she can be really hard to stop. Hargrove continued her great night by scoring ten in the second quarter alone. In the quarter both teams traded multiple leads and ties. For Neoga, Brynn Richards and Allison Sampson made some big three pointers. Campbell also had four more in the quarter. CHS started taking control late in the quarter, leading 24-21 with seconds left in the half. Brynn Richards stepped up and drained a half court shot to tie the game at 24 all going into the locker room.
The Bearcats would start out the gates going on a run to take the 32-24 lead. Hargrove continued her dominating performance, as she had 12 in the third quarter alone. The Indians were able to keep it close with a couple of threes from Sampson. As Neoga only trailed 39-35 after three.
Entering the fourth the Christopher lead grew back to 41-37 but Neoga refused to give in. Campbell and Sampson would make a couple of clutch buckets to tie the game at 41-41 and 43-43. With over two minutes to go CHS would take the lead and go on a run to close out the game and punch their ticket to the Bloomington.
Hargrove led the way for the Bearcats, the junior finished with 36 points. Campbell led the way for Neoga with 16. One player that was kept quiet all night long due to the matchup on Hargrove and being in some foul trouble was Sydney Richards. Sydney finished her career with Neoga scoring six points.
Neoga finishes the season 32-4, besting last years record for the most wins in school history.
Christopher advances to the state tournament for the first time in school history. The tournament starts on Thursday at Redbird Arena in Bloomington Normal, as the Bearcats will take on Champaign St. Thomas More at 11:45 A.M.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||
| Christopher | 12 | 12 | 15 | 11 | 50 |
| Neoga | 9 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 45 |
Christopher Points
Hargrove 36, Gordon 7, Crain 5, Dejear 2.
Neoga Points
Campbell 16, Brynn Richards 11, Sampson 10, Sydney Richards 6, Osborn 2
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