The Altamont Lady Indians have ended their season with a win, bouncing back from a tough semifinal loss to top Peru St. Bede 64-56 in the Third Place game of the 1A Girls Basketball State Tournament at Illinois State University on Thursday night. Altamont would get on the board first with a three from Grace Nelson before St. Bede quickly responded with a three of their own to tie it at 3-3 and a free throw gave St. Bede the 4-3 lead. Nelson hit two free throws to give the Indians the lead back at 5-4. That lead was short lived as a St. Bede three and an old-fashioned three-point play had Altamont down 10-5. Kaylee Lurkins hit a pair of free throws and Skylie Klein had a steal and score to cut the St. Bede lead down to 10-9. After another St. Bede basket, Klein got another steal and dished it off to Nelson for the layup and Nelson followed buckets on the next two possessions as Altamont took the lead back 15-12. A 6-0 St. Bede run put Altamont down 18-15 but a basket from Nelson cut it to 18-17 before St. Bede finished scoring in the quarter for a 20-17 lead over the Indians.
St. Bede would go on a 5-0 run to extend their lead over Altamont to 25-17 but back-to-back baskets from Nelson cut the Bruins lead to 25-21. After a St. Bede basket, Brianna Grunloh drilled a three from the corner as Altamont again cut the lead to three points, 27-24. Then with the Bruins up 30-24, Nelson hit two free throws and Peyton Osteen hit a three with 10 seconds left as Altamont cut their deficit down to one and trailed 30-29 at halftime.
After St. Bede scored first to open the half, P. Osteen again hit a big three to tie the game at 32-32. The Indians then used a reverse layup from Nelson and another corner three from Grunloh to take a 37-35 lead. After a St. Bede three gave them the lead back, 38-37, Altamont went on a 9-0 run with Nelson accumulating all nine points as the Indians took a 46-38 lead. St. Bede would hit three free throws before the end of the quarter, but a three from Nelson and free throws from P. Osteen pushed Altamont lead to 51-41 at the end of the third quarter.
The Bruins would fight back to start the fourth quarter and cut Altamont’s lead to 51-47, but P. Osteen again hit for three to extend the Indian lead back to 54-47. A 4-0 run by the Bruins again cut into the Altamont lead but it was P. Osteen again with a basket and Nelson followed that with a score of her own as Altamont led 61-51. Nelson would score the final three points of the game for the Indians as they would hold off St. Bede and close out the 64-56 win and claim third place of the 1A State Tournament as they end their season at 28-7.
Altamont Scoring:
Grace Nelson – 39 points
Peyton Osteen – 10 points
Brianna Grunloh – 6 points
Skylie Klen – 5 points
Claire Boehm – 2 points
Kaylee Lurkins – 2 points
