Lady Warriors claim 8th straight Brown County Holiday Tournament title

The Eastern Lady Warriors are the Brown County Holiday Tournament champions once again. The Lady Warriors rallied from behind to top the Western Brown Lady Broncos 59-49 in the 2022 Brown County Holiday Tournament varsity girls’ championship game at Fayetteville-Perry High School on Dec. 29 to bring home the program’s eighth straight holiday tournament title, the longest stretch of consecutive championships in Brown County Holiday Tournament history for a coach, a great accomplishment for Eastern coach Kevin Pickerill. Previously, the longest stretch of consecutive Brown County Holiday Tournament championship wins was seven by Eastern’s coaching legend Richard Kiser who won seven straight from 1987 through 1993.

Of the 40 total Brown County Holiday Tournaments, the Eastern Brown High School varsity girls basketball program has won the varsity side of the holiday tournament 27 times.

Like past years, the 2022 Brown County Holiday Tournament title didn’t come easy for the Lady Warriors, as they had to come from behind against a skilled crew of Western Brown Lady Broncos after trailing 38-28 early in the third quarter.

It was a bucket by Western Brown’s senior forward Amiyah Tull that lifted the Lady Broncos to a 10-point advantage early in the second half.

It was a three-pointer by Eastern’s senior guard Rylee Leonard that sparked the Lady Warrior rally in the third period, trimming the Western Brown lead to 38-31.

It was an assist by Leonard the led to a bucket by Eastern’s senior post player Sarah Clark, slicing the Western Brown lead to 38-33 in the third quarter.

The Lady Warriors were heating up, while on the other end of the court the Lady Broncos were struggling to get shots to fall late in the third quarter.

Eastern junior Emma Litzinger drained a shot in the paint to cut the Western Brown lead to just three, 38-35.

Leonard went to the charity stripe with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter, sinking both attempts to leave the Lady Warriors trailing by just one, 38-37.

The Lady Warriors tied the game at 39 each as Clark buried a shot from close range, but it was Western Brown’s junior guard Cassidy Armstrong coming through with the final field goal of the third quarter to give the Lady Broncos a 41-39 lead headed into the fourth frame.

The Lady Warriors jumped to a 46-43 advantage with a three-pointer by sophomore Clara Martin.

Tull knocked down a bucket to slice the Eastern lead to 46-45 early in the fourth period.

With the 2022 Brown County Holiday Tournament title on the line, Eastern’s senior star Rylee Leonard was ready to shine.

It was a three-pointer by Leonard with 3:18 to go in the fourth period, lifting the Lady Warriors to a 49-45 lead.

With 2:22 left to play, it was Leonard driving to the hoop for a score, expanding the Lady Warriors’ lead to 51-45.

Eastern’s defense managed to force some late turnovers, but the Lady Broncos weren’t backing down.

It was a three-pointer by Western Brown’s junior guard Olivia Fischer that reduced the Eastern lead to 51-48 with just 1:49 to go in the fourth period. But that’s the closest the Lady Broncos would come from that point on.

A pair of hit free throws by Leonard put the Lady Warriors up 53-48.

Leonard weaved through traffic and dished out an assist to Clark late in the fourth period, widening the margin to 55-48.

Leonard managed to connect on another pair of free throws with just over 10 seconds remaining, putting a cap on the 59-49 Lady Warrior win.

“Definitely a quality win,” Pickerill said of his Lady Warriors’ win over the Western Brown Lady Broncos, who were 8-1 coming into the holiday tournament. “I told them at halftime, ‘You’re right in this game.’ They get a late three that kind of took a little bit of momentum out of our sails, but I thought our kids responded. We were a little flat there to start the third quarter, got a quick timeout, and got a little refocused. And from that point on I really thought we dialed in on what we wanted to do.”

“They’re an excellent team,” Pickerill said of the Lady Broncos. “That’s a signature win.”

Leonard led all scorers in the varsity girls’ holiday tournament championship game with 30 points. In another impressive court performance by the senior star, she was able to bury four shots from inside the arc, four three-pointers, and 10-of-12 attempts from the foul line.

Clark also reached double figures in scoring, sinking seven shots from the field and two-of-two from the charity stripe for 16 points.

Fischer finished with 16 points to lead the Lady Broncos, 12 of those coming in the first quarter.

Western Brown’s senior guard Sadie Foster finished with 14 points.

The Lady Broncos defeated the Georgetown Lady G-Men 74-23 in round one of the holiday tourney on Dec. 28 to earn a berth in the championship game. Fischer scored 23 points in that match-up while Foster shot for 21 points.

The Lady Warriors defeated the Fayetteville-Perry Lady Rockets 60-51 in round one of the Brown County Holiday Tourney on Dec. 28 to earn a spot in the championship game.

Names to the 2022 Brown County Holiday Tournament Girls All-Tournament Team were: Alexis Neal (Georgetown), Anne Murphy (Fayetteville-Perry), Sadie Foster (Western Brown), Sarah Clark (Eastern), and Rylee Leonard (Eastern).

Brown County Holiday Tournament Girls’ Championship Game

WB 17 17 7 8 – 49

EB 17 11 11 20 – 59

Western Brown (49): Fischer 6 1-2 16, Foster 4 3-7 14, Tull 3 0-0 6, Campbell 2 1-2 6, Jones 1 2-2 4, Armstrong 1 1-4 3. Three-pointers: Foster 3, Fischer 3, Campbell 1. Team: 17 8-17 49.

Eastern (59): Leonard 8 10-12 30, Clark 7 2-2 16, Litzinger 1 2-5 4, Schumacher 2 0-0 4, Martin 1 0-0 3, Dotson 1 0-1 2. Three-pointers: Leonard 4, MArtin 1. Team: 20 14-20 59.