Immaculate Conception downs St. Edward for regional title
Kasey Reaber says a protective mask for a broken nose makes her vision blurry, makes her "kinda see double in a way" on free throws.
It sure didn't seem to bother her Thursday.
Reaber hit her first 9 free throws, helping No. 1 seed Immaculate Conception pull away to beat No. 2 St. Edward 47-37 in the championship game of the Class 2A Immaculate Conception regional in Elmhurst.
Reaber hit 10 of 13 free throws, scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half and also had 9 steals and 5 assists.
Seven straight Reaber free throws in the fourth quarter turned a tenuous 35-33 lead into a 42-33 advantage.
"It just felt good today. I don't know what it was," Reaber said. "The mask didn't affect me tonight."
IC (28-3) advances to play Chicago Latin, which the Knights beat by 15 in December, in a sectional semifinal Tuesday at Willows Academy. IC coach Dan Murray was relieved to be done with St. Edward after a third close win.
"They've given us fits all year," Murray said. "They're a tough matchup for us."
Reaber has had a tumultous last 10 days, to say the least. She broke her nose in a win over Rosary, then fractured a bone in her right wrist last Friday against St. Edward. Her first mask fogged up, so a new one was ordered.
Reaber took the second mask off at halftime of Tuesday's win over Timothy Christian. Through it all she hasn't left the court, except for half of Thursday's first quarter after two close charge calls early.
"Nothing's keeping me from playing," Reaber said.
St. Edward dug an early 13-2 hole but had the margin at 17-13 by halftime and three times pulled within a basket in the third quarter. A stickback by Green Wave sophomore Alexandria Lee, who had 13 points and 10 rebounds, made it 35-33 seconds into the fourth.
But St. Edward went scoreless the next five minutes.
"We made some bad passes here and there," said Lee, who scored 11 in the second half, "but we tried to stick together. We tried our hardest tonight."
Reaber dove on the floor for a loose ball to force one St. Edward turnover during the stretch and forced a jump ball for another. IC forced 25 turnovers.
"Every time they got close," Murray said, "it seemed like we'd get a couple steals off our pressure. It kept extending the lead for us. We just did enough."
Allie DiVito added a steal in the final minute with IC clinging to a 6-point lead. DiVito also scored 14 points, hitting four 3-pointers against a packed-in St. Edward zone.
"I just shot with confidence," DiVito said. "That's what you got to do when a team's in a zone.
"You never want your season to end, but we didn't feel any added pressure. We just played our game."
Erin Dunne added 9 points and 4 steals and Taylor Reaber 11 rebounds for IC. Vincenza Ranallo had 7 points for St. Edward (11-15).