Girls SectionalS (Semi's and Finals)

Girls Sectionals (FINALS)- Thursday, February 21 Marian Catholic Hail Mary is answered... Marian Catholic junior Ashton Millender hit the shot heard around the South Suburbs and throughout the 4A IHSA landscape from midcourt to beat the buzzer and stun Marist for a 54-52 victory Thursday in the Class 4A Mother McAuley Sectional final. The Spartans junior, Millender, said she goofs around taking 25-foot shots at practice all the time. “I didn’t know if it was going to go in … I guess I was lucky. This feels great,” an overwhelmed Millender said after her bank-in gave Marian a 54-52 victory before a screaming, near-capacity crowd. Before Millender’s heroics, JeTaun Rouse (23 points) appeared to be the spotlight star after hitting a 10-foot jumper with two defenders all over her. Only 2.8 seconds remained for Marian to pull off a miracle. Here's the Marian Catholic High School buzzer beater to stun Marist High School tonight on CN100 Comcast Chicago... http://t.co/g6BaLoKoa1 During the timeout, Spartans coach Annie Byrne pulled a play out of her book that worked in her first season as the Spartans coach when Kathlyn McClain hit a halfcourt shot for a sectional win over Joliet Catholic. This time, Melanie Ransom took the ball from the official under the far basket and put it on the ground. Walsh, the tallest Spartan at 6-1, ran over and picked up the ball. Walsh fired a pass over the halfcourt line to Millender. The rest is history. “She made a great pass,” Byrne said of Walsh. “And we got the lucky shot. [Millender] had the courage to take a look and get it. We’re very fortunate. Marist played a great game. JeTaun was unbelievable. I’ve got to give it to her. She did a great job." Teniya Page had 20 points, Kauai Bradley 11 points and Megan Walsh 12 rebounds for the No. 3 Spartans (30-1), who advanced to Monday’s Illinois Wesleyan Supersectional vs. Peoria Richwoods. No. 16 Marist (23-10) was paced by Rouse (23 points) and Leah Bolton (22 points, 14 rebounds). “This was the toughest loss, the toughest heartbreak, I think, that Marist [girls basketball] has had in 11 years,” RedHawks coach Mary Pat Connolly said. “It’s just too bad for our seven seniors that it ended that way. But, hey, they left it all on the floor. It just came down to one shot.” IMPORTANT NOTE: You can recap the game from our LIVE stats site at http://t.maxpreps.com/VwoDmC, or you can watch the game via Comcast CN100 Game of the Week tonight, Friday, February 22 at 7pm CST. Highlights can be watched at http://t.co/biP2e4Xboj. Bishop Mac advances... Bishop Mac's Corinne O’Connor hit the game-winning shot as they upset Morgan Park 68-66 in OT at the Peotone Sectional final Thursday. Having already upset No. 10 Joliet Catholic Tuesday in the semifinals, Bishop McNamara continued its impressive run Thursday evening. “It’s the stepping stones we’ve took from the summer working hard to the individual things we could work on at a personal level,” McNamara’s Corinne O’Connor said. “We’re more together and a much stronger team this year.” O’Connor led Bishop McNamara (18-11) with 20 points while Kyleigh Payne (18 points) and Sanders (15 points) also contributed. Erupting for 39 points against Joliet Catholic, the high-scoring Sanders was kept in relative check but still made her presence felt on the court. Morgan Park’s Kierra Graves tied the game with 55 seconds left in overtime at 66-66 on a hard drive to the basket. The Fighting Irish proceeded to kill the clock against the Morgan Park defense until near the 15-second mark, Sanders drove hard across the lane. Drawing the defense, Sanders passed under the basket to a waiting O’Connor who put it in cleanly for the game-winner. “Khadaizha can get to the basket whenever, but she’s good at distributing,” O’Connor said. “If the defense comes to get her, she knows me or Kyleigh are there for the ball. We just have to finish.” After a Morgan Park timeout with 10 seconds remaining, the Mustangs were unable to get a shot off against an aggressive defense. Morgan Park (23-6) finished with 36 turnovers, 22 in the second half. “They wanted it a little more,” Morgan Park coach Thomas Johnson said. “Turnovers tore our butts up, especially 22 in the second half. You won’t win against a fifth and sixth grade team with that.” Bolingbrook continues on... but up next is Whitney Young Bolingbrook (24-5) won its ninth consecutive sectional title with a 56-38 victory over No. 14 Neuqua Valley on Thursday night in Oswego behind the fine play of Kennedy Cattenhead, the lone holdover from the Morgan Tuck teams that won three consecutive Class 4A state championships, scored 21 points. This isn't one of Bolingbrook's most dominant teams, though the ones that came before are not really a fair barometer of success. There's only one team Bolingbrook measures itself against, and Young is up next. Well, the Raiders' annual postseason showdown with Young is at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Hinsdale Central Supersectional. The winner of that game has won the 4A title every year since the expansion from two classes in 2008. Young won an epic four-overtime battle last winter — the first time the Illinois High School Association placed the teams in the same supersectional. "I'm real exited," Cattenhead said. "We can't go down (to Young) twice in a row. Coach (Anthony) Smith is a person that says you always have to go out with heart. Last year, we went out with a lot of heart and a lot of talent. Talent doesn't always win games." "We have a lot of upcoming talent, but we work harder than anybody else. I feel like we can go out and get it done."

Girls Sectionals (semi) - Tuesday, February 19 Mustangs outrun the Stars With Morgan Park holding a four-point lead at halftime, the senior duo of Kierra Graves, Bhrea Griffin and freshmen Shami Goodman lit the scoreboard up in the second half. Graves especially took control, scoring three baskets in both the third and fourth to help the Mustangs pull away. The senior’s aggressive play resulted in all six of her second-half buckets coming via fast break layups, one an acrobatic spinning floater. "We're a second half team," Graves Said after the game.  "The coaches get after us, and we're able to pick it up in the second half." Rich South cut the deficit to 10 points three different times in the fourth, but Griffin answered with a score inside and a 5-of-6 showing at the free throw line. Tierra Webb (19 points) and DeAsia Garrett (11 points) led Rich South (22-6). The Stars shot just 18-of-56 from the field, struggling to convert in the lane. “It was the mistakes we made when we had opportunities to get close,” South coach Brian Mays said. “We’d throw the ball away or miss putbacks. Proud of the girls, just wish it would have been a different result.” RedHawks midseason lessons are paying off during the playoffs Marist entered the season projected to be one of the top teams in the state especially when they returned two college-bound players — Marquette signee JeTaun Rouse and Illinois-bound Leah Bolton — coupled with a dearth of inside players. On Tuesday night, the RedHawks claimed its 10th victory in 12 games by beating Mother McAuley 61-51 in a Class 4A Mother McAuley Sectional semifinal Tuesday. Bolton carried the RedHawks to a 36-19 halftime lead with 11 points and 10 rebounds. She finished with 19 points and 16 rebounds, and squashed a late rally by Mother McAuley with seven straight fourth-quarter points. "I knew I had to step up, and I started passing and rebounding and doing whatever I could to help us advance," Bolton said. The teams middle season struggles, that consisted of losing five of six games tested coach Mary Pat Connolly's decision to play a rugged schedule to get her team ready for the playoffs. And right now, it seems to be paying off. "We had a really tough schedule, and we did it on purpose because we wanted it to count right now," Connolly said. "Our record isn't indicative of the team we really are. I knew (our schedule) would pay off." The biggest difference between Marist in December and late February is the better play from its frontcourt, more intensity on the defensive end and the return of Claire Ryan from a knee injury. On Jan. 8, Mother McAuley guard Alyssa Siwek scored 37 points in a 79-67 win over Marist. Rouse face-guarded the high-scoring Siwek, who scored just four of her 12 points after halftime. In a battle of rivals with a frenzied crowd stirring up the energy, Marist benefited from the physical and loosely called game. Marist's frontcourt of Brooke Wyderski (8 points, 8 rebounds), Lizzie Zaleski (9 points, 7 rebounds) and Hannah Michalek supplied a high percentage of points and rebounds, and hustle on both ends. Ms. Rouse added 17 points and 4 steals in the victory. "I just bellied up on her and got no help and made sure she didn't get any open shots off," Rouse said. The RedHawks (23-9) play Marian Catholic on Thursday in the sectional final.

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