Fenwick 68, Schaumburg 48
Fenwick knew Schaumburg would be fired up about a rematch of a 26-point loss three weeks ago.
Unfortunately for the Saxons, most of the shots fired up by the Friars in the first 13 minutes went in Thursday night.
And that extinguished any hopes of an upset by second-seeded Schaumburg. Last year's Class AA girls basketball champion and top-seeded Fenwick led wire-to-wire in a 68-48 victory in the Lake Park 4A sectional championship game in Roselle.
"We played hard until the end but Fenwick was just the better team," said senior Drewann Pancratz, who had 12 points in the Saxons' third straight sectional final loss.
"We knew they'd come back with a lot of fire because most of their starters (four) are all seniors," said Fenwick sophomore Katlyn Payne, whose brother Cully is a junior at Schaumburg. "They were pumped up and we came out knowing we had to play our best game."
Payne and sophomore Tricia Liston combined for 23 points as Fenwick (29-5) hit 12-of-17 shots en route to a 29-16 lead 3½ minutes before halftime.
Liston finished with 28 points on 10-for-17 shooting with 9 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and 3 assists. Payne had 17 points and 5 rebounds.
They led the Friars to a rematch of last year's state championship in Monday's 8:30 p.m. DeKalb supersectional at Northern Illinois against Bolingbrook (26-3), a 43-27 winner over Hinsdale Central (32-2) in the Neuqua Valley sectional.
"Liston is a heck of a player," Pancratz said of the Friars' only returning starter.
"They're a very good basketball team," said Saxons coach Bill Murmann, "and it's been my opinion all along that Trish Liston may be the best basketball player in the state of Illinois.
"She can do anything. As Trish Liston goes that's how they go."
Schaumburg (28-6) chipped away as Payne sat the last 5:38 of the first half with 2 fouls. Two beautiful passes by Pancratz and Gryte Satas led to a Gabrielle Blackwell (12 points, 7 rebounds) layup 1:09 after halftime to cut it to 29-22.
"I felt like we were in it more this game for sure," said Schaumburg senior Kylie Castans (12 points) of the 76-50 loss on Jan. 26. "But it seemed in the second half they kept beating us down the court on defense."
Liston ended a string of 9 misses with a rebound and coast-to-coast drive and Serafina Nuzzo (10 points) found Payne for a 3 to cap a 7-0 run.
"We knew they would bring a lot more to the table than last time," Liston said. "It was basically anybody's game but we wanted it and came out and got it."
Pancratz said Fenwick "had all the answers" such as 3s by Liston and Nuzzo after the Saxons got within 41-30. The final answer was a 15-2 tear for a 66-40 lead with 3:21 left.
"These girls have just amazed me with the season they've had," said Fenwick coach Dave Power. "To graduate four players off a state championship team and be able to do what they've done this year, I'm almost speechless."