Kaneland, Burlington Central to meet for 3A regional crown
Kaneland's fourth-quarter surge enabled the Knights to advance to Friday's 7 p.m. championship game for the Class 3A Burlington Central girls basketball regional.
Awaiting Kaneland is the host and same team that knocked the Knights out of last year's tourney in a regional semifinal.
Unlike Kaneland, the Rockets had little trouble advancing. Central cruised to a 71-37 thumping of Rochelle while Wheaton Academy made things interesting before bowing out 50-43.
"No matter who you're playing you always try to be 1-0 that night," Kaneland coach Ernie Colombe said. "Classmates in the hall may have been talking about Burlington Central, but I reminded them we've got to get there. Initially we kind of overlooked them a bit."
The Knights (23-4) got ahead by 8 before ending the first quarter ahead 10-4. Kaneland was up 12-10 early in the second before Wheaton Academy (17-10) went on a 13-0 run en route to a 23-18 intermission advantage.
"They beat us to some loose balls and we didn't get out to cover them too well," Colombe noted.
"It was a little rocky at one point," Kaneland's Vanessa Gould admitted. "In the third quarter we got back to playing Kaneland basketball. We got ourselves composed and knowing what's ahead of us Friday, we realized we had to play our best."
With the Knights enduring a four-plus minute drought while the Warriors went scoreless for three minutes, the third of a series of ties brought the third quarter to an end at 29-all. An 8-2 run to start the fourth quarter was followed by a Warrior unforced turnover and a Kylie Modaff 3-pointer for a 42-33 lead with 3:07 to go. An over-and-back violation against Wheaton Academy then preceded Camri Conley's baseline drive that created an 11-point advantage with 2:05 still to play.
Wheaton Academy had to resort to fouling but the Knights made 6-of-7 to hold on despite a pair of Warrior 3-pointers.
Conley hit a game-best 17 points with Gould adding 11 and Modaff tacking on 9. The Warriors were led by Liana Ledesma's 11 with Meredith Bull and Elizabeth Melby scoring 10 and 8.
"Sometimes shots go in and sometimes they don't, that's the game of basketball," Warrior coach Beth Mitchell said recalling the numerous missed shots that resulted in 4 points for the first quarter and 6 in the third. "Some folks may have underestimated us a little and I don't believe the record defines a team or their fight. I'm super proud of our effort."
Burlington Central 71, Rochelle 37: Burlington Central opened with a 7-0 run before Rochelle got a basket, then ran off 11 before the Hubs got a second bucket, and ended on another 7-0 surge for a 25-4 first-quarter lead. The Rockets (24-4) bumped that gap to 29 at halftime (39-10) and owned a 44-point advantage (62-18) heading into the final eight minutes. Rochelle had its season end at 4-25.
"Our mindset at the start was not to be nervous, just be focused and ready," BC's Samantha Pryor noted.
"I thought we played well," Central coach Mark Smith said. "We put the pressure on them and played our game. Now we can look forward to Friday."
Rochelle had 9-point efforts from Abby Lundquist and varsity call-up Francesca Martin, who came off the bench to add her 9 during the last two and half minutes.
Pryor poured home 24 points followed by Shelby Holt's 18, Kayla Ross' 12, and Becca Gerke's 6 for the Rockets.
The Rockets' tally did, however, fall short of the 75 cookies Ross' mother had waiting in individual bags for the players and coaches - a postgame ritual she's executed after every game.