On December 23, the Varsity Lady Rockets played their first game in the Mascoutah Holiday Tournament against the Mascoutah Lady Indians. In the first quarter, both teams’ defenses were on point, with only one bucket falling for Okawville. In the second quarter, Mascoutah out-scored the Lady Rockets 13 to 9, making the score at halftime 11-13, Mascoutah up by 2. In the third, Okawville got its lead back, outscoring the Lady Indians 7-4. Going into the fourth quarter, Okawville was only up by 1, but that didn’t stop them. Okawville ended the game with a 34-23 win over Macoutah scoring 16 points in the fourth quarter compared to Mascoutah’s 6. The leading scorers were Jilien Harre with 7 points and Caroline Tepe with 7 points and 9 rebounds. Also scoring were Josephine Schmersahl and Kenley Hackstadt with 6 each, Brynn Rhodes and Taylor Statler each had 3, and Carly Schmidt had 2 points.
Also on December 23, the Varsity Lady Rockets faced the Nashville Lady Hornettes for the second night in a row. The Lady Rockets came out a little flat, being outscored by Nashville 13-7. Going into the locker room at the half, Okawville was down 25-10. In the third quarter, the Lady Rockets tried to fight back but fell short, being outscored by 11 points, making the score 45-19 going into the fourth. In the fourth quarter, the Lady Rockets scored 3 points to Nashville’s 12, making the final score 57-22, Nashville coming out on top. The leading scorer was Tepe with 7 points and 10 rebounds. Also contributing were Hackstadt with 6, Harre, Rhodes, Statler, and Kate Borrenpohl with 2 each, and Sophia Going with 1 point.
On December 27, the Varsity Lady Rockets competed in their third game of the Mascoutah Tournament against the O’Fallon Lady Panthers. Both teams came out ready to play in the first quarter, with Okawville only outscoring O’Fallon by 1 point. Keeping the same intensity in the second quarter, Okawville scored 10 compared to O’Fallon’s 9, making the score at the half 22-20, Okawville leading. In the third quarter, the Lady Rockets held the Lady Panthers scoreless while scoring 10 points, giving them a 12-point lead going into the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Lady Rockets fell back slightly, allowing the Lady Panthers to score 28 points compared to their 4 points. At the fourth quarter buzzer, O’Fallon had the lead, taking the 48-34 win over Okawville. The leading scorer was Schmersahl with 13 points. Also contributing were Tepe with 8 points and 11 rebounds, Hackstadt and Harre each with 5, and Rhodes with 3 points.
On December 28, the Varsity Lady Rockets played a talented University City Lady Lions team for their final game in the Mascoutah Holiday Tournament. In the first quarter, both teams came to play, with the Lady Lions only outscoring Okawville by 1 point. Going into the locker room, the Lady Rockets were down by 6 points, but that didn’t stop them in the third. Coming out of the locker room, Okawville was hot, outscoring the Lady Lions 12-5, taking the lead going into the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter was a nail-biter until the last few seconds. In the fourth quarter, University City outscored Okawville by 2, causing the Lady Lions to come out on top with a final score of 39-38. The leading scorer was Tepe with 16 points. Also contributing were Rhodes with 7, Schmersahl and Harre each had 5, Hackstadt had 4, and Statler had 1 point and 9 rebounds.
