Barrington's Davis just short of berth in finals
NORMAL -- Kiley Hackbarth and Jazmine Little each expressed surprise, but it was a pleasant surprise.
Hackbarth, a sophomore from St. Charles North, and Little, a freshman from Addison Trail, each advanced to the finals of the Class 4A Country Insurance 3-Point Showdown here Thursday evening.
Hackbarth, shooting in the last of the four groups, made 11 of her 15 shots.
Little, shooting in the second group, led all Class 4A shooters with 12 of 15.
Barrington senior Lianne Davis, the first shooter of the competition, made 10 and just missed the finals.
For Hackbarth, competing in the contest was a consolation prize of sorts after her team came just 1 win shy of making it to this weekend's Final Four at Redbird Arena. The North Stars lost to Buffalo Grove 50-39 in the Elgin Community College supersectional on Monday.
"It was a tough loss and we were all really sad, but I still had one thing to look forward to," she said. "This is a great experience and I'm so happy I had a lot of my teammates here supporting me. I'm very fortunate to be here and very excited."
Hackbarth made 9 straight shots at one point to cement her place in today's finals along with Little, Granite City freshman Lindsay Smith and Evanston senior Darcel Retreage, who each also made 11 of 15.
"I was a little surprised but after I started hitting I got into a rhythm and just kept hitting," said Hackbarth. "It's really bright in here and this was a lot of fun."
Little, who averaged 18 points per game for the Blazers this season, was ecstatic over her place in today's finals.
"I'm very surprised and very excited," said Little, whose top performance leading to state was 9 of 15. "I just kept my rhythm going and shot the ball with confidence."
The Class 4A 3-point finals will be held between semifinal games tonight.
In Class 3A, advancers were Mollie Yeargle of Rock Island Alleman (12), Kaylee Krischel of Effingham (11), Ashley Timmerman of Pontiac (11) and Katie Broadway of Bethalto Civic Memorial (10).
Wauconda's Lauren Mead made 9 of 15 and just missed the finals.
The Class 3A finals will be held this afternoon between semifinals. Today's two winners will compete against the Class 1A and 2A winners from last weekend on Saturday for the Queen of the Hill title.