Five thoughts from the State Farm Holiday Classic Quarterfinals

The class of the State Farm Holiday Classic has lived up to its billing. Top-seeded Richwoods has been strong, Ryle (KY) has been impressive, Morton earned an impressive win and Rock Island had one of its best games to date. All four schools advanced from the quarterfinals, though Richwoods had to squeeze by Kenwood, 54-47, and Morton overcame a second-half deficit to beat Simeon 64-54. Rock Island used a big third quarter to pull ahead of Civic Memorial for a 55-43 win. Ryle used a big second quarter to en route to a 62-43 win over St. Ignatius. Here are five quick takeaways from the quarterfinals. <strong>1. Bob Becker challenged his Morton team like never before, and they came through.</strong> Simeon used its height to its advantage when crashing the glass, particularly on the offensive end. During a timeout in the second quarter, Becker challenged his player by yelling at them, saying they were playing soft. The Potters responded by boxing out and winning some of the rebounds off Simeon misses, so much so that they closed a 31-22 halftime rebound gap to 42-39. Butler recruit <strong>Tenley Dowell (2019)</strong> was big on the glass for the Potters, securing 12 of Morton's 39 rebounds. Moreover, when Morton trailed 39-30 with 4:50 left in the third quarter, he told his team to slow down and make better passes. From there, the Potters outscored Simeon 34-15 to pull out the win, in large part to <strong>Maddy Becker (2020)</strong> connecting on 7-of-12 3-pointers as part of her game-high 23 points. <strong>2. Simeon needs a go-to scorer in late-game situations.</strong> The Wolverines played too fast for their own good, turning the ball over six times in the fourth quarter. Kansas State recruit <strong>Jada Thorpe (2020)</strong> has the skills to take over a game but she was an inefficient 7-for-19 to score her 19 points. Top recruit <strong>Aneesah Morrow (2021)</strong> was on the bench for a good portion of the second half, perhaps managing her workload while coming back from a knee injury, but she only took six shots though she looked like she could have gotten to the rim at will. Once Simeon tightens things up in late-game situations and someone emerges as a go-to scorer, they will be a force for the next several years. <strong>3. Richwoods juniors come up big to secure win over Kenwood, who missed opportunities.</strong> When Camryn Taylor picked up her fourth foul with 2:57 left in the third quarter, she went to the bench and her teammates picked her up. <strong>Jaida McCloud (2020)</strong> proved why she's getting mid-major opportunities, having a great game with 14 points, eight rebounds and three steals. <strong>Nia Williams (2020)</strong> made plays on both ends with nine points, three assists, three steals and three rebounds. Their marked improvement coming into this season helped Richwoods whether the storm with Taylor on the bench. Had Kenwood's <strong>Brianna McDaniel (2022)</strong> not been sick, this game could have swung the Broncos way. UMKC recruit <strong>Tamara Nard (2019)</strong> was brilliant, scoring 17 points while getting anything she wanted in the post. She also grabbed eight rebounds. <strong>Kimeira Burks (2019)</strong> is a shooter and kept shooting, even ill-advised shots. She was 2-for-16 overall and 2-for-13 from 3-point range, often times taking deep attempts. <strong>4. Brea Beal proved to be a dominant scorer.</strong> South Carolina-signee <strong>Brea Beal (2019)</strong> has done a lot of facilitating this season but showcased her ability to score. She was 11-for-20 form the floor and scored 26 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, blocked four shots, had two steals and two dimes. She made it look easy as Civic Memorial switched from a 2-3 zone to a box-and-1 to a trapping man-to-man. The Eagles had no answer for her. Beal's effectiveness in the first half set up opportunities for <strong>Carlee Camlin (2019)</strong>, who was 4-for-6 with three rebounds and two assists. <strong>5. Once Ryle dictates the pace, it's tough to slow them down.</strong> For two straight days, Ryle has had opponents hang with them, and lead, in the first quarter. Like Canton, St. Ignatius had no answer when the Raiders began running in transition. Rice recruit Lauren <strong>Schwartz (2019)</strong> was the beneficiary offensively on Wednesday. One day later it was prized junior <strong>Maddie Scherr (2020)</strong>. Scherr scored a game-high 28 points.