Morton takes down Washington

Everyone knew Morton Washington was going to be a battle. It was a packed gym in Morton as two of the best teams in the state went head to head. Morton won 41-37.

Paige Selke had twelve points in the win. I talked to her about the Potters defense being able to control Washington tonight. “I mean I thought we did a really good job taking a way the three and that was really important the three is what makes them go and we rebounded well I feel we did a good job at keeping them to one and done, we also did a good job at transition d we know that they like to push the ball and we did a good job at keeping them from scoring in transition.”

Beating Washington is never easy. How big is it as a team to have everyone step up and play a big role in getting a win like this? “To beat Washington it’s gotta be a team effort and I feel like everyone on the team really stepped up and played their role great last night.”

Morton’s schedule doesn’t get easy. They play teams like Richwoods, Metamora, and Washington. How can the team feed off this win for the rest of the season knowing you can win the conference? “I think it just shows how good we are as a team and how we should have confidence in ourselves. This was a good win for us. I think we will only get better from here.” Selke said. 

Sophomore Penelope Drake was very impressive. She had nine points in the game, seven of her points were in the first quarter. I talked with her about the packed crowd making a factor in the game. 

“It was an amazing atmosphere, with all the pink night activities and knowing we were playing for something more helped our energy as well. The crowd was full of energy and I do believe that is part of the reason we came out with a bounce to our step. It was overall just a really fun and electric atmosphere!”

The team was ready for this game, and so was coach King. Penelope talked about what coach King preached about pregame. “While there inevitably has been some differences in the program, he definitely isn't underprepared. Before the game against Washington he preached that we had to believe and not hope that we were going to win. He also talks a lot about players over plays in the sense that they can call whatever plays they want, but in the end it comes down to how hard we want it, and I think some of these concepts are a reason he's been so successful.” 

The Morton Potters are now at the top of the Mid-Illini Conference, and are ranked first in class 3A. With Morton having a ton of momentum and confidence, who knows where they can be at the end of the season.