St. Ann Girls Basketball Finishes Second

The St. Ann girls basketball team brought home second place at the St. Libory Tournament. Back Row: Hazel Konkel, Ruby Konkel, Colleen Jahnke, Tailer Pelczynski, and Dan Varel. Front Row: Reese Varel, Emma Van Hise, Talanie Kozuszek, Ally Johannes, Ella Wesselmann.

By Brent Huelsmann

The St. Ann Saints girls basketball kicked off the season with two tournaments. The Saints competed in the Tamaroa/St. Bruno Tournament, as well as the St. Libory Tournament. While St. Ann struggled at the Tamaroa/St. Bruno tournament, they bounced back to finish second in the St. Libory Tournament. St. Ann currently has a record of 3-3.

The Saints began the season with a 34-30 loss to Pinckneyville 204 in the Tamaroa/St. Bruno. Reese Varel led the way 10 points in the loss. Tailer Pelczynski added nine points, followed by Hazel Konkel with four points. Colleen Jahnke chipped in three points, while both Emma Van Hise and Telanie Kozuszek added two points.

St. Ann fell to 0-2 in the Tamaroa/St. Bruno tournament with a 42-19 loss to the host school. The Saints were led by Jahnke with seven points, followed by Kozuszek with six points. Varel added four points, and Pelczynski rounded out the scoring with two points.

The only win for St. Ann in the Tamaroa/St. Bruno tournament came against the Nashville Middle School seventh grade team. St. Ann grabbed a narrow 17-16 victory, for their first win of the season. Hazel Konkel finished with nine points to lead the way, followed by Jahnke with three points. Both Ruby Konkel and Varel  each finished with two points, while Kozuszek rounded out the scoring with one point.

The Saints then began play in the St. Libory tournament, where they dominated First Baptist Academy in their first game. St. Ann easily won 38-5.  The Saints had two players in double figures as Kozuszek led the way with 16 points while Jahnke added 12 points. Both Johannes and Varel chipped in four points, and Pelczynski rounded out the scoring with two points in the win.

The Saints then dropped their next contest of the tournament 45-27 to Marissa. Kozuszek led the way with 12 points, while Ella Wesselmann and Van Hise each had four points. Ruby Konkel and Varel each added two points, and Johannes scored one point in the loss.

St. Ann came away with second place in the tournament with a 48-10 win over St. Libory. Kozuszek and Jahnke were each in double figures as Kozuszek finished with 14 points, and Jahnke finished with 10 points. Johannes added eight points, while Varel chipped in six points. Van Hise scored five points in the win, followed by Pelczynski with three points. Ruby Konkel scored two points for St. Ann.