Eastern High School

IHSAA Sectional 46 - 2A at Eastern Pekin (All For One Arena) The Eastern Lady Musketeers earned their 8th sectional title in school history on their home court at All For One Arena this past Saturday night. This was Coach Taylor Drury’s first title as head coach of the Lady M’s after winning two as a player in 2014 and 2017. Eastern hosted Sectional 46, a four night event, featuring 8 teams in the local 2A division of the IHSAA State Tournament. The host Lady Musketeers got a challenging draw having to go through upstart county rival Salem, sectional favorite Providence and long time sectional foe Crawford County, which featured Indiana Wesleyan recruit, Emery Stroud. Tuesday and Wednesday Nights - Quarterfinal Games On Tuesday, the Lady M’s had the night off as Clarksville, another up and coming team, defeated Mitchell 48-18 while Crawford County ousted defending champion Lanesville 40-25. Lanesville will return to 1A next year after spending two years in 2A due to their successful back to back state championship runs in 1A during the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Wednesday night began with a Washington County throwdown between host Eastern and neighbor Salem as the Lady M’s prevailed 53-32 behind a balanced scoring effort. Junior Katie Hauner and sophomore Bailee Robbins both tallied 13 points while seniors Sidney Burton and Addie Smith had 12 and 9 points respectively. Burton had 7 rebounds, while Addie Smith and Hauner had 6 boards each. Addie Smith also had 4 assists. Providence defeated Paoli 56-34 to move on to Friday's semifinal game to face Eastern. Friday Night - Sectional Semi-Finals Friday night began with a classic battle between a young, physical Clarksville Lady Generals team and Crawford County, in which the Lady Wolfpack survived 46-41 in the final minutes to advance to Saturday’s championship game. The nightcap featured Sagarin Rankings favorite Providence and the host Lady Musketeers. The Lady Musketeers shook off some early nerves to take a 15-11 lead at the end of the first quarter and managed to take a 21-16 lead into the half. In the third quarter that lead dwindled to 21-20, but the Lady M’s held strong and eventually built their biggest lead of the game as senior Eliza Starrett found junior Bailey Trainer for a 3 pointer that made the AFO faithful erupt. It was Trainer’s only basket of the night, but it gave the Lady M’s some needed separation from the Lady Pioneers. Eastern would build its lead to 32-20 going into the 4th quarter, when they began to spread the floor and force the Lady Pioneers to chase them. Providence elected to make aggressive plays on the ball and began fouling with 6 minutes remaining in the game forcing the Lady M’s to make free throws down the stretch. The Lady Musketeers made good on their opportunities while being strong and protective with the basketball and making good on 14-20 free throws over the last 6 minutes to solidify their win and move on to the sectional championship. The Lady M’s also played tough, team defense all night, making it difficult for Providence to score in their half court offense. In addition to very tough defense, the Lady M’s also dominated the interior outrebounding the Lady Pioneers 43-13. Eastern got a huge night from senior Sidney Burton who had a double double with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Senior Avery Smith and junior Katie Hauner flirted with double doubles as well. Avery Smith had 6 points and 13 rebounds and Hauner had 5 points and 9 rebounds along with a blocked shot. Senior Addie Smith led an outstanding defensive effort from the Lady M’s defense who held Providence to just 33 points. Providence was averaging 57 points a contest coming into the game. Saturday Night - Championship Game All For One Arena was packed and full of energy at Saturday’s Championship game between Crawford County and Eastern. Both schools showed small town, community spirit in coming out to support their teams. The game was nip and tuck for most of the first half as neither team could build more than a 3 point lead before the Lady M’s went on a 7-0 run at the end of the 1st quarter to take a 16-11 lead into the second frame. In quarter two, Addie Smith hit a three pointer to put the Lady M’s up 7, at 25-18, their biggest lead of the first half, before the teams took their halftime break with Eastern up 25-20. An early three pointer in the third quarter by Avery Smith put Eastern up 28-20, but the Lady Wolfpack responded with a 10-0 run to take the lead 30-28. Eastern responded quickly as Bailee Robbins hit a big three pointer to give the Lady M’s back the advantage at 31-30. On the next possession, Robbins found senior Eliza Starrett for a basket to put Eastern up 33-30. Crawford County cut it to 33-32 before Robbins hit another big three pointer to extend the lead to 36-32. The Lady M’s took a 38-34 lead into the 4th quarter. Eastern clinged to their lead for several possessions throughout the early part of the 4th quarter before junior Katie Hauner’s 3 pointer made it 45-38 giving Eastern the separation it needed to gain some breathing room. The Lady M’s protected their lead with solid team defense and rebounding, taking care of the basketball and making enough of their free throws down the stretch to finish off the sectional championship victory, 53-43. Senior Addie Smith flirted with a triple double with 13 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Sidney Burton posted 11 points and Katie Hauner had 8 points. Senior Avery Smith flirted with another double double scoring 8 points and nabbing 9 rebounds. Bailee Robbins had 6 points on the two pivotal threes in the third quarter that resulted in a lead the Lady M’s would not relinquish. Bailey Trainer chipped in 4 points, while senior Eliza Starrett had 3 points and 6 rebounds, playing some vital minutes in the second half in providing interior hustle and toughness for the Lady M’s. Burton and the Smith twins earned All Sectional 46 Honors. Regional Information The Lady Musketeers will face old MSC foe Austin at Charlestown High School at 1 pm this Saturday for a Regional Championship. Digital tickets can be purchased on the link below. There will also be a cash box at the door. All For One and One For All, get out and support our Lady Musketeers as they pursue their second regional title in girls basketball history. Advanced Digital Tickets Sale: https://public.eventlink.com/tickets?t=174729