Category Archives: Games

New Trier Plays Spoiler Role, Now Tied Atop CSL South

With 2:08 remaining in the second quarter, New Trier was down by 22 points to Glenbrook South on its home court.

For the Trevians, the outcome looked bleak. But the team never flinched. 

When the final buzzer sounded, the New Trier players ran to center court, celebrating after their 64-63 comeback victory against the Titans. 

New Trier coach Scott Fricke couldn’t have been more proud of his group. 

“We came out so flat today, and I think it has to do with playing two emotional games against Evanston this weekend, not having a day to prep, there were a lot of things we could have used as excuses,” Fricke said. “Our kids just decided to play harder, reach from within, and you kind of saw what happened.” 

The Trevians (10-2, 6-2) ended the first half on a 12-3 run to make it a 37-24 game going into the third quarter. 

“We talked at halftime; it’s not like we are going to get the lead back in one minute,” Fricke said. “Let’s just chip away and play solid basketball. We’re still in the game.”

It started with New Trier’s adjustment to use a 1-3-1 defense. This forced Glenbrook South (14-2, 6-2) into turnovers and New Trier took advantage.

“We started getting very lazy with passes and we stopped moving against the zone,” Glenbrook South coach Phil Ralston said. “It was just like the perfect storm.” 

One of the other reasons why New Trier made its comeback was because of junior forward Jackson Munro, who ended with a game-high 21 points. 

After picking up two early fouls, which forced him to sit for a good portion of the second quarter, Munro scored six in the third quarter. Sophomore Jake Fiegen added another six points in the third, and New Trier trailed by one entering the last eight minutes of play. 

Glenbrook South junior Cooper Noard started the fourth quarter with a three-pointer to give the Titans a 53-49 lead with just over seven minutes remaining in the game. Noard finished with a team-high 18 points. 

But the Trevians kept fighting and Glenbrook South’s 22-point lead was all but gone. With one minute remaining in the game, New Trier was tied 60-60. A few seconds, after Josh Kirkpatrick’s two made free throws, the Trevians were up 63-61. 

Despite having the lead, New Trier junior Karlo Colak — who scored nine points — knew the game was far from over. 

“It was at the moment we were up that we needed to play the best we have played the whole game,” Colak said. “We needed to finish this thing off and not let this chance slip away.”

The comeback will go down as a memory Colak, Fricke and the entire New Trier team will never forget. The Trevians now move into a tie atop the CSL South standings in the loss column (two, with Evanston and Glenbrook South). New Trier’s win over Evanston Saturday put the Titans in the driver’s seat for the end-of-season Chipotle Clash of Champions slot guaranteed to the CSL South champion. Evanston now takes the bid with a win over Maine South on Wednesday.

Glenbrook South juniors Cooper Noard and Nick Martinelli too much for Niles West

On Friday night inside the Titan Dome against Niles West, Glenbrook South juniors Cooper Noard and Nick Martinelli proved why they are some of the most prolific scorers in the state. 

Noard and Martinelli both finished with 23 points in a convincing 60-41 victory over the Wolves, improving the Titans record to (13-1, 5-1). 

“They’re really hard to stop together, especially when both of them are clicking,” Glenbrook South coach Phil Ralston said. “If one guy is going off and you try to take him away, the next thing you know the other guy is wide open, so it creates some problems.”

Noard scored the first points of the game with a three in front of the small student section. He went 4-of-5 from distance and added a 7-foot jump shot in the first. In the third quarter, the 6-foot-2 point guard made both of his 3-pointers. 

“They (Niles West) came out in a zone, and my teammates were finding me and I was getting open shots,” Noard said. “I was able to knock them down. My teammates trust me. They give me shots when I was open and I was able to take advantage.”

When Noard is converting on his shots, he has “the green light” to keep on shooting. But even if he does miss, Noard knows that Martinelli will be in position to give the team an opportunity to get some second-chance points. 

Out of Martinelli’s 23 points, only three came from long range. The 6-foot-7 shooting guard did a majority of his scoring inside. His 10 points in the third quarter gave Glenbrook South a 55-33 lead going into the fourth quarter. 

“I think we have probably the best offense in the state when me and Nick are both on our games,” Noard said. 

He also added that with the help of the seniors on the roster it only makes Martinelli’s and his game “even better.”

One of the seniors is Justin Leszynski, who finished third on the team in scoring with 8 points. He also had a blocked shot with 1:57 remaining in the second quarter that ricocheted off the backboard and led to a transition layup from Martinelli. 

For Niles West, junior guard Moses Leblanc finished with a team-high 18 points. 

Going into the game, Niles West coach Mike Wasielewski knew it would be a challenge trying to contain all of the playmakers that the Titans have on their roster. 

“I think I saw fight the whole game,” Wasielewski said. “With the talent they have, they could have blown us out by 20 in the first half and they didn’t. Our guys fought. Again, we don’t have some of the same fire power that they have. I’m happy we competed and hoping some of the younger guys can develop.”

Evanston Defeats Glenbrook South, 68-54, Splits Season Series

Glenbrook South led Evanston for almost an entire quarter on Saturday at the Titan Dome — the second game of a back-to-back for the teams. But as the final seconds of the period were about to expire, Evanston’s Blake Peters ran down the middle of the lane and got a put back to give Evanston a one-point lead. 

It was all Evanston the rest of the way.

The Wildkits only grew their lead as the game went on and would end up defeating the Titans, 68-54, giving Glenbrook South its first loss of the season and, more importantly, splitting the season series with the Titans. The teams are once again tied atop the CSL South standings at 4-1.

Peters had a team-high 28 points for the Wildkits, and junior point guard Rashawn Bost finished second in scoring for Evanston with 13 points. 

For Glenbrook South, junior forward Nick Martinelli ended with a game-high 31 points, and fellow junior point guard Cooper Noard was second with 11 points. 

The Wildkits started to extend their lead in the second quarter behind Peters’ 11 points. At halftime, the Wildkits had a 34-21 advantage. 

Martinelli finished with 15 points at the end of the first two quarters, and only senior small forward Matthew Rosenberger (four points) and junior forward Brandon Ballarinin (two points) made the stat sheet in the first half. 

In the third quarter, the Wildkits broke the game open. After Martinelli scored the first points of the second half with a layup, Peters followed that up on the next possession with a 3-pointer in front of the Evanston bench. 

Evanston forced a turnover on Glenbrook South’s next offensive possession and Bost completed a three-point play, scoring on a layup and adding a free throw. Shortly after, Bost made a three-pointer to make it a 20-point lead with roughly 4:30 remaining in the third quarter. 

Glenbrook South did go on a 6-0 run to make it a 43-29 game with 3:40 left in the quarter, but the Titans couldn’t get it much closer than that. Evanston would go on an 8-2 run to close out the quarter, giving them a 51-31 lead heading into the last eight minutes of play. 

Glenbrook South coach Phil Ralston did change up his defense in the fourth, utilizing a zone look, which forced a turnover on the first possession and an Evanston timeout on the next one. But the Wildkits still had firm control and ended up having to shoot free throws to close out the game.

With the victory, Evanston improves to 9-1 on the season and will face Maine West on Monday. After the loss, Glenbrook South is now 11-1 and will host Maine West on Tuesday. 

Glenbrook South defeats Evanston 61-55, Takes Control of CSL South

Nearly three minutes had passed and Glenbrook South was still searching for its first basket of the fourth quarter.

After Evanston’s Blake Peters’ acrobatic layup, Glenbrook South senior Drew Maytum inbounded the ball to fellow senior Matthew Rosenberger in front of the Evanston bench. Junior point guard Cooper Noard ran down the middle of the court and Rosenberger passed the ball to him. Noard extended his arms, secured the ball and spun off his man to make the contested floater. 

Noard would go on to score eight points in the final minutes, including one of his patented three-pointers. Behind Noard’s team-high 18 points, Glenbrook South defeated Evanston, 61-55, at the Beardsley Gymnasium to improve to 11-0 on the season. 

Fellow junior Nick Martinelli finished second in scoring with 15 points. And Rosenberger, who missed four free throws in the first half, ended third in scoring for the Titans with 11 points, making 2-of-3 free throws in the fourth quarter to help keep Glenbrook South in control of the game. 

For the Wildkits, Peters had a game-high 22 points with 10 of those came in the fourth quarter. Senior guard Elijah Bull added 10 points. Going into halftime, the Wildkits had a 29-25 lead over the Titans. 

But it was in the third quarter where the Titans came back in the game. Glenbrook South scored 18 points, including three made triples, one each from Noard, Maytum and junior Brandon Ballarinin. The Titans had six different players score, and this helped give Glenbrook South a 43-40 edge going into the final quarter. 

To start the game, Glenbrook South and Evanston were both playing lock-down defense, as each team had to work to find their shots. The Wildkits had five players score in the opening quarter and had a 14-9 advantage after the first eight minutes of play. 

With the victory, Glenbrook South is in sole possession of first place in the Central Suburban South Conference. But Evanston will get another opportunity to even the series with Glenbrook South, as the Wildkits will travel to the Titan Dome on Saturday to finish their back-to-back games. 

Lamprecht Helps East Peoria End Four-Year Streak

Already one of the up-and-coming players in the Peoria area as a freshman, Tatym Lamprecht has elevated her game to the point of pushing East Peoria girls basketball forward as a sophomore this season.

Her 38 points propelled East Peoria past Limestone 55-49 on Wednesday, Feb. 17. That marked the Raiders’ first win in Mid-Illini Conference play since 2017, ending a 48-game conference losing streak. Her aggressiveness on the offensive end yielded her 20 free-throw attempts. She made 18.

“I didn’t think I would score that many points,” Lamprecht quietly admitted.

Her coach, Khassandrae Brown, is less modest about the sophomore, who also has scoring performances of 24 and 23 under her belt this season.

“She doesn’t shy away from contact like you get with incoming freshman up against seniors like we had last year,” Brown said. ” She’s definitely gotten more aggressive and stronger. She has worked on her shooting which has helped a lot, because now they have to respect the shot and the drive from her. She does a phenomenal job of getting to the basket.”

Her shot has been the biggest difference in going from approximately 13 points per game a season ago to being a threat to score well over 20 every night as a sophomore. With an unconventional shooting stroke — the follow-through takes her closer to the basket than more traditional form — Lamprecht naturally ends up chasing her own shot. Still, she’s not chasing misses as much as she used to.

Acting as the Raiders’ primary ball-handler as well as their most potent offensive weapon, Lamprecht has long had to face the focused attention of opposing defenses.

“I got a lot better at shooting this year and drawing fouls,” Lamprecht said.

Provided photo of Lamprecht

“I’m a lot more confident with the ball last year than I was last year.”

She has grown accustomed to box-and-1’s, triangle-and-2’s, and sometimes just facing three people in her face all at once. Teams will do a lot when playing East Peoria to make anyone but the high-scoring sophomore beat them.

Lamprecht cited her time playing for her Heart of Illinois travel squad this past summer, when she couldn’t work out with her varsity team due to coronavirus restrictions, as a large part of what has propelled her into a productive sophomore campaign.

“We hadn’t been practicing that much and it’s a lot harder doing school online,” she said about the beginning of the school year.

Others on East Peoria have begun to have to strengthen their roles on the team. Fellow class of 2023 player Paige Creviston has shown Brown glimpses of being a strong player in the post.

Seniors Jexie Bolding and Rileigh Fortune are contributing as starters for an otherwise young team. Fortune, who didn’t play as a junior to focus more on running, has aided the team this year. Kaylie Hammel, who broke her arm two years ago, wasn’t even sure about playing but is now acting as a secondary ball-handler.

“We’re trying to get some other pieces to that puzzle to all fit together,” Brown said. “When she (Lamprecht) is double-teamed or the attempt is to take her out of the offense and not let her beat (them), that we have someone that can step up and fill that roll.”

But doing so against powerful conference foes like Morton, Metamora, Dunlap, Pekin and Washington, who have all been beating up on one another in February, is easier said than done.

The Raiders are after all 1-7 in Mid-Illini play after a 73-37 loss to Dunlap Saturday. Still, they’ve made big strides this season have two-plus more seasons to build upon with Lamprecht.

“We’re real low on numbers so we have a few from each class,” Brown said. “Before the win against Limestone, we had lost 48 (straight) conference games so to finally get one of those was huge for us. We’ve been competing. Against Canton they beat us at home and then we went there and only lost by 10 and it was a close game and competitive. We’re just trying to build on that win and keep trying to compete.”

Whitney Young Shows High Potential, Holds on for Win Over St. Laurence

When AJ Casey has it going, there’s no doubt how deadly Whitney Young can be.

Against St. Laurence in the Dolphins’ second game of the season Sunday, the junior forward scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half after dealing with foul trouble through halftime. Casey’s play, combined with his team’s sense of urgency on both ends of the court, helped Young escape with a 63-62 over St. Laurence, despite a late rally from the Vikings. 

When Casey and teammates were all clicking, it showed why they are thought of so highly around Illinois.

This game had various ebbs and flows: Young started strong off of three steals from Casey. He has great anticipation that, coupled with his speed and length (he’s listed at 6-8), wreak havoc on opponents. In this early season, the Casey steal-and-dunk to bring the house down is already a familiar sight.

Despite the strong start for Young, St. Laurence fought its way back into the game on Darius Wilson’s back. The 6-2 senior scored 10 of his team’s 16 first-quarter points to keep the Vikings within striking distance.

At halftime, the Dolphins led 30-24. The third quarter was a shift for Young. The Dolphins came out energetically and locked in on both sides. Seniors Jaeshon Thomas and Grant Newell set the tone early. Newell, a mainstay on Young’s varsity the past two seasons, was diving for loose balls, rebounding and scoring around the rim. Thomas contributed on the glass and scoring, finishing with 10 points and five rebounds.

Casey went on a run where he was responsible for nine points, knocking down back-to-back threes on assists from sophomore point guard Dalen Davis, then returning the favor for Davis’ own three. Davis finished with 17 points and five assists.

After three quarters, it looked as the Dolphins had put this game away with a 54-37 lead, but the Vikings never gave in. 

St. Laurence kept chipping away with seniors Aaron Wofford and Eddie Martin helping out their fellow senior Wilson. The Vikings forced turnovers and took advantage on the other end.

With under 30 seconds to play, Young clung to a 63-57 lead. Young’s Thomas missed a free throw, then Wilson came down and converted a quick two. Holding a 63-59 with 18.5 seconds left, Newell had a chance to put the game away, but he also missed his free throw. 

With a chance to extend the game again, the Dolphin’s length and activity — their calling card of the young season — helped them in the end. Casey forced a missed shot at the rim. The Vikings grabbed the offensive rebound and ultimately knocked down a three, but the swarming Young defense forced too much time to run off the clock.

With their third game in as many days, the Dolphins start their 2021 season 3-0. They have a long, lengthy team that, when engaged, can just shut down an opposing team’s offense. That third-quarter run is a glimpse of what the Dolphins can be. 

Danville’s Nathanael Hoskins leaving mark in final run with Vikings

Nathanael Hoskins has seen his fair share of big moments in recent years on the hardwood. Scoring the game-winning basket against Pontiac as a sophomore, recently crossing the 1,000-point mark for his career and even hitting a three-quarter-court shot in a win over Peoria on Wednesday. That’s not even to get into the accolades he has racked up for his play as one of the more versatile players in the Champaign area.

On Friday, Hoskins and Danville teammates celebrated senior night with a 76-56 win over visiting Urbana to move to 3-0 this season. Hoskins looked at ease on his way to 24 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists, per the statistics of Chad Dare, sports editor of the Danville Commercial-News.

“(Hoskins) constantly has improved,” Danville coach Durrell Robinson said. “He has done everything that I challenged him to do … improving catch-and-shoot threes, pull-up jumpers, defensively — and he has improved on it all.”

Fellow seniors Michael Moore and Tevin Smith, the former with 12 points and the latter with 13 points and 9 rebounds, scored their fair share.. Senior Jalin Howell was also honored Friday evening.

Hoskins has received significant interest at the Division-II level, but coach Robinson told Illinois-Basketball.com that he’s still receiving interests from prep academy programs, NAIA and other schools.

Notables:

  • Urbana raced out to a early 10-4 lead as Danville appeared to struggle with Urbana’s zone defense. From there, Danville made an offensive adjustment.

    “We switched up our offensive plays to him (Hoskins) and Tevin as the primary ball handlers for us to make plays, and make it easier for the others and they did a great job of that,” Robinson said.
  • Moore and Hoskins operated well in tandem, and Smith got his scoring going as well. The senior trio combined for 30 points in the first half, opening things up by knocking down three-point baskets. In a sequence in the fourth quarter with the game pretty well decided, Hoskins stole the ball, calmly moved down the court and lofted up an alley-oop that Smith, a Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball commit, finished with an emphatic, two-handed slam.
  • Late in the third quarter, Hoskins hit a teammate for a corner three, then finished an and-one within the next minute to stretch Danville’s lead to 53-33.
  • O’Shawn Jones Winslow made his presence felt on the boards and in the scoring column (6 points) in the third quarter.
  • With under two minutes to go, Howell set off a celebration by knocking down a three-pointer of his own from the right wing, adding an exclamation point to the senior night win.

Whitney Young Impresses in Win Over Taft

The last time the Whitney Young Dolphins played in a game, they defeated Simeon in the IHSA state playoffs. The long layoff is over as Whitney Young squared off against Taft on the road Friday, Feb. 19.

Gone are DJ Steward (Duke) and Tyler Beard (prep school before Georgetown) for Young. 

The cupboard is far from empty.

Seniors Grant Newell and Jaeshon Thomas, both with college-level talent, return along with sophomore Dalen Davis, who holds an offer from Illinois.

But the star will be AJ Casey, who scored the first points of the season with a thunderous two-handed slam. The junior forward, who played freshman year at Simeon and sophomore year at Tinley Park, is regarded as the best prospect in Illinois in the junior class.

The first points of the season came from transfer forward AJ Casey with a thunderous two-hand slam. The junior forward is regarded as the best player in his class in the state of Illinois according to 247 Sports.

With Casey, Thomas, Newell and junior Xavier Amos, have numerous 6-4-plus forwards with plus wingspans, and junior Marcus Overstreet provides the same off the bench.Their length and defensive activity was the difference in the game. The Dolphins were bigger and also played with a sense of urgency. Their defensive activity led to many deflections and difficult shots for taft.

At halftime the Dolphins led 36-19. For the game Whitney Young had seven players hit a three pointer, shooting over the Taft zone defense. Junior forward Daniel Johnson came off the bench and led Young with 13 points, knocking down multiple three when he came into the game. 

For Young, Thomas had 10 points and knocked down three triples. Davis added nine points and knocked down a pair of shots from long range. Senior forward Tyson Leitao came off the bench and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

Young’s debut was impressive, dominating from the opening tip and not letting up.

For Taft junior point guard Jonathan Martinez impressed, showcasing an ability to drill threes, and sophomore guard Jewgrante Abraham led Taft with 11 points. Taft plays against Niles North on Monday. Whitney Young has a test against Thornton on the road Saturday.

This was an impressive debut for the Dolphins after the long layoff. The players wore masks and were socially distanced when they weren’t in the game. Illinois basketball wasn’t the same without the Chicago Public League.. 

Glenbrook South’s swarming defense too much for Highland Park

From Glenbrook South’s starting five to the end of the bench, the Titans played relentless defense all game against visiting Highland Park. 

When a lane potentially looked open, senior big man Justin Leszynski was there to close it. When Highland Park set a screen, senior small forward Matthew Rosenberger was there to tell his teammate to switch. When a pass went into the middle of the defense, junior forward Spencer Brown was there to tip it. 

“I really try to compartmentalize our practices to work on things we are going to see in the games,” Glenbrook South coach Phil Ralston said. “We probably don’t spend longer than 15-to-20 minutes working on our shell defense, but during that shell, we expect all of our kids to be engaged and how we expect them to defend.”

For Glenbrook South, how the players practice manifests itself in the games. The Titans defeated the Giants, 62-29, staying undefeated and improving to 8-0 on the season. 

To compliment the Titans’ defense, Nick Martinelli added a team-high 21 points, scoring 10 of those points in the second quarter. Cooper Noard also had a 10-point quarter in the third, finishing with 15. 

Noard started his night 0-for-4 from three-point range in the first half but made all three of his attempts in the third quarter. 

Ralston wasn’t worried about his star point guard missing his shots in the first half. 

“None of them are bad looks, they just didn’t fall,” Ralston said. “He’s such a good shooter. Once he hits one, he’s going to hit two, he’s going to hit three, he might hit four. You got to watch out.”

Highland Park, on the other hand, didn’t have a bounce-back performance at any point throughout the night in the Titan Dome. A majority of the Giants’ offense was spent passing the ball outside of the 3-point line from one side of the court to the other, searching for answers. 

Billy Rudman led the Giants with 10 points, and Ben Shamberg scored six points. 

The 62 points scored in tonight’s game was the fifth time this season the Titans have eclipsed the 60-point mark. 

Glenbrook South has had plenty of success on that side of the ball, but Leszynski — who scored seven points — knows it all starts with the defense. 

“I like to think that the other team can’t beat you if they can’t score more points than you,” Leszynski said. “I like to embrace doing whatever I’m needed to do on defense … A lot of our offense comes from defense. I know when we are playing well defensively we are one of the best teams in the state.”

Lily Sutter does it all, Rommel free throws push Dunlap past Metamora in Triple OT

Lily Sutter can appear to be in multiple spots at once, and the do-it-all Dunlap junior was big in the first two overtimes against Metamora. Her performance gave the Eagles a chance in an eventual 64-59 road win Saturday afternoon.

Dunlap’s Sophia Remmel’s 21 points led all scorers while Sutter’s 19 seemed to come repeatedly at critical junctures in the triple-overtime victory.

“Lily is a key part to our success this season,” coach Heather Cassady said. “She has stepped out of her sister Elle’s shadow and (is) now making a name for herself. She is a very versatile player who can shoot the three and also create her own shot.”

Kayla Pacha led the way for the Redbirds (5-1) with 16 points. Grace Tyra had 15 points, all on 3-point makes for the Redbirds, and Alanya Terry chipped in 10. The Redbirds knocked down eight 3-pointers.

Remmel already had a 35-point performance in an impressive 57-39 victory over a solid Pekin squad. Pekin has since ended Morton’s 64-game Mid-Illini conference win streak.

“We are clicking right now,” Cassady said. “This team is working because we have good ball handlers, several shooters, and play great defense. Im very proud of the effort and focus so far but it’s still early

Third Overtime

Remmel found Tanaya Cummimngs for a cutting bucket as Dunlap seemed to finally make the clinching bucket, only for Tyra to hit one of her many threes to pull Metamora within a point, 60-59.

But Remmel made up for some earlier missed free throws, making each of her four attempts from the line in the third OT to clinch the victory.

“Sophia had a tough few minutes but overall she had a great game,” Cassady said. “So far this season she is averaging 20.5 points per game.”

Second Overtime

The teams traded buckets, with a Brooklyn Marshall basket putting Metamora up a point. Remmell tied it with a free throw, and though both teams had their chances to win, neither team could get a shot to go down as the score sat at 54-54 going to the third extra period.

Overtime

Sutter hit each of Dunlap’s two shots from the floor in the first overtime, grabbed several critical rebounds and blocked Pacha with the Eagles leading by four with under 40 seconds remaining. Unfortunately for the Eagles, missed free throws haunted them, and a Katie Lalumandier three-pointer with just over seven seconds left send the game to a second OT with the score 50-50.

Julia Sollberger made several big buckets in the overtimes, scoring 6 of her 8 points after regulation.

Fourth quarter

Sutter knocked down a bucket in the lane in the opening minute of the fourth to give Dunlap its first lead since the second quarter, and Remmel followed with another basket to push Dunlap ahead 38-35.

Marshall and Pacha sank consecutive shots for the Redbirds as Metamora tied the game back up 41-all.

Sutter sank two free throws with 1:39 to push Dunlap ahead 43-41. After a defensive stop, the Eagles took a timeout with 1:11 to go.

Metamora stripped Remmel off the drive, and took a timeout of its own with 1:00 left. Alana Terry, fouled right out of the timeout, san two freebies to tie it 43-43.

Metamora then stripped Remmel again with just over 10 seconds remaining off a double-team as a leaping Katy Ramage produced the turnover.

Pacha, rummaging for a loose ball, was fouled in the chaos, sending her to the free throw line, where she missed the front end of a 1-and-1. After a timeout with 1.9 seconds left, the Redbirds defense kept Remmel from getting off a shot from around half-court to send the game into overtime.

Third quarter

A Remmel floater pulled Dunlap back within three points at 29-26, only for Tyra to sink a triple. Remmel responded in-turn with a left-corner trey to pull Dunlap’s deficit back to 32-29.

After several scoreless minutes, Bree Erickson’s corner 3-pointer capped a 13-3 run for Dunlap, who pulled within a point (33-32) as Metamora went into the fourth up 35-34.

Second quarter

Russell scored 8 points in the second quarter and Tyra hit multiple 3-pointers in the first half as Metamora took a 29-19 lead into the half.

Pacha demonstrated a soft touch with a nice left-handed shot in the lane and Izzy Vandeschraaf followed another defensive stop with two free throws to push Metamora ahead 16-11.

Bree Erickson scored 5 of Dunlap’s 8 points of the second quarter, as Metamora held the Eagles in-check most of the way, as she and Sutter each knocked down 3-pointer in the period.

First Quarter

The Redbirds’ hard-nosed defense kept the Eagles from getting clean looks off the bounce. After initially running extra bodies at Remmel off the bounce, the sophomore Dunlap guard picked up her first bucket with a runner in the lane as Dunlap trailed 9-6. A triple from Remmel was the difference as the Eagles took an 11-9 lead into the second.

*Several stats were changed and quotes from coach Heather Cassady were added after publishing.

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