By John Ring
Published in The Burg January 13, 2022
After coming off a third-place finish at the Mattoon Holiday Tournament, the Galesburg Silver Streaks got one of their biggest wins of the season by knocking off the Rock Island Rocks by a 51-41 score.
Senior post Abby Davidson had a big fourth quarter to secure the win and had 17 points and 7 rebounds in the game which improved Galesburg’s record to 14-4 on the season.
“It was a big win for us as a team but also big for me because in my four years here, we had never beaten Rock Island,” said Davidson. “We’re not scared of them, They’re not intimidating. It’s just that we haven’t had success against them. It’s been crazy that way.”
The Streaks fell behind in the first half but didn’t hit the panic button. “We didn’t get down on ourselves,” said Abby. “We dug in and fought back.”
Davidson’s point is spot on. The Rocks—typically—are quick, athletic and competitive. Old habits are hard to break but the Streaks chose the perfect time to knock off the Rocks and Davidson is ready for the Streaks to take on other Big 6 teams, most of them in rematches.
“Conference games are a big deal for us and special for me,” said Abby. “We won’t overlook anyone but the two bigger games are against Geneseo and Moline. We want to get to them.
The Rock Island game is one we can build on. For that to come right after we took third place and played in a Tournament was great timing.”
Davidson and the Streaks were grateful to be able to play and compete at a Holiday Tournament after the last couple of years. “We just haven’t been able to do that because last year, there were no tournaments at all and even last summer, we didn’t travel. We played a lot of games here in Galesburg which was great and good for us as a team but you really do bond as a team when you travel together, stay at a hotel and get into the atmosphere of a tournament. It really does make a difference. So this was a big opportunity for us. It was a chance we had never really had.”
The second game against the Maple Leafs is on January 20 at John Thiel Gym. “We kept with them the first game we played and Geneseo is a really good basketball team,” said Davidson.
“But we think it’s doable to beat them. We were right there with them.”
Until then, the Streaks are road warriors, with their next four games on the road against Peoria Manual, Sterling, Moline and Lincoln. Then they catch up with Geneseo at home on the 20th .
“20 wins would be nice,” said Davidson about the 20-win plateau. “It’s just that we can’t overlook anyone, especially in the Conference. All of the teams are good and we’ll have our work cut out for us.”