Immaculate Conception 52, Mooseheart 36

Immaculate Conception wasted little time getting rolling in the second half against Mooseheart after a lackluster first-half performance at the Immaculate Conception girls basketball regional final Thursday night.

The Knights trailed Mooseheart by 1 points at the half after jumping out to a 9-point lead five minutes into the game.

After a tight first half it was the first two possessions of the second half that gave the Knights momentum to run away with a 52-36 win in Elmhurst to advance to the Class 1A Serena sectional semifinals Monday.

The first possession resulted in a three-point play for IC as Erin Dunne grabbed a rebound and went back up and scored and was fouled. Less than a minute later it was Mary Kate Manion's turn as she cut to the basket, got the pass, went up and scored and was fouled. Those two three-point plays gave IC a 23-18 lead that it wouldn't give up the rest of the way.

In the third quarter the Knights had 3 three-point plays and missed a free throw that could have resulted in a fourth.

"Getting the start like we did in the third quarter was absolutely huge for us," Manion said. "I am so proud of our girls for being able to finish those baskets while getting fouled. That really set the tone for us the rest of the way."

IC (11-19) outscored Mooseheart 21-8 in the decisive third quarter as Manion scored 9 of her 17 points in that quarter.

It wasn't that the Red Ramblers couldn't get shots off in the second half; they got plenty of them. It was making them that troubled them.

In the second half Mooseheart (11-13) shot a cool 6 of 34 from the field. While the Red Ramblers were off from the field, the Knights warmed up. In the second half IC shot 13 of 21 from the field, scoring 35 points.

"We started out on a nice run, but Mooseheart responded and we got rattled," IC coach Dan Murray said. "In the second half we really relaxed and took our time on offense and I think our shooting percentage reflected that."

Erin Hayes scored a game-high 19 points to go along with Manion's 17, but more importantly the duo combined for 22 points in the second half. Hayes also grabbed 9 rebounds in the win.

"Those two have stepped up for us all season long," Murray said. "Whenever we needed something in the second half, we went to them and we got what we were looking for."