COLUMBIA, Ill. — Carlyle girls basketball player Addie Gansauer sat on the bench for the entirety of her team’s victory over Columbia in last year’s championship game of the annual Columbia Tipoff Classic.
Gansauer was on the bench for most of the first half Saturday in a rematch of the title game, making only a cameo appearance in the first half. But with the game on the line, Gansauer made a huge difference in the final 16 minutes. She scored a career high 10 points and they were all needed as Carlyle defended its title with a hard-fought 63-60 victory over the Eagles.
Gansauer had six points in an 9-1 Carlyle run in the third quarter in a tied game. She added a crucial three-point play with 2:31 left, which gave Carlyle a 61-55 lead it would not relinquish.
“It felt good to win this tournament last year,” Gansauer said. “But it’s great to win this year and know that I was able to contribute to the win.”
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Carlyle coach Cindy Hoffmann was confident when she brought in the junior very early in the second half.
“Addie is very talented with her left hand,” Hoffmann said. “She has some skills but we have been working with her on her decision making. She did a good job today.”
Columbia won its own tournament from 2010-2012, the first three years of the event.
The Eagles have not won since. This is the eighth time they have lost in the championship game.
Columbia looked determined to finally break the title game drought as it jumped to a 20-11 first quarter lead.
The Lady Eagles were able to keep the lead for most of the rest of the first half and led 31-30 at halftime.
Carlyle went on the 9-1 run, sparked by Gansauer’s six points off the bench, and had its biggest lead at 45-38.
But Columbia cut the deficit to one going into the fourth quarter. It was tight the rest of the way. Ava Langhans hit her fourth 3-pointer of the game in the final minute for Columbia to cut the deficit to three points. Carlyle turned it over and Columbia had a chance to tie but Sam Schumake missed a contested 3-point shot.
“Carlyle is a heckuva team which won 28 games last year,” Columbia coach Scott Germain said. “I told the girls that I was very proud of their effort today. They fought until the final whistle and I learned that they are not going to quit. The expectations are high for this team.”
Carlyle senior Sophia Hoffmann was named the MVP of the tournament. She scored 23 points Saturday. Lera Schmeink, who was also named to the all-tournament team along with teammate Jacie Persing, added 15 for the Lady Indians.
Columbia's Samantha Schmuke shared game high honors with Hoffmann with 23 points. The four-year starter was named to the all-tournament team as was her teammate Ava Langhans, who added 12 for Columbia.
Triad poured it on at the end and defeated Father McGivney 54-28 in the third place game.
Belleville East finished fifth after rolling to a 68-32 win over Waterloo. Alton Marquette defeated Greenville 46-39 in the seventh place game.
