Westminster Christian ousts Mooseheart
SHABBONA - At the start of the second half of Monday's Class 1A Indian Creek Regional contest with Mooseheart, Westminster Christian unveiled a zone that was predicated on taking chances.
The Warriors wanted to put pressure on the Ramblers, who had clawed back from a deficit to only trail 24-22 at intermission. The tactic helped inspire Westminster Christian, which went on a 9-2 run and propelled itself to an overall 42-36 win that earns the Warriors a Tuesday showdown with top-seeded Hinckley-Big Rock.
"Coming out the third quarter, it just got us," Mooseheart coach Bryan Miller said. "We made too many turnovers. Too many turnovers led to too many easy buckets for them."
Westminster Christian (11-15) broke to a 10-4 lead and kept that margin until Mooseheart (11-12) surged just before halftime. An 8-2 burst carried the Ramblers to a 22-21 lead - their only lead of the contest. And although the Warriors led by 2 at halftime, they knew they weren't headed for a 21-point win, as they managed last Thursday in a Northeastern Athletic Conference game.
"Mooseheart came to play tonight," Westminster Christian coach Ken Flickinger said. "A couple of their players, you could tell, had great enthusiasm. We needed to stop that at some point."
That press did what Flickinger hoped - it forced turnovers and created fast break shot attempts.
"This team has learned that it's defense that makes us work," Flickinger said. "If we play well on defense, all the other pieces kind of fall into place."
As Mooseheart struggled against the press, the lead grew to 33-24.
"We got a little frustrated," Miller said. "We've seen this team three times this year. We know them well and we know them well. It was just a matter of us not executing tonight, especially against the press."
Of the Warriors to benefit from the offensive surge was Rachel Doby. She scored 6 of her 14 points in the third quarter.
"We wanted to come out with lots of confidence and to come out and play hard, so we did and got it done," Doby said.
Sarah Rodgers led Westminster Christian with 15 points.
Mooseheart junior Katie Stryker scored 16 of the Ramblers 24 first half points. But when she picked up her third foul 2:01 into the third quarter, her effectiveness waned. Stryler led all scorers with 19 points and fouled out in the final minute of play.
Santana Sanchez also scored regularly for Mooseheart. The junior finished with 13 points, meaning the team's two big guns accounted for 32 or the team's 36 points.
"We had our two top scorers who gave us a lot tonight," Miller said. "But defensively, we gave up too much. We lacked that intensity to get after it, and that got the best of us tonight."