Highlanders win first regional championship
In 96 minutes of girls basketball against each other this year, Driscoll and St. Edward have found a considerable familiarity.
And in the case of St. Edward, that translated Saturday into a tooth-and-nail contest that left the game competitive until midway through the fourth quarter.
Driscoll (22-6) found what it needed in order to win the game in the fourth quarter, and it claimed the Class 2A Plano regional title with a 54-39 victory. The win was the Highlanders' third this season against the Green Wave (12-12) and was a victory that was certainly won through hard work.
"We came out not as well as in some games," Lindfors said. "But our effort came up. It's hard to win three times playing against the same team."
Lindfors scored 22 points and added 19 rebounds. She also helped take control of the game when St. Edward center Celeste Von Ahnen left with 4 fouls in the third quarter.
"When she left, we started to get it inside," Lindfors said. "When she came back in, we could go to our outside again."
That outside presence was best exemplified by Gigi DiGrazia, who scored 13 points and hit four 3-pointers. The last of those long-range bombs came with 3:19 left and was from NBA 3-point territory.
"My coach (Steve McCuiston) always makes fun of me, telling me that I'm out too far," DiGrazia said. "It's just that, in the fourth quarter and you have the ball in your hands -- it's what you want. You don't know where you're at. I was confident I could make it."
More importantly than the distance, DiGrazia's shot gave the Highlanders a 46-36 lead and put a dagger in St. Edward's upset hopes. It also preserved the team's run in the postseason. The regional title is the first for Driscoll, which advances to the Lisle sectional semifinals at 6 p.m. Monday against The Latin School.
"It's been a really fun year this year," DiGrazia said. "But now you could ask every one of us, and even the coaches, and we're looking for bigger things. It's great to win a regional, but we want some more too."
St. Edward led throughout the first quarter and endured a back-and-forth second quarter and only trailed 25-20 at halftime.
"It wasn't for lack of effort tonight," St. Edward coach Michelle Dawson said. "The ball just didn't bounce our way. We had a couple of missed shots and a couple of turnovers as key moments. The game really swung and changed when (Von Ahnen) picked up her fourth foul."
Von Ahnen was key to her team's success. In spite of the foul trouble, she finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Megan Pozezinski was also integral for the Green Wave. She scored 8 points and hit a baseline jumper with four minutes left in the third quarter to tie the game at 29.
Driscoll outscored St. Edward 7-2 the rest of the third quarter. The Highlanders opened the fourth quarter with a 5-point burst, capped by an Allie Divito 3-pointer.
St. Edward stayed close, but DiGrazia's 3-pointer was a back-breaking shot.