Eastern Pekin defeats Oak Hill in Class 2A championship

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Junior guard Rachel Stewart's 20 points helped Eastern Pekin top Oak Hill in the Indiana High School Athletic Association Class 2A championship.

The Musketeers (23-7) defeated the Golden Eagles 42-31 Saturday in Indianapolis.

It's the first state championship for any team from the school in Pekin, just north of the Ohio River on the state's southern border.

Eastern Pekin won its 15th straight game since starting the season 8-7.

Though the Musketeers gave up inside size against the Golden Eagles, they countered that by outscoring Oak Hill 17-9 in points off turnovers.

Oak Hill led 8-5 early, but Eastern Pekin went on a 12-0 run to end the first quarter and start of the second. The Musketeers led 22-14 at the half and 27-24 after three quarters.

Oak Hill hit just one basket over the first five minutes of the fourth quarter and fell behind 35-26 with 2:24 to play.

"At the beginning, we were kind of anxious," Stewart said. "But once we got on the court, we were like, 'Guys, what do we have to lose?'"

Stewart hit 7 of 12 field goals and 6 of 8 from the free throw line.

Senior forward Taylor Drury and freshman guard Isabell Claywell added nine points each for Eastern Pekin.

"We're going to do a good job of celebrating this as long as we can," Eastern coach Mike McBride said. "It might be December before we get focused again, but I will rely on Rachel and Isabell to get us focused again in November."

Sophomore guard Jenessa Hasty led Oak Hill (27-2) with 13 points.