By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
There was just one goal in mind for the Big Foot girls basketball team when it hosted Parkview Friday night.
And that was to win – and keep pace for its fourth Rock Valley Conference title and second in a row.
Mission accomplished.
Big Foot jumped out to a 26-15 halftime lead and held on from there for a 54-43 victory to improve to 15-6 overall and 11-4 in the RVC South Division.
The Chiefs entered Thursday night’s contest against visiting Palmyra-Eagle tied at the top of the division with Clinton. The Cougars travel to Beloit Turner for their regular-season finale.
Big Foot coach Rick Schoenbeck said winning another RVC title to match what previous squads accomplished under former coach and now athletic director Tim Collins has always been at the top of the to-do list.
“I have tried to build a program that reloads every year with depth and quality players that play my style of winning basketball,” he said. “We expect to keep this streak going for years to come.”
Schoenbeck said he’s been pleased with how this team has meshed and hung together through what always is a difficult and long grind of a season.
“This group of young ladies have worked hard and well together,” he said. “We figured each game was going to be a grind, but this group learned how to win in tough, close games.
“Winning is expected now in this program, and it is the culture at all levels. The character of these girls in the classroom, in public or on the basketball court is amazing. They are successful in all phases of their lives and winners in my eyes. I am so lucky to be able to coach this fine group of young ladies.”
Against Parkview, Brooke Wellhausen led the way with 22 points and 13 rebounds, followed by Reagan Courier with 17 points.
Both were obvious keys to a win when the Chiefs didn’t play their best basketball, Schoenbeck said.
“(Wellhausen) controlled inside on both ends of the court, and (Courier) created a few turnovers into scores and penetrated when the openings were there to get to the foul line to score,” he said.
“We had a 24-point lead and cruised to the win. I got to see some extended minutes from some of our role players and wanted to see what they could do to be better prepared for the regional run.”
Tourney play begins
Big Foot drew the No. 6 seed and will host 11th-seeded Palmyra for the second time in less than a week Tuesday night in a 7 p.m. regional opener.
The winner advances to a regional semifinal Friday, Feb. 24 at Edgerton, which beat the Chiefs 44-30 in early January. The regional final is set for Saturday, Feb. 25.
Schoenbeck said his team is confident, but also knows that it has to take things one game at a time from here on out.
“We will start the regional at 0-0 as all other teams do,” he said. “(The) postseason becomes another level. When we hit shots, we play very confident. We need to pick up on the attitude on defense in the next week to be successful.”
