The Community R-6 girls couldn’t take one bad quarter back on Friday night but never want to take the past four years back.

Community R-6 Senior Night Photo Gallery

The Lady Trojans lost their Senior Night game to Central Activities Conference foe Glasgow 61-53 after having to dig out of a hole created by being outscored 22-9 in the second quarter. Community fell behind by as much as 15 points and cut the margin to single digits within the final two minutes.

Head coach Bob Curtis said Community (15-9, 6-3 CAC) felt good for most of the game as it led 16-10 after the first quarter and were only outscored by one point in the second half. The main problem was Halle Fuemmeler, who Curtis believes will be an all-state player especially after dropping 40 points and five 3-pointers on the Lady Trojans. Fuemmeler scored 18 points in the second quarter to help the Lady Yellowjackets (14-9, 7-1 CAC) snap a five-game losing streak to Community that persisted from 2020.

“She just decided that they weren’t going to get beat tonight,” Curtis said. “We didn’t have a bad quarter, but they outscored us by 13 (in the second). All-staters just take over games.”

Curtis said he knew the game would be tough since Glasgow and Community went into Friday second and third in conference behind state-ranked and undefeated conference team Cairo, who the Lady Trojans played at on Tuesday. The next highest scorer for Glasgow was Karsyn Massie with 11 points so Fuemmeler was counted on quite often.

Community came away with 18 steals, but Glasgow finished with 13 and forced the Lady Trojans into several mistakes when passing the ball. Curtis said they “reverted back” to November and December when the Lady Trojans turned the ball over quite a bit, so that needs to be corrected in the future. On top of her obvious offensive contributions, Fuemmeler was at the top of Glasgow’s zone defense to disrupt the Community offense.

“She’s long and athletic and got her hands on a lot of stuff tonight,” Curtis said. “She was super physical.”

Fuemmeler is a sophomore for Glasgow, but three seniors won’t be back on Community’s home floor next season. They made sure to leave their marks, starting with Kylie Brook’s team-high 16 points and 13 rebounds to go with five steals, Brooklynn Glasgow had five points (5-for-6 at the free-throw line) and five assists, and Alyssa Beamer had four points, four rebounds and three steals. 

To round out the rest of the Lady Trojans, Peyton Beamer finished with 12 points, six steals and four 3-pointers, and Aaliyah Welch had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

“My seniors played well,” Curtis said. “It's an extremely tough group of girls. They clawed and fought as they were down double digits, and they weren’t going to have that on Senior Night. We just kept gaining ground, but we needed a little longer game. I love the fight in them, and we hope to make some noise in districts.”

Over the seniors’ four years, they have posted three 20-win seasons and have at least 15 clinched for this season. They also have two district titles to their credit as they go for three before their high school careers end.

Glasgow is going to play in college for Graceland University softball in Iowa but has loved being part of a winning program, saying “winning means a lot to a Lady Trojan and that’s what our program is known for.” She said that couldn’t have been possible without the collection of great girls over the years and believes her time on the hardwood can help her future on the diamond.

“I wouldn’t consider myself as a basketball player,” Glasgow said. “Basketball has taught me a lot of life lessons, and I’ve made a lot of lifelong friendships. It’s great to be part of a program like this.”

Alyssa Beamer said there is a strong family presence in the locker room as well, among the girls with no blood relation but also some blood relation to her personally. She had her younger sister, Peyton, on the team the past two years but has also had other sisters play with her in previous years, such Brianna and Brynna Beamer and Sarah Angel.

“All four years, I’ve got to play with somebody in my family, which I’ve really enjoyed,” Beamer said.

Beamer said playing with family has made her smile but also remembers moments that have given the team’s time together more meaning. She said she recalls laughing at times Curtis harmlessly took a tumble when working on defense with the girls in practice.

“True I did fall,” Curtis said. “I was doing defensive slides in practice, and I hit the floor. Apparently, I shouldn’t defend people anymore. I lost it.”

Brooks said the program’s environment makes it easy for girls to become part of its family, leading to the Lady Trojans finding 20 wins almost every season despite having numerous girls graduate. She said all of the moments the team has overcome adversity and unfavorable odds become more meaningful with a good group like theirs.

“Being part of a program just makes everybody feel like a family — make everybody welcome, we all get along and we all bond — is really special and puts together a good team for a solid four years,” Brooks said. “Any night could hold anything so going in completely surprising people is really fun.”