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Sherrard gets defensive in sectional win
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By Daniel Makarewicz, danmak@qconline.com
By Daniel Makarewicz, danmak@qconline.com
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ORION -- For 80 seconds on Tuesday night, the Knoxville girls' basketball team dribbled around the perimeter as they searched for any crease to the basket. Each time the Blue Bullets tried attacking the lane, Sherrard's defenders cut them off. Once a slight path did open, the possession ended with Knoxville committing a turnover under the basket. In a nutshell, that 80-second sequence illustrated Sherrard's 44-25 win in a Class 2A Orion Sectional semifinal. "They were running their offense, and we were there," Sherrard coach Doug Swanson said. "We just did a great job." At no point did Sherrard (27-3), which meets El Paso-Gridley in Thursday's sectional final after setting a school record for single-season wins, make the Blue Bullets comfortable on the offensive end. Every angle of the court was defended, with the Tigers forcing Knoxville into turnovers or contested shots. In the final three quarters, the Blue Bullets scored 15 points. "I'll tell you what, (Sherrard) is a talented team," Knoxville coach Matt Gibson said. "The one thing we haven't seen all year is their physicality and strength. They really do a nice job of exploiting weaknesses with their strength. They did that." How well did Sherrard defend? Two weeks ago, Knoxville suffered a 48-44 loss at Harry Hunt Gymnasium. Surrendering 44 points is a pretty good night. On this one, the Tigers limited Knoxville to 19 less. "Coach Swanson definitely had a good scouting report," Sherrard senior guard Carly Adams said. "We were familiar with what they do. We played with a lot of heart and did what we needed to do." Knoxville shot 31.4 percent (11 of 35) from the field. Other than a couple of layups, the Blue Bullets never had a clean look at the basket. "It had to do with the type of pressure we were putting on," Swanson said. "We did just a really good job on the defensive end of limiting open looks." Further proof of Sherrard's defensive domination was evident in the second half. Shelby Calderone, who scored a game-high 18 points, converted a layup to start the third quarter for a 32-15 lead. But the Tigers went exactly 10 minutes without a field goal.When Anne Winston ended the drought with five minutes left in regulation, the Tigers still had a 37-24 advantage. "We were a little more familiar with what they were going to do," said Swanson, who received 12 points from senior guard Erin Barton. "Our girls bought into that and bought into the scouting report for how we were going to guard certain people. They did a great job of executing on the defensive end." All that led to Sherrard setting a school record. "That's pretty cool," Calderone said. Another bonus is advancing to the sectional championship game for the third consecutive season. Sherrard has not won a sectional since 1990. "It's great to be one of the (last) 16 teams in the state to play," Adams said. "But it hasn't ended the way we wanted. We're going to work hard and we know what we need to do to get past this sectional championship." Retaining the defensive effort they brought on Tuesday sure would help. 
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Today is Thursday, May 23, the 143rd day of 2013. There are 222 days left in the year.
1863 — 150 years ago: Messrs. J. and M. Rosenfield have moved their leather and hidestore to the building formerly occupied by Temple Bufords's store. They buy and sellhides, pelts, furs, wool, beeswax, lard, tallow, etc.
1888 -- 125 years ago: The Rock Island Lumber Company has recovered 5,000 of the8,000 logs that were carried away by the Mississippi River flood last week.
1913 -- 100 years ago: John J. Ullemeyer has been awarded the contract to furnish RockIsland fire and police department members with uniforms, at the city's expense.
1938 -- 75 years ago: Work on Aledo's new $38,000 swimming pool was started thismorning at South Park when ground for the pool was broken by Mayor John W. Murphy.
1963 -- 50 years ago: Students and teacher at Moline High School called today "MissLeona Day" day at the school in honor of the government teacher who retires at theend of the school term. Although she's been teaching for 43 years at the school, Miss Dayfound a new way of arriving at the school this morning. At 7:30 a.m., a police squad carpulled up in front of Miss Day's home and escorted her to school. A caravan of students' cars joined the procession along the way.
1988 -- 25 years ago: Barbecue cooking and riverfront antics are planned for Discover the
River Day Saturday in Leach Park, Bettendorf. A 5K run, wind surfing, a canoe race, hogcalling and more will round out the day under the Interstate 74 bridge.
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