Battle for the board — The Mater Dei duo of Maybree Budde(3) and Marlee Loepker battle for a rebound with Belleville West’s ChiYira Wilson in the fourth quarter of the Lady Knights’ 30-point victory on Tuesday, Dec. 23 in Mascoutah. PHOTO BY JEREMY CHAWGO The Mater Dei Lady Knights girls basketball team had a strong start and in the process, earned fourth-place at the talent Mascoutah Holiday Tournament.
Mater Dei beat Belleville West and O’Fallon before falling to Nashville and Alton.
Mater Dei is now 9-5 on the season and they will play at Camp Point Central on Saturday, Jan. 3.
Alton 68, Mater Dei 48: The Knights had 29 turnovers in the loss in the third-place game.
“We struggled to handle their pressure and make good decisions,” Mater Dei coach Bridget Winter said. “They just capitalized on our errors.”
Mater Dei had a 5-4 first-quarter lead following a senior Addison Ringwald basket. Alton went on an 8-0 run to take a 12-5 lead. Mater Dei responded with a 7-1 run and got within 13-11 after the opening quarter following two senior Amelia Beer free throws.
Ringwald made one of her three 3-pointers in the game to put Mater Dei up 14-13 to open the second quarter. That would be the last lead Mater Dei would have. Alton went on a 12-4 run to take a 25-18 lead following a senior Justice Haynes 3-pointer. 
Running transition — Mater Dei senior Amelia Beer runs in transition in the Lady Knights’ running-clock victory over KeVonna Baker and Belleville West on Tuesday, Dec. 23 in Mascoutah. Beer had 12 points and four rebounds in the win. PHOTO BY JEREMY CHAWGO An Avery Patton basket stopped the Alton run. A sophomore Claire Delehanty 3-pointer and senior Kaylea Lacey basket put Alton up 30-20. Baskets from junior Mariah Benhoff and sophomore Myah Pollmann got Mater Dei within 30-24 at halftime.
Alton scored the first nine third-quarter points to take a 39-24 lead following two Lacey baskets. A senior Marlee Loepker 3-pointer and Patton basket put Mater Dei on a 5-2 run to get the Knights within 41-29. Mater Dei got no closer than 12 points in the third quarter.
Leading 52-38, Alton opened the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run to take a 60-38 lead following a senior Kyridas Orr basket. The Knights got no closer than 17 points in the fourth quarter.
Loepker led Mater Dei with 11 points. Pollmann had nine points and five rebounds. Ringwald was 3-for-5 from 3-point range for nine points. Beer had nine points.
Lacey led Alton with 23 points. Junior Madeleine Ducey had 13 points.
“This is a strong tournament and there is a lot of great competition,” Winter said. “This is not the finish that we wanted, but we have just got to start finishing shots and playing complete games.”
Nashville 64, Mater Dei 48: The Hornettes used a strong start to fight off foul trouble in their semifinal win over the Lady Knights on Saturday in Mascoutah.
Sam and Summer Brinkmann did a lot of scoring and some fouling in the first quarter as they combined for 13 points and four fouls in the opening eight minutes.
Meanwhile, Amelia Beer was on her game for the Lady Knights with a seven-point quarter. Myah Pollmann added the lone other bucket for MD as they were 3-of-13 in the frame.
Sam Brinkmann had eight points in eight minutes while Summer Brinkmann added five points with NCHS leading 15-9 after one quarter of play.
Summer Brinkmann picked up her third foul in the second quarter as MD hung with the defending State champs.
Beer hit for seven more points in the frame while Pollmann and Mariah Benhoff added jumpers. Helena Timmermann hit two free throws for MD who trailed 30-22 at the break.
By you — Mater Dei sophomore Helena Timmermann dribbles past Belleville West defender Toni Powe in the third quarter of the Lady Knights’ 30-point victory over the Maroons on Tuesday, Dec. 23 in Mascoutah. Timmermann had a pair of rebounds. PHOTO BY JEREMY CHAWGO Summer Brinkmann had 10 points and four rebounds in the first half while Sam Brinkmann had eight points.
Nashville was 11-of-21 from the field, that included 3-of-4 from the arc. They were 5-of-10 from the line with five turnovers.
Mater Dei got 14 points and two boards from Beer in the half while Pollmann scored four points. MD was 8-of-27 from the field with a 1-of-3 clip from the arc. They were 5-of-5 from the line with just three turnovers.
Mater Dei managed just three field goals in the third quarter with single deuces from Beer, Timmermann and Patton while Benhoff hit two free throws for MD.
Nashville got single buckets from the Brinkmanns, Mikayla Gajewski and Kenlee Schoenberg as they led 45-34 entering the final quarter.
Mater Dei got a big convention three-point play from Pollmann to get within 49-39 with two minutes gone in the fourth quarter.
However, Nashville hit for the next seven points to put the game out of reach with two jumpers and a charity shot from Summer Brinkmann as they led 56-39.
Patton got two buckets for MD down the stretch while Beer dialed long range and Marlee Loepker hit a drive.
Summer Brinkmann hit four deuces and five free throws in the final eight to seal the victory.
Mater Dei got 20 points and five rebounds from Beer who was 7-of-15 from the field. Pollmann added eight points and four boards while Timmermann scored six points.
Mater Dei was 17-of-52 from the floor that included them hitting on 2-of-12 from the arc. They were 12-of-14 from the line with seven turnovers.
Summer Brinkmann scored 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds. The junior was 8-of-12 from the field and 5-of-6 from the line.
Sam Brinkmann hit for 20 points on 4-of-9 from the field and 11-of-14 from the line with three rebounds. Gajewski had eight points and six rebounds.
NCHS was 19-of-38 from the field and 3-of-4 from the arc with 11 turnovers. They were 23-of-29 from the line.
Mater Dei 51, O’Fallon 50: The Lady Knights picked up an upset win and avenged an earlier-season loss with their quarterfinal win over the Lady Panthers on Tuesday in Mascoutah.
The contest was close throughout, with five players in double figures and no team leading by more than seven points at any time.
Mater Dei used the long ball in the opening quarter with two three-pointers from Helena Timmermann, one from Mariah Benhoff and another from senior Amelia Beer.
Kayla Kalmer hit a three-pointer for the Panthers while Quinn Zurjel was strong in the post with six points as MD led 13-12 after eight minutes of play.
Beer struck for a deuce and a triple in the second quarter while Myah Pollmann did the same. Avery Patton added a put back shot.
Nakia McCottrell got hot for O’Fallon with three buckets while Josie Christopher converted on a drive and a three-pointer as the teams were tied 26-26 at the half.
The scoring slowed in the third quarter with the Panthers outscoring MD 10-8. MD got two buckets from Marlee Loepker and single ones from Beer and Addison Ringwald.
O’Fallon converted on 4-of-6 from the line while McCottrell added two more buckets with OTHS leading 36-34 entering the final frame.
Christopher struck for two three-pointers for the Panthers while Sasha Kelley also drained one. McCottrell hit her final bucket of the game as did Zerjal.
Mater Dei took the win by making six of their seven charity shots while Beer hit a three-pointer. Loepker stole the shot with three buckets and three free throws for a nine-point quarter to secure the victory for MD.
Beer led the way with 15 points while Loepker had all 13 of hers in the second stanza.
Christopher paced O’Fallon with 15 points. McCottrell added 13 points and Zerjal scored 10 points.
Mater Dei 49, Belleville West 19: The Lady Knights had a balanced offensive attack in their first-round victory over the Maroons on Tuesday in Mascoutah.
The Knights’ defense was the story early on in the contest with them swarming the Lady Maroons and forcing them into seven early turnovers.
Meanwhile, Marlee Loepker hit an early triple for MD while Addison Ringwald scored on a drive for a 5-0 lead where MD never looked back.
GaKorria Green got the first West bucket with 1:15 gone in the opening quarter before MD went on to score the next seven points.
Senior Amelia Beer put in a bucket as did Myah Pollmann while Ringwald tripled it up with a three-pointer and a 12-2 lead midway through the quarter.
Green got their only other bucket of the frame with 10 seconds left before Pollmann converted a three-point conversion play to end the quarter with the Lady Knights in charge at 15-4.
Mater Dei scored the first nine points of the second quarter with Beer hitting a three-pointer from the left elbow while Mariah Benhoff hit a jumper and two charity shots for a 24-4 cushion for MD with 1:50 left in the half.
Green got two free throws down the stretch for West as they missed all five of their shots and turned it over 11 times in the second quarter as they trailed 30-6.
Benhoff led all players with eight points at the break while Beer added six points. Green had all six of West’s points.
Green hit two early buckets for West while Mater Dei got two buckets and two free throws from Beer and single deuces from Ringwald and Avery Patton with MD leading 45-13 after the break. Toni Powe hit a late three-pointer for the first bucket for West by anyone other than Green.
Mater Dei got two buckets in the fourth quarter with one from Benhoff and the other from freshman Camden Porter.
Mater Dei was paced by Beer with 12 points and four rebounds. She was 4-of-8 from the field and 3-of-4 from the line. Benhoff had eight of her 10 points in the first half.
Ringwald added seven points for MD who was 18-of-47 from the field and 10-of-18 from the line. They hit a trio of three-pointers and turned it over seven times.
West got 10 points from Green and they were 6-of-26 from the field and they turned it over 28 times in the loss.
