ORION — The Monmouth-Roseville girls basketball team used a strong third quarter surge Monday night en route to a 55-39 victory over Knoxville in the Orion Regional semifinals.
The victory sets up a fourth meeting of the season between the Titans, now 24-7, and Rockridge, which defeated Mercer County 63-39 in Monday’s first semifinal game.
The Rockets have won all three meetings between the two teams this season but Monmouth-Roseville head coach Scott Weber is confident his team will be ready to turn the tables.
“If we can execute our game plan, I like our chances,” Weber said following the victory over Knoxville, a team that had previously defeated the Titans four straight in the postseason from 2014 through 2017.
Monmouth-Roseville had three scorers in double figures against the Blue Bullets: Freshman Bri Woodard (17 points), sophomore Carmyn Huston (16), and junior Mattie Gillen (13).
“We had a couple of breakdowns but for the most part I thought our defense was very good,” said Weber, who singled out junior Mariah Reading for her defensive effort.
Monmouth-Roseville and Rockridge will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday to determine the Orion Regional champion.
The winner of that game advances to the Illinois Valley Central Sectional semifinals at Chillicothe on Tuesday, Feb. 22.
