Resilient effort from Saukees leads to strong second half, tournament championship

MT. STERLING, Ill. — When his team’s 10-point lead evaporated, Pittsfield girls basketball Noah Mendenhall was able to see what kind of character his team has.

It’s a resilient one.

The Saukees limited Brown County to two field goals in the third quarter Saturday night, regaining the lead and then getting points from five different players in the fourth quarter to earn a 50-44 victory in the championship game of the Lady Hornet Classic. 

“We really showed some resilience,” Mendenhall said. “We battled back through that.”

It started with defense.

“Being aggressive all over the floor,” Mendenhall said. “We guarded well, especially with the height disadvantage. We got up and pressured their guards and pressured their bigs when they got out of the post. After some adjustments, they really started to rotate well and forced a lot of turnovers.”

Lila Simon scored seven of her nine points in the third quarter when Pittsfield (6-0) outscored Brown County 14-8 to take the lead for good. Reece Ramsey led the Saukees with 19 points, knocking down five 3-pointers.

Ashlee Markert led Brown County (4-1) with 18 points, while Kenzie Kassing added 16.

With three of the next four games on the road, the confidence boost Pittsfield gained this week is welcome.

“They definitely earned it,” Mendenhall said. “The early practices and constantly working to get better is paying off. We’ve had some pretty great practices, very competitive and working hard.”