Blazers' Little makes big shots

NORMAL -- Kiley Hackbarth and Jazmine Little each expressed surprise, but it was a pleasant surprise.

Hackbarth, a sophomore from St. Charles North, and Little, a freshman from Addison Trail, each advanced to the finals of the Class 4A Country Insurance 3-Point Showdown here Thursday evening.

Hackbarth, shooting in the last of the four groups, made 11 of her 15 shots.

Little, shooting in the second group, led all Class 4A shooters with 12 of 15.

For Hackbarth, competing in the contest was a consolation prize of sorts after her team came just one win shy of making it to this weekend's Final Four at Redbird Arena. The North Stars lost to Buffalo Grove 50-39 in the Elgin Community College supersectional Monday.

"It was a tough loss and we were all really sad, but I still had one thing to look forward to," she said. "This is a great experience and I'm so happy I had a lot of my teammates here supporting me. I'm very fortunate to be here and very excited."

Hackbarth made 9 straight shots at one point to cement her place in today's finals along with Little, Granite City freshman Lindsay Smith and Evanston senior Darcel Retreage, who each also made 11 of 15.

Barrington senior Lianne Davis, the first shooter of the competition, made 10 and just missed the finals.

"I was a little surprised, but after I started hitting I got into a rhythm and just kept hitting," Hackbarth said. "It's really bright in here and this was a lot of fun."

Little, who averaged 8.1 points per game for the Blazers this season, was ecstatic over her place in today's finals.

"I'm very surprised and very excited," said Little, whose top performance leading to state was 9 of 15. "I just kept my rhythm going and shot the ball with confidence."