The Morton Lady Potters (3-1) were beaten by Richwoods (5-0)  45-53 in the Championship game of the 2017-18 Morton Thanksgiving Tournament.  As expected, Richwoods was big, and long and quick and made very few mistakes against the Potters.  They attacked Morton throughout the game on both ends of the court.

 

Tied at haftime, Richwoods quickly put up 7 unanswered points,  early in the 3rd quarter, which separated them from the Potters, and made big shots to sustain that lead through the 2nd half.  While all of Richwoods’ starters are very good, headline player, Cameron Taylor, may be the best post player Central Illinois has seen in many years and she played a big role in the outcome of the game.  She is a player that no other team in Class 3A can boast.

 

What could Morton have done better?  Well, to start with, they could have been more patient and efficient offensively.  They shot 5 for 25 from the perimeter.  Let me repeat that… 5 for 25 from the perimeter.  Now Richwoods’ harassing defense probably contributed, to some extent, to the low shooting percentage from the arc (20%), but if they shoot 8 for 25, they likely win the game.  This was also the first time the Lady Potters had faced the Richwoods zone and the Lady Potters had spent most of their practice time, the prior week, preparing for their first game (Normal Community) of the four game round robin tournament.

This was a great tournament to start the season for the Lady Potters.  Rarely, if ever, have the Lady Potters had the opportunity to play two teams, in November, that have as much talent as Normal Community and Richwoods.  While they passed the test against Normal Community, I think they learned more about themselves and their opponent in the game against Richwoods.

 

They had the chance to see what they need to work on most throughout the next 3 months, to get where they ultimately want to go.

Nothing gets Morton’s attention more than a loss.  So while losses always fuel the verbiage of pessimists, critics and haters (3x State Champions always have plenty of those), they also pump energy and focus into Coach Becker’s Lady Potter teams.  Look for Morton to rebound from this loss and begin the process of continuous improvement.  Next game for Morton is Thursday, November 30th at Metamora High School (7pm).