Girls Basketball: No. 5 Alleman knocks out Princeton in regional finals

ROCK ISLAND – The Princeton Tigresses found themselves between a rock and a hard place Thursday night.

No. 1-seeded Rock Island Alleman, ranked No. 5 in the final Associated Press Poll, scored the first nine points of the game to set the tone in the Class 2A Alleman Regional championship game.

The Pioneers kept full throttle, defeating the Tigresses 58-27 to take the title.

Princeton coach Tiffany Gonigam said Alleman was every bit as advertised.

“They are what we expected them to be,” said Gonigam, who returned to the PHS bench after a two-year hiatus. “They’re a really good team. There’s a reason they’ve been carrying rankings in the top five all year. They play in an incredibly tough conference. Their schedule is tough, and they’ve won a lot of basketball games, and there’s a reason for it.

“Hats off to them. They played a great game. They’ve had a great season. I expect a lot from them down the stretch here, as well, but I’m also really proud of our kids the way they battled and continued to fight and thought we played really good in stretches.”

Princeton bows out at 20-9, falling in the regional finals for the second year in a row.

Princeton senior captain Miyah Fox said the Tigresses gave it their best shot.

“I thought we fought hard, and we gave it what we had,” she said. “The game didn’t go as we planned but Alleman is an amazing team. Definitely the best team we’ve ever seen. I am excited to see what happens with the team in the future and grateful for the four years I spent playing. We had a great season and I am so proud of us.”

Alleman coach Steve Ford said it has been baby steps for the Pioneers, starting with a 1-11 record in the 2020-21 COVID-19 season, his first at the helm.

“Very happy for the girls. We’ve come a long way in four years,” he said. “We all came in together and went through the rough patches. Winning one game the first year and 18 last year and now being able to win the regional is fun.

“The kids just believed and continued to work hard the last few years until it got to this point.”

Alleman (28-4) advances to the Oregon Sectional on Tuesday to face the winner of Friday’s regional championship at Rockford Christian between Byron (24-2) and Woodstock Marian Central (24-6).

After the Pioneers raced out to a 9-0 lead, sophomore Keighley Davis broke the ice for Princeton with a 3-pointer at the 4:47 mark.

The Tigresses closed within 12-8 on a pair of free throws and a rainbow 3-pointer by sophomore Camryn Driscoll with 1:16 left in the quarter.

“We got it within 12-8 and had a couple of injuries to cause a little stoppage in play. After that they got it back up to 20 quickly,” Gonigam said. “But there were some moments where we really fought at it and I’m really proud of the way the kids played.”

Alleman scored the last six points of the first quarter, including a late 3-pointer by Audrey Erickson to go up 18-8.

In the first two minutes of the second quarter, senior Miyah Fox converted a steal for a layup and Paige Jesse hit an 8-foot pop to pull the Tigresses within 20-12 with 6:10 left.

That was the last of the Princeton scoring for the half, with Alleman cashing in 10 straight to go up 30-12. Going into intermission, Alleman forced Princeton into 11 turnovers while committing none.

Alleman scored the last six points of the third quarter, including a putback by Clair Hulke to beat the buzzer to go up 48-21, its biggest lead of the first three quarters.

Princeton opened the fourth quarter with six straight points on two free throws by Olivia Mattingly, a putback by Driscoll and a layup by Davis off a steal, getting as close as 48-27, but that was as close as it got.

Ford said the Pioneers did a good job defensively against the Tigresses, forcing 18 turnovers in the game.

“We wanted to take away their 3-point shooters. Try to identify their drive and shooters and take away what they wanted to do,” he said. “The girls played aggressively defensively man to man, and it worked out.”

Driscoll led PHS with 12 points, and Davis scored nine.

Hulke took scoring honors for Alleman with 19 points, while Audrey Erickson added 15 and Adalynn Voss had 10.

Gonigam said the Tigresses had a good journey.

“With this being the last game and just looking back at our journey this season, I’m proud of that,” she said. “Every practice and all the work we put in. There’s no failure in sports. You look back and all those days were worth something.”