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Moline girls basketball ends Streaks' streak, wins Western Big Six title

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By Andrew Petersen | Friday, February 1, 2008 2:32 AM CST | () comments

Moline's Allyssa Decker makes a move to the basket Thursday while Galesburg's Kelly Rickets and Keli Jo Hinkle defend. (John Schultz/Quad-City Times) Buy this Photo

Steve Ford was a mess.

Bombarded with pink-iced cupcakes by his Moline players, he looked a little disoriented after Thursday’s game.

“I want to wipe it off, but I can’t see,” he said.

But he only needed to hear the still-buzzing crowd to remind himself of his Maroons’ achievement. Ford’s girls cleared their vision late in the game to find their touch and down Galesburg, 37-34.

The comeback victory not only put a halt to the Silver Streaks’ 12 straight wins, but it also gave the Maroons their first outright Western Big Six title since 2002.

“Playing Galesburg is always a big deal,” Moline sophomore Emily Kauzlarich said. “The adrenaline we had from playing them got us through.”

With 6 minutes, 40 seconds left in the game, the Maroons (18-7, 9-0) trailed 33-27. Their 11-5 first-quarter lead was barely a memory, but the girls didn’t let up.

Moline held Galesburg scoreless for the next 5:35 and used an 8-0 run to steal the lead for good.

Kauzlarich, who hadn’t scored through three quarters, was a key factor. She scored on a drive and then hit a 3-pointer before her teammates hit four straight foul shots down the stretch.

Ford hardly could believe it.

“Early on it seemed like every time we went to the line we missed,” he said. “But the kids came through.”

Moline’s problem was a lack of free-throw attempts. Through three quarters, the Maroons were just 1-of-2. In the fourth, they hit five of seven.

Galesburg (22-6, 6-3) used a 7-2 run to take an 18-16 halftime lead, which it extended to 28-23 by the end of the third. Taylor Young finished with 12 points to lead the Streaks, but the team couldn’t find any offense late in the game.

“That’s the frustrating part,” Galesburg coach Evan Massey said. “We were probably one possession from a seven or eight point lead. (Moline) got it into the low post, scored on back-to-back possessions and suddenly it was a different game.

Marquisha Fowler and Susie Francescon each scored eight points for the Maroons.

Andrew Petersen can be contacted at (563) 383-2288 or apetersen@qctimes.com.