Lady Redskins Continue Their Winning Ways in Starke County!

Thirteen. That is how many individuals scored at least two points between Knox and Oregon-Davis at the Bobcat Den in what was an action packed thirty-two minutes of girls basketball on Friday night! The Lady Redskins (10-0) and Lady Bobcats (8-2) were ready from the start to go toe-to-toe with their cross-county foes. The final point spread may have been fifteen points, but the entire game felt much closer from start to finish.

The Lady Redskins were able to jump out to an early 12-6 lead at the end of the first quarter, but it was not for lack of defense on the part of the Lady Bobcats, who had 7 of their 11 steals in the game, during the first two quarters. Knox guard Felicity Olejniczak would handle the bulk of the scoring for Knox in the first half, leading the team with 10 at the break. She was able to provide fireworks from behind the arc, as she hit two three-pointers in the first half, while also doing a lot of ball handling for the Lady ‘Skins. Knox would be led in scoring by Junior forward Remi Jordan, who dropped in 16 points, which included 8-10 at the free-throw line.

Defense was the name of the game for Knox, however, as the Lady ‘Cats came into the game averaging 80.3ppg. “I thought defensively with Mercedes, we knew her shooting and trying to get to the corner, everyone knows with the 3-2 if you don’t rotate quick enough, that’s going to be a dump down all the time” Knox Head Coach Neill Minix said following the game. “Our girls did a great job taking that away”.

Oregon-Davis did what Oregon-Davis does. They were able to find scoring opportunities from behind the arc, and applied strong pressure in the full, half, and quarter court throughout the game. The Lady ‘Cats would end up with five 3-pointers, three of which came from leading scorer Mercedes Rhodes, to go along with 11 steals in the ballgame, being led by Senior Sydney Williams who had a game-high 5 thefts.

Oregon-Davis Head Coach Terry Minix kept things simple following the game when asked what the biggest difference was in the ballgame. “They’re better than us” a noticeably frustrated Minix said. “They wanted it more. You’ve got to take your hat off to them. They flat out beat us”.

In the end, it would be the rebounding as well as free throw shooting that gave the Lady Redskins the win at the Bobcat Den. Knox would out rebound O-D 41-32 in the game, while at the free throw line, the Redskins shot 21-32 for 65%, while the Bobcats went 7-21 for 33%.

Mercedes Rhodes was the leading scorer in the game, as the most recent member of the 1,000 point club at Oregon-Davis dropped in 20 points, which included 13 in the second half. Senior Katie Sauer was also able to hit double-digits for the Bobcats, putting in 12. Knox, meanwhile was led in scoring by Remi Jordan, who put in 16 points, 10 of which came in the second half. Felicity Olejniczak would end the game with 11, after putting up 10 in the first half. Jordan also led Knox in rebounding with 9, while a banged-up Jayden Worthington had a game-high 10 rebounds for O-D.

The Ashley Derrickson/Five Star Player of the Game went to an unlikely hero for the Knox Redskins. The Award went to Madison Moss, a 5’8 Sophomore for the Lady ‘Skins. Moss was “Johnny on the Spot” for Knox throughout the game, earning a lot of “hustle points” as she was able to chase down multiple loose balls for her team in key situations, while also pulling down 7 rebounds, and putting up 5 points in the winning effort.

The Lady Redskins remain undefeated at 10-0, including 2-0 in Starke County play, while the Lady Bobcats drop to 8-2 on the year. Knox will be back at it on December 14th, when they take on Culver in the first game of a boy/girl double-header at Knox, while Oregon-Davis will be back in action at home on December 20th, when they play host to South Central.

Scoring

Knox (63): Remi Jordan-16 Felicity Olejniczak-11 Riley Messer-9 Brianna Korcha-8, Megan Bolen-7, Preston Minix-7, Madison Moss-5

Oregon-Davis (48): Mercedes Rhodes-20, Katie Sauer-12, Sydney Williams-6, Jayden Worthington-6, Madi Hudspeth-2, Mackenna Chessor-2

*Statistical Information Provided by Kankakee Valley Broadcasting Staff. These Are Not Official Game Statistics*