Wins and titles are nice this time of year, but for the Macomb High girls basketball team, playing at the Lady Tiger Classic in Beardstown is all about competition.
Losing to unbeaten Brown County in the quarterfinal round on Saturday, the Bombers were aiming to end tournament play on an upswing.
But Liberty and Abingdon- Avon had plans of their own.
Monday’s game against Liberty saw the Bombers struggle early offensively and never recover in losing to the Eagles 38-31.
That sent MHS to Tuesday’s seventh place contest where the No. 2 seeded Tornadoes awaited.
Abingdon-Avon, who was upset by Carrollton in the quarterfinals before also losing to Havana, exploded for 16 points in overtime to down the Bombers 52-36.
Including opening-round opponent Dwight (11-3) and Brown County (12-0), the combined records of the four teams Macomb played during the tournament was 46-8.
“We’re getting better,” said MHS coach Justin Elbe. “You get better playing teams like that. You get better. I know it sucks to lose, and I’m going to sleep tonight, but that’s what it takes to get better. You have to play the good teams.”
“I’m so proud of coming down here and playing so hard,” he added of the squad.
Against A-Town, the Bombers outscored the Tornadoes 14-8 in the second quarter on the way to building a 21-14 halftime lead.
“We held them to 14 points at halftime,” said Elbe. “But we knew they were going to have a run at some time. Usually good teams do in the third quarter.”
And the Tornadoes did just that.
Kaydin Quinn scored 10 of her team’s 16 points as A-Town grabbed a 30-29 lead heading into the final eight minutes of regulation.
“We had so many turnovers in the third quarter,” said Elbe. “We were on defense it seemed like seven of those eight minutes. The type of defense we play, that’s a long time to be on defense.”
But as was the case in the opening period, the two teams combined for just 13 points in the fourth quarter. MHS also missed four free throws and the two teams finished regulation knotted at 36-36.
In the overtime, the Tornadoes got a pair of early layups from Avery Stegall and never looked back as A-Town outscored the Bombers 16-0 in the extra session.
“They got those two easy buckets real quick and I think we got down a little bit on ourselves,” said Elbe.
Aubrey Holthaus topped Macomb with 15 points, including four 3-pointers.
Jordan Hines added 12 points, followed by Reese Watson and Sophie Wilson with three points each.
Josie Elbe added a basket and Brookly Lyles a free throw for MHS, who finished just 5-of-13 from the free throw line.
“It’s heartbreaking to lose that game,” said coach Elbe.
Stegall topped A-Town (12-3) with 18 points, 10 coming in overtime.
Kennedy Quinn added 14 and Kaydin Quinn 10 for the Tornadoes.
Against Liberty, the Bombers fell behind by double-digits in the opening period and never recovered.
The Eagles led 16-9 after the initial eight minutes before both squads struggled offensively in the second period, each scoring just three points.
The Bombers managed just four points in the third frame in falling behind 28-16 heading into the final stanza.
Hines led Macomb with 16 points, scoring eight each in the first and fourth periods.
Dakota Thorman, Watson and Wilson added four points apiece, followed by Holthaus with two and Lyles with one.
Chandler John topped Liberty (11-2) with 12 points.
The Bombers begin the 2026 portion of their schedule Jan. 5 hosting Biggsville West Central in a varsity only contest.
Macomb will then host A-Town on Jan. 7 at Washington Street Gym.
Kaydin Quinn and Sophie Wilson
