Kaneland rallies to reach Ottawa championship game
Kaneland has never played for the Ottawa Christmas Classic championship, and it didn't look promising when hot-shooting Lincoln-Way West took an early 11-point lead in the semifinals Tuesday night.
The Knights persevered, trimming that deficit to 5 points by halftime. Kaneland executed its offense to perfection in the fourth quarter, hitting 9 of 11 shots to complete a 59-57 come-from-behind win over a Warriors team with 4 starters back from a 25-2 season.
"That's a good team, a real good win for us," Kaneland coach Ernie Colombe said. "That is the kind of team that can put you away. Really happy with our effort."
Kaneland (10-1) will play for the tournament championship at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday against a familiar foe, Yorkville. The Foxes defeated Pontiac 60-53.
Lincoln-Way West (11-2) came out on fire, sinking 6 of its first seven 3-point attempts. The Knights made their share of outside shots too, especially Jenni Weber whose three first-quarter 3-pointers kept Kaneland within 18-15.
"It was discouraging they were hitting so many 3s but they are a good team," Kaneland senior guard Camri Conley said. "Every time they scored we tried to at least score. Last year we got destroyed by them so we knew what we had to do."
The Warriors stayed hot to start the second quarter, taking their biggest lead 28-17 on a long jumper by Courtney O'Donnell.
Kaneland's 6-foot-2 senior center Bailey Crimmins, rounding back into form after rolling her ankle in the Knights' second game, scored the final 4 points of the quarter to bring Kaneland within 30-25 at halftime.
The Knights still trailed 46-40 early in the fourth quarter before an 11-2 run gave them their first lead since 3-2. Vanessa Gould started it with a jumper, Conley drove for 2, Crimmins scored twice inside and Weber capped the surge with a corner 3 to put the Knights up 51-48 with 4 minutes left.
The Warriors tied the game at 52 and 54. Morgan Weber's putback basket put the Knights up 56-54, and Conley's steal and layup made it 58-54 with 41.5 seconds left.
Kaitlyn Mathews drained her fourth 3-pointer to trim Kaneland's lead to 58-57, and after a missed free throw the Warriors had a chance to win but were called for traveling with 20 seconds left.
Conley split free throws at :05, and tough defense by the Knights never allowed the Warriors to get off a shot at the buzzer.
"It was a great game between two pretty good teams," Warriors coach Ryan White said. "To their credit they hit a lot of perimeter shots which we wanted them to do. It's tough for us to match up with their big girl."
O'Donnell (17 points) Kaitlyn Mathews (12), Stephanie Althanasoulis (11) and Tara Hastings (10 points) all reached double figures for the Warriors who made eight 3-pointers and shot 48.8 percent from the field.
Kaneland was slightly better at 51.0 percent with Crimmins and Conley both finishing with 13 points and Jenni Weber 12. Gould and Morgan Weber grabbed 6 rebounds and Conley had 5 steals.
"They were really hot, they hit shots with hands in their face," Colombe said. "We weathered the storm a little and found a way to get back in it. It's nice to see them battle like this after getting down 11 to a team like this."