St. Anne 61, Immaculate Conception 55

SOMONAUK -- Immaculate Conception brought the strength, St. Anne the quickness to the Class 1A Somonauk sectional semifinal on Thursday.

Quickness eventually won out. St. Anne's late-arriving press forced 12 second-half turnovers to beat IC 61-55.

"They played physical, and height was really a big factor for them," said St. Anne guard Cliff Fleming, who scored a game-high 25 points. "We just had to play through it and use the weapons that we had."

It took time. Though St. Anne (21-8) led 18-14 after a quarter, the Cardinals were quick to the glass but also to take questionable shots.

"After the first half I thought our kids were intimidated," said St. Anne coach Rick Schoon. "I mean, Immaculate Conception is just a physically strong team. But I thought after the first half we adjusted well to it."

No. 2 seed IC (10-17) used its recipe of finding 6-foot-5 Matt Purdom deep inside.

He had early help from forwards Kevin Koch, Alex Jacobo and Antonio Taylor. And on Brendan Ryan's 3 behind a double screen that pancaked a defender, IC had a 22-20 second-quarter edge.

A game of 12 lead changes and 7 ties made that advantage short-lived, but inside baskets by Koch, Jacobo and Purdom gave IC a 28-25 halftime lead.

"When we power the ball inside, there's not a lot of guys who can match up size-wise," said Purdom, who led the Knights with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocks.

St. Anne had yet to unleash its full-court press. IC coach Darren Howard, whose squad won consecutive regionals for the first time since 1985, figured it'd come.

"We kind of knew the whole time that at some point they were going to pressure and at least try to change the tempo of the game," he said. "That was our biggest fear, was how we would handle the pressure -- which we obviously didn't handle very well."

In a 9-turnover third quarter -- 12-point scorer Cortez Peden had 3 steals -- IC let a 34-29 lead slip to a 40-37 deficit entering the fourth.

Purdom scored twice in the paint and Ryan hit a 3 for a 44-42 lead with 6:08 left, but an 8-0 run had the Cardinals up for good with 2:50 to play.

Ryan's 3 straight NBA-length 3-pointers got IC within 58-55 with 22 seconds left. St. Anne clinched the win on a Peden free throw, a steal and a slam by Javonta Davis.

Ryan, with 15 points all on 3s, was one of eight seniors playing their final game.

"For us to be up at halftime, to fight as hard as we did, trying to leave our mark, there's something to be said for that," he said.