BACK-TO-BACK! Chargers trounce Highland to repeat as Arrowhead Conference champs

GALESBURG — For the second year in a row, the Sandburg women's basketball team is at the top of the Arrowhead Conference.

Needing a win to clinch their second straight conference title, it didn't take the Chargers long to erase any doubt about the outcome. The Chargers ran away from Highland in a 96-56 wire-to-wire victory Tuesday night to give Sandburg a repeat Arrowhead championship.

"That's the best shower I've had in a long time right there," third-year coach Kellen Fernetti said after getting doused with water by his team in the locker room moments after the final buzzer.

The Chargers then returned to the floor wearing conference championship T-shirts and cut down the net in celebration of the 15th Arrowhead title in program history (1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2016, 2017, 2024). It's the ninth time the Chargers have repeated as conference champions. Their last back-to-back titles came in 2016-17.

Sandburg (20-9 overall) finished its conference schedule with a 7-1 record, sharing the Arrowhead crown with Black Hawk, which won Tuesday at Illinois Valley to earn its piece of the championship. 

KEY MOMENTS
• Gabbie Vontz opened the game with a 3-pointer, and the Chargers never trailed. Brook Pieper's putback for a traditional three-point play kickstarted a 13-0 run that gave Sandburg a 23-5 lead in the first quarter. The Chargers led 41-23 at halftime despite an 8-0 Highland run to end the second quarter.
• Sandburg led 55-36 in the third when Pieper knocked down a mid-range jumper, then Tiera Hall scored three straight buckets to open up a 27-point lead.

SANDBURG STANDOUT
Pieper turned in team-bests of 17 points and 14 rebounds while going 6 of 9 from the floor. The sophomore from Abingdon-Avon knocked down a pair of 3s, had five offensive boards and blocked a pair of shots.

OTHER TOP CHARGERS
• Hall: 15 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals
• Vontz: 15 points, 5 rebounds, 5-8 FG
• Lillian Covarrubias: 14 points, 5-10 FG, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals

FOR THE COUGARS
• Sarah Kempel: 19 points
• Tamara Blackmon: 14 points

UP NEXT
1 p.m. Saturday vs. Olive-Harvey (Sophomore Day) 

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