The Okawville Lady Rockets entered one of Southern Illinois’ toughest tournaments this past week in Highland. Coming in with an impressive record of  21-0, this hardworking basketball team had nothing but success on their minds. 

On Saturday, January 15, the Lady Rockets played the Salem Wildcats and gained their first win of the tournament with a final score of 55-19. Their second matchup was against the defense-focused Triad Knights. Okawville’s quick offense and continuous effort allowed them to come out on top, winning 43-23. 

The next game for the Lady Rockets was a rematch against the talented and fast-paced O’Fallon Panthers. Knowing it would be a great game, much like the first semi-final at the Mascoutah Holiday Tournament, Okawville was confident their hard work and dedication fully prepared them to take down the Panthers for the second time. 

That belief in their teammates’ abilities and determination pushed the Lady Rockets to once again defeat the impressive 4A O’Fallon Panthers with a score of 52-45. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this team has enough heart to make up for their lack of school size. When they come together and play for each other, it doesn’t matter if we are playing a 1A or 4A team. The Lady Rockets will leave everything on that court,” says Assistant Coach, Paige Kasten. 

Helping contribute to this win was Alayna Kraus, with a tremendous offensive performance of 21 points. “Learning to stay calm and let the game come to me is what helped me play well. I am very fortunate to be a part of a team full of great leaders and coaches who help make my success possible,” says starting point guard, Alayna Kraus. 

Entering the championship game, the Lady Rockets had a 24-0 record and prepared to face the Civic Memorial Eagles. After an intense game, the Lady Rockets fell short for their first loss of the season with a score of 53-47. 

Senior, Sydney Tebbe had a standout game with 12 points.  “I thought it was a good game. We played hard the whole time. They were a really good defensive team and were guarding the three-point line really well, which forced us to feed the ball into the middle,” says Sydney Tebbe. While Okawville experienced their first loss from a very experienced team full of upperclassmen, the Lady Rockets see it as a building block to improve before the postseason. Tebbe continues, “There were mistakes that were made but they will only allow us to improve and get better.”

While the Lady Rockets have had an outstanding season so far and show promise for the future, Civic Memorial is just as notably a stacked 3A team with impressive 3-point shooters and intense defense. Before the championship game, the Eagles had a record of 21-3 and 7-0 in their conference. 

Although the Lady Rockets did not come out on top they still put up a great fight and had three players earn All-Tournament Team honors. Megan Rennegarbe’s leadership ability and offensive knowledge earned her a spot on the 2nd Team. On the other hand, Briley Rhodes and Alayna Kraus’ continuous teamwork and dedication to the sport were recognized when they became members of the 1st Team. “Winning individual awards means a lot because it shows all of my extra hours in the gym and hard work is paying off, but we have bigger team achievements to reach this year and without my teammates and coaches encouraging and challenging all of us to be better every day, none of this would be possible.” says starting guard, Briley Rhodes.