On December 29th and 30th, the Belleville Girls basketball team traveled to Evansville for a two-day Holiday Tournament. The Wildcats started by taking on 3rd ranked Division 4 Brodhead on Wednesday the 29th. Brodhead came into the game with a record of 10-0 and the Wildcats knew that this was a great opportunity to see how they matched up against one of the top ranked teams in Division 4.

The game showed both teams coming out with a lot of energy and there was even more emphasis on this game as both teams are in the same sectional come play-off seeding time. The first half of the game was back and forth in scoring and saw Brodhead take a 28-26 lead into the halftime. One of the stars for Belleville in the first half of this game was freshman Maddi DeSmet, as she scored 9 of her 13 points in this half which helped the Wildcats stay in striking distance of the Cardinals. The second half saw both teams go on scoring streaks and with under a minute to go Belleville was down 52-49, but the girls showed real grit by getting a couple important steals and Ava Foley made a key free throw to tie the game at 52-52 with just a few seconds to go. With 3.2 seconds left on the clock, the Wildcats inbounded the ball and with a quick pass to Ava Foley she made a driving shot with only 1.2 seconds left to give the Wildcats this very hard earned 54-52 victory.

The Wildcats were led in scoring by Ava Foley with 15 points, 6 rebounds 2 assists and 2 steals, Maddi DeSmet with 13 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, Callie Smith with 8 points, 16 rebounds, 1 steal, and 2 blocks, and Alyssa Caskey with 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 steal.

And then on Thursday, December 30th, the Wildcats took on an improving Evansville Blue Devils team.

Coach Tony Pharo mentioned, "It is always hard to play on the second day of a holiday tournament, especially after winning such an emotional game the day before."

But he was very pleased to see how his team came out with a lot of energy and determination to continue getting better each game. The game saw the Wildcats take a 37-32 lead into halftime and, after a couple halftime adjustments, the Wildcats came out with a renewed smothering defense which only allowed the Blue Devils to score 12 points in the second half and saw the Belleville Wildcats go onto an impressive 64-44 victory.

The Wildcats were led in scoring by Ava Foley's game high and tied-career high 25 points, 13 rebounds, and 6 steals, Mickey Stampfl with 11 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals, Kenna Edge with 9 points and 2 steals, and Callie Smith with 8 points, 14 rebounds, and 3 blocks.

After these two great wins, the Belleville girls basketball team improves their record to 10-1 on the season as they are set to renew conference play on Thursday, January 6th, against the Cambridge Blue Jays.