Diane Cox
DIane Cox
BETHALTO — Civic Memorial sophomore Allie Troeckler led the Eagles in a record-breaking non-conference victory over the Taylorville Tornadoes 73-63 on Saturday at home.
Troeckler poured in 44 points to break the single-game scoring record previously owned by Katie Broadway. Broadway, who extended her basketball career at Division I Illinois State after graduating from CM in 2008, earned the record during her junior year with a 39-point performance.
The Eagles improved to 7-2 on the season with the win.
"Allie Troeckler is a phenomenal kid with a bright future," CM head coach Jonathan Denney said. "She is such a tough match-up, she's so strong. She's 5-foot-10, but she plays like she's 6-2. She goes out and handles the ball and she does a lot for us on the defensive side of the ball as well. Breaking the school record, like she did tonight, it couldn't have happened to a better kid. Katie probably won't be too happy that I let her record go, but we went for the win."
CM and Taylorville kept a balanced game on offense throughout the first quarter, leaving the visiting Tornadoes down by two points at the buzzer by a score of 18-16. The second quarter began an array of fouls for Taylorville that continuously sent the Eagles to the free throw line. CM outscored the Tornadoes 23-6 in the second stanza to build a 41-22 lead entering the break.
After the half, Taylorville turned the tables on the Eagles. The Tornadoes netted 28 points in the third quarter and whittled CM's lead down to four at 54-50 by the time the buzzer sounded on the frame.
The Eagles were able to size up their competition in the fourth quarter, while the penalty stricken Tornadoes were forced to pull back after accumulating upwards of 30 fouls. CM topped off their offense, outscoring Taylorville 19-13 over the final eight minutes to secure the victory. It was the fifth straight win for the Eagles.
"We had to come out and play overly aggressive tonight," said Taylorville head coach Mark Hannant. "We had to go after them a bit in order to get a run on them, which we did in the third quarter. We were able to get back into it. You expend a lot of energy when you have to play like that and it does get you into foul trouble. We had to make the adjustment of not playing half court. We had to step up the defense in order to step up the offense. We had to get control of the tempo of the game."
Troeckler was the target of many fouls committed against CM, sending her to the foul line where she was 16 of 22 on the night. She was also 14 of 17 from the field, yanked down 10 rebounds, had five steals and three blocks.
"We played great in the first half," said Denney. "Everyone was involved and chipping in, but we let go in the second half. We played like we were unsure. We scouted them (Taylorville) this week and they had the same third quarter press against Rochester. They were down at the half and were able to come back and cut the lead. We knew they were capable of coming back, they're a very good shooting team. We were able to cue up on their shooters a lot better in the fourth quarter."
Broadway set the girls' basketball career record with 2,079 points for the Eagles before leaving for the collegiate court, a hard goal Troeckler is hoping to reach.
"This is really exciting," Troeckler said. "I thought I might be able to get the single game record eventually, wasn't sure if it would be this year or not, I've just been working hard and reaching for it. I have great teammates, they've been so supportive and they get me the ball when I'm open. They know I look for them on the court and I get the ball to them when they're open. Everything we do, it's a team effort all the way."
CM travels to Highland at 7:30 p.m. Thursday for Mississippi Valley Conference action.
NON-CONFERENCE
CIVIC MEMORIAL 73, TAYLORVILLE 63
Taylorville 16 6 28 13 — 63
CM 18 23 13 19 — 73
CM (7-2) — Allie Troeckler 44, Katelyn Turbyfill 10, Katie Kappler 1, Journey Coffmann 3, Alaira Tyus 8, Kaylee Eaton 5, Kalyn Troxell 2. 2FG — 21 3FG — 1 FT — 28 PF — 19
Taylorville — Alyviah Durham 13, Jannah Jachino 2, Brooke Brandis 6, Peighton Bitchenauer-6, Grace Bollinger 12, Makala Finks 6, Erica Leigh 5. PF — 30