Aurora Christian storms into Ottawa sectional
SERENA - Tori Henning is truly the elder statesman of the Aurora Christian girls basketball team.
"We really wanted to win the regional championship for Tori," said Aurora Christian sophomore Mia Richert. "She is the only (senior) left."
The Eagles lost Lauren Richert and Dannielle Lopez to season-ending knee injuries early in the year.
But the Eagles had few issues extending their season at the Class 1A Serena regional final as Hinckley Big-Rock misfired on all 13 of its second-quarter shots from the field.
Aurora Christian scored 26 of the last 28 points of the opening half in advancing to the Ottawa Marquette sectional with a 54-32 victory.
"We are a program-record 21-7," Aurora Christian coach Burney Wilkie said. "This is our first regional championship since Tori was a sophomore, two years ago."
The Eagles will face either Annawan or Amboy on Monday evening as the corresponding regional game was canceled due to inclement weather.
Henning has exactly 1,500 career points after becoming one of three Aurora Christian players to hit double digits Thursday evening.
The senior guard finished with 12 points as underclassmen Lexi Lamanna and Mia Richert each had a game-high 13 points.
"It's not what I expected of my senior year," Henning said of being the sole remaining member of the senior class on the team. "They haven't shown that they are freshmen and sophomores."
It was bright and sunny for Lamanna after the freshman buried four 3-pointers in the first quarter to jump-start the Eagles' offense.
H-BR, which captured back-to-back state championships in 2010 and 2011, never recovered in having its season conclude at 10-19.
"I started off in the 3-point contest," said Lamanna, who advanced in the long-range competition with four makes. "I started off (the 3-point competition) a little shaky. Once I hit the first one (in the game), it was over."
Lamanna did not miss from the field in scoring 12 of her 13 points in the first quarter.
"They shot lights out," H-BR coach Doug Brewington said. "They didn't miss a shot. We weren't able to claw back into it after (the second quarter)."
Mia Richert had 6 conventional field goals in matching the Lamanna output.
"I am really excited for the next four years," Mia Richert said of the Eagles having six sophomores and five freshmen on the varsity roster.
H-BR actually outscored Aurora Christian in the third quarter.
But the Royals' deficit was simply too great to overcome.
"That was impeccable defense," Lamanna said of the Eagles' second-quarter effort. "We got steals, we got stops."
Thaya Luse and Chelsea Hasulube added 8 and 6 points for Aurora Christian.