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O'Fallon girls grab road win at=20 Collinsville
Panthers (14-8, 6-5) sweep = season=20 series from Kahoks

By Greg=20 Uptain
Friday, January 29, 2010 = 1:15 AM=20 CST

It=20 definitely wasn't a free throw shooting clinic, but a win is a win and = the=20 O'Fallon girls basketball team was in desperate need of one, so it'll = take=20 it.

In Thursday night's Southwestern Conference matchup between = the=20 Panthers and host Collinsville Kahoks, the two teams combined to shoot = just 42.2=20 percent from the charity stripe, but O'Fallon hit enough of its freebies = down=20 the stretch to earn a 45-36 victory at Fletcher = Gym.

"Collinsville always=20 plays great defense with Coach (Steve) McFall," Panthers coach Ryan = Massey said.=20 "The games they play are normally low-scoring games. For us to be able = to come=20 into Collinsville and score 45 here, miss a ton of free throws and be = without=20 (injured senior point guard) Ally Fore, who has started every game since = her=20 sophomore year, it's big."

O'Fallon was led Thursday by senior = forward=20 Stephanie Copelin's 12 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Taylor = Klingelhoefer had eight points, while senior forward Camihya Tally added = seven=20 and freshman center Katie Roustio scored six.

"I felt good. There = were=20 times I forced it when I know I should have passed it off," said = Copelin, who=20 was 4-of-11 from the floor, including a pair of big 3-pointers in the = third=20 quarter.

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The win halted a downward spiral that saw O'Fallon = (14-8=20 overall, 6-5 SWC) lose six of its previous seven games after a 12-2=20 start.

"We didn't play great. We still made some mistakes, but = our goal=20 is to be playing our best basketball at the end of the year and right = now I feel=20 like we're starting to see a little breakthrough with the girls," Massey = said.=20 "For the first time in about two, two-and-a-half weeks, I feel like = there's a=20 little bit of fight and a little bit of grit in our minds. Hopefully = we'll find=20 a little bit more of that down the stretch."

Collinsville dropped = its=20 second straight game after winning the Carbondale Invitational last week = to fall=20 to 9-11 overall and 2-8 in league play.

"Defensively, I didn't = think we=20 were terrible," McFall said. "The fact is at some point you've got to be = able to=20 make layups and free throws and we didn't do either tonight. We just did = things=20 tonight that we haven't done most of the year."

The Kahoks got 10 = points=20 apiece from senior forwards Shantey Hibbler and Cassie Bluemner, but = Hibbler -=20 Collinsville's leading scorer at 14.3 points per game coming in - was=20 continually hampered by down low by Copelin's strong = defense.

"Hibbler's=20 a load down there. She's so strong and so good around the basket," = Massey said.=20 "I thought Stephanie Copelin did a tremendous job really making her work = for=20 position. She really fought her hard."

The two teams were fairly = cold=20 from the floor in the first quarter, as it took a late 6-2 run by the = Panthers=20 to give them just an 8-7 lead after one.

A 3-pointer off the = bench by=20 senior guard Kayla Halde pulled Collinsville even at 14 just under three = minutes=20 into the second quarter, but O'Fallon rattled off a 6-0 run to grab a = 20-14=20 edge. The Kahoks responded, though, with five straight points to make it = a 20-19=20 game at halftime. The run was punctuated by a 3-pointer by Bluemner with = seven=20 seconds left off a great dribble-penetration pass by sophomore point = guard Kayla=20 Murphy.

"Bluemner can flat-out shoot the basketball. She's got a = green=20 light from three, four, five feet behind the 3-point line," Massey said. = "Even=20 at our place when we beat them by one (40-39 on Dec. 10), she hit a deep = three=20 on us and I've constantly told our girls to force her to = drive."

The=20 Panthers scored nine of the first 11 points of the third quarter to = enjoy their=20 biggest lead to that point at 29-21 with 4:15 left in the third quarter. = The=20 lead was 32-27 heading into the final quarter.

Sophomore guard = Tori=20 Bell's 3-pointer and Hibbler's free throw inside the first minute of the = fourth=20 quarter capped off a 7-0 run and brought the Kahoks all the way back to = just one=20 point down at 32-31, but O'Fallon responded with a 7-0 run of its own to = push=20 the lead right back to eight at 39-31 with four minutes=20 remaining.

Collinsville would get no closer than six points the = rest of=20 the way as O'Fallon completed the season sweep of the Kahoks.

"I = was real=20 pleased with their effort even through a lot of missed free throws in = the fourth=20 quarter," Massey said. "We were able to go down and really defend very=20 well."

The Panthers converted just 9-of-17 free throw attempts in = the=20 fourth quarter, but made enough to hold off the Kahoks. For the game, = O'Fallon=20 shot just 13-of-27 (48.1 percent) from the line.

Collinsville = also=20 struggled mightily at the free throw line, sinking just six of its 18 = free throw=20 attempts (33.3 percent).

"We've never had a team that's worked = this hard=20 at it. We're just not very good free throw shooters," McFall said. "We = just=20 haven't knocked them down. Some of it probably has gotten to be a little = bit=20 mental, but eventually those are the kind of things you've got to be = able to do=20 in our conference."

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Noisy=20 mufflers, stereos targeted in St. Peters
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UPDATE:=20 St. Charles County Council freezes pay for 7 elected = officials=20
POKIN=20 AROUND: Highland Homes: 'A slow and painful process'=20
One=20 local professor has a mind for Olympic gold=20
Althoff=20 aims for another league title=20
UPDATE:=20 Alderman withdraws fireworks = bill