Marion County College Report

Courtney Herron's career-best 23 Points Spur KC to Victory

Posted on February 2, 2010 by Daniel L. Chamness

Many times when she takes the court for Kaskaskia College, Centralia grad Courtney Herron is facing off against much taller players.

At. 5-foot-10, Herron is rarely the biggest center on the floor. Though height didn’t matter when Kaskaskia defeated John A. Logan 77-68. In the victory, Herron proved a thinking player can beat a tall player most days.

Herron finished with a career high 23 points in the victory, hitting 10-of-16 from the field and a perfect 3-of-3 from the stripe. She missed a double-double by one board, finishing with nine rebounds and two steals.

"Courtney played very well that night," Kaskaskia coach Leslie Olajimbiti said. "When a freshman has a game like this, we are always happy."

The freshman has played in 17 games thus far this year and has 115 points and 84 rebounds for respective averages of 6.8 and 4.9 per game. She also has 12 steals, six assists and three blocked shots. She has hit 47-of-89 from the field and 21-of-30 from the stripe.

"The paint was real open that night," Herron said of her career night against John A. Logan. "I credit our outside shooters because our opponents know they hit from outside. When I came to school here, I just wanted to play and contribute."

Herron was not the only KC athlete from the area to hit double figures in the win. Former Salem Wildcat Amanda Oulrey, also a KC freshman, finished with 12 points, draining 5-of-9 field goals, which included two treys.

In KC's most recent game, a 69-66 loss to the Washington University Lady Bears junior varsity team, Oulrey finished with 15 points on 5-of-15 from the field. Two of those hits were from 3-point range. Salem grad Caroline Smith and Herron each finished with four points. Smith, who was started at point guard, also had seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals. KC is 9-13 overall and 4-4 in the Great Rivers Athletic Conference. ...

The Southern Indiana women's team has hit a mild slump and has lost three consecutive games. In their two most recent games, they lost to Indianapolis and Wisconsin-Parkside. USI lost both games by identical 74-64 scores. Ellen Young, a Salem grad and USI junior, had her best game against Wisconsin-Parkside, scoring 27 points by hitting 9-of-20 from the field and 6-of-7 from the stripe. Young, who struck twice from beyond the arc, also had seven rebounds and three assists. The Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles are 15-5 overall and 6-3 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

The entire student body at USI has been dealing with a death in the athletic community. USI men's basketball player Jeron Lewis passed away after his head struck the floor during the Kentucky Wesleyan College basketball game in mid-January. Hours later, Lewis passed away at a local hospital. ...

Danielle Miller, a Centralia grad and Dominican University sophomore, missed a double-double as Dominican lost a 69-57 decision to Benedictine. Miller, who pulled down 12 rebounds, also had nine points, hitting 4-of-8 from the field and 1-of-2 from the stripe. Dominican is 7-11 overall and 3-9 in the Northern Athletic Conference. ...

DePauw University defeated Austin College 69-38 as former Centralia player and DePauw senior Kristin Barrow scored six points. Barrow hit all three of her field goal attempts and finished with three rebounds. DePauw has won 13 consecutive games and is now ranked 22nd in the NCAA Division III poll conducted by d3hoops.com. They are 17-3 overall and 10-1 in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. ...

Men's Basketball

Andy Wolff, a McKendree junior and Centralia resident, scored 13 points in an 80-74 win over Park University. The road win improved McKendree's record to 17-5 overall and 6-0 in the American Midwest Conference. The Metro East Lutheran product hit 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-4 from the stripe, adding five assists and two rebounds. McKendree was ranked seventh in the most recent NAIA poll. Park University was ranked 24th in the same poll at the time of the contest. ...

Joey Parker, a former Centralia Orphans star, scored six points to help Lindenwood defeat Culver-Stockton 74-47. Parker also had five rebounds and five assists. Lindenwood is 15-7 overall and 7-5 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. ...

Former Salem teammates John Fischer and Dakota Tucker met on the opposite side of the basketball court recently when Blackburn defeated Greenville 94-82. Tucker, who suits up for Blackburn, scored seven points and doled out four rebounds in his 17 minutes of play. Fischer, a Greenville Panthers regular, finished with two points, two rebounds and two steals. With the win, Blackburn improved to 3-14 overall and 1-9 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Greenville slipped to 8-10 overall and 4-5 in the SLIAC. ...

Indoor Track

Travis Lavin, a Centralia grad and McKendree sophomore, finished fourth in the 5,000-meter run at the Illinois Intercollegiate. Lavin finished the distance race in 15-minutes, 51-seconds. McKendree did not have a team score. University of Illinois won the outing with 169 points. ...

Swimming

Illinois State took it on the chin in its final swimming outing before the Missouri Valley Conference meet. In the 199-110 loss to Wisconsin-Green Bay, former Centralia swimmer Lindsay Dinkelman scored points in three events. Individually the ISU senior finished third in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:29.96) and fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:09.13). She was also a member of the 200-yard medley relay, which finished in 1:52.65. ...