Basketball Recap: Jillian Chew Leads a Balanced Attack to Beat Eastern Hancock

There's no place like home for Tri, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Saturday. They walked away with a 64-54 win over the Eastern Hancock Royals on Thursday. This was payback for the Titans, who suffered a 65-38 defeat the last time these two teams met.

Tri's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Jillian Chew, who posted 16 points along with eight boards and six assists. Chew has been hot for a while, having also posted two or more steals the last nine times she's played. Another player making a difference was Kenley Cornelius, who went 6 of 11 on her way to 16 points in addition to seven rebounds and three steals.

Despite the loss, Eastern Hancock saw an underclassman step up: sophomore McKenzie Koch scored 29 points. That was a full 53.7% of Eastern Hancock's points, marking the ninth time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Bella Sotelo, who had 11 points and seven steals.

Tri has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 16-7 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 56.8 points per game. As for Eastern Hancock, with the defeat, they broke their seven-game winning streak and moved their record to 19-3.

Tri and Eastern Hancock are set to take part in some playoff action in their next matches. Tri will face off against Morristown at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Morristown knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past four games -- so hopefully Tri likes a good challenge. As for Eastern Hancock, they will square off against Indianapolis Scecina Memorial at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Eastern Hancock is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 59.7 points per game this season.