By Jeff Holt
Published February 8, 2023 in The Burg
ALEXIS - They always say that good shooters keep shooting.
That's exactly what Galesburg Christian School senior Kate Potter did on Saturday night in a 51-24 win over the Grand Detour Faith Girls basketball team. Potter scored 13 of her 15 points in the final three quarters of the game to help seal the victory in the championship game of the conference tournament.
"I know I can shoot and that's my job on the team," said Potter, the school's career leading scorer with close to 1,300 points. "Shooters ... once you get hot, you can feel it and you keep making those baskets."
It was the fifth time of the year that these two teams had played each other. They were 2-2 against each other and they knew each others strengths and weaknesses. The stakes were just higher on this night with a conference championship on the line, a packed gym at the Alexis Fieldhouse and a big team trophy waiting for the winner.
Not to be overlooked was the inside effort of low-post player Kaela Hall who also scored 15 points. Hall is just a junior and is right around that 1,100-point mark in career points.
"I thought we played the best we've played all season," said GCS Coach Rob Potter, whose team climbed to 18-8 overall. "They (Grand Detour) are great competition, and I thought our older players stepped up."
Hall and Potter also earned First Team All-Conference honors.
In the first quarter, GCS jumped out to an 8-0 lead. Kate Potter had a left-handed layup and Hall finished off a strong move in the low-post to cap off the rally.
Grand Tour slipped to 14-3 on the season with all of their losses to GCS.
"We missed a lot of bunnies down low," said Grand Tour coach Matt Fassler. "We weren't rebounding and getting in position. They wanted it more than we did tonight."
Homecourt advantage: With 4:30 left in the game, Kate Potter buried an all-net 3-pointer from the corner for a commanding 45-20 lead.
It was the 15th point of the night for the high-scoring senior and the GCS student section hollered out: "MVP. MVP."
So, I just wanted to throw a shoutout to the GCS student section. You "brought it" that night.
The future looks bright for GCS: Grace Potter, the younger sister of Kate, is just an eighth-grader and scored 10 points in the victory on Saturday night.
Box Score
Galesburg Christian 51
K. Potter 2 (3) 2-3 15, Hall 7 1-4 15, Caplinger 2 (1) 0-0 7, G. Potter 4 2-3 10, Howard 2 0-0 4. Totals: 17 (4) 5-10 51.
Grand Detour Faith 24
Hodson 2 0-0 4, Rios 0 (2) 0-2 6, Fassler 3 1-2 7, Royer 1 0-0 2, Mennen 0 3-6 3, McFalls 1 0-0 2. Totals: 7 (2) 4-10 24.
Halftime score: GCS 21-8.