Nothing but net: Prophets clinch regional despite early shooting woes
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| Prophetstown’s Riley Walters (left), Cassie Reiley (middle) and Catherine Medrano (right) take turns cutting the net on Thursday after winning the Class 1A Erie Regional. The Prophets beat Erie 48-31. (Ryan Gaines/Sauk Valley Media) |
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ERIE – Another slow start, another win for the Prophetstown Prophets – and another regional plaque for the school’s trophy case.
The Prophets overcame some early shooting woes with some suffocating defense on Thursday night, beating the rival Erie Cardinals 48-31 in the championship of the 1A Erie Regional.
“When our shots aren’t falling, we have to turn to our defense,” Prophetstown junior guard Cassie Reiley said. “Defense has been a big key for us, especially in the postseason, and we got it done with our ‘D’ again tonight.”
The Prophets (21-9) led 13-12 two minutes into the second quarter of a foul-fest before the defense really took control. With both teams already in the bonus, Prophetstown racheted up the full-court pressure and took away what little rhythm the Cardinals (12-17) had established.
A steal and layup by Riley Walters, then Heather Strike’s second elbow jump shot of the first half kicked off a 12-0 Prophetstown run. Clare Kramer’s layup off a pretty pass from Strike capped the spurt, which turned the Prophets’s one-point lead into a baker’s dozen at 25-12.
“Things weren’t going well early on again, but we turned up the defense, got a lead and just tried to be patient and wear down the clock on them,” Prophetstown coach Don Robinson said. “We got a good spark on both offense and defense from our bench, and it worked out big for us tonight.”
Kramer (11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals) and Strike (4 points, 2 steals, 1 assist) led the charge by the reserves, Corrie Reiley and Karlie Stafford also chipped in during the second-quarter surge, and the Prophetstown bench played some strong minutes to help its team maintain the margin the rest of the way.
“Every single player can make something happen for us,” Walters (14 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals) said, “and tonight, it was our bench players who did a lot of good things.”
“We love to give our team a spark,” Kramer added, “and I think we really lightened up the mood and brought the team together tonight.”
Erie cut the deficit to 10 (25-15) with a minute left before halftime, but Cassie Reiley’s 3-pointer from the right wing at the buzzer pushed the Prophetstown lead back to 13; the Prophets led by at least 11 points the rest of the way.
“That got me pumped up, and I think it got the crowd and the rest of the team excited,” Reiley (13 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds) said. “I hadn’t been hitting my shots, but to finally get one to go with the clock ticking down was a big part of us getting the momentum back for the second half.”
Kali Unruh (17 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists) scored the first basket out of the break for Erie, but it was all Prophetstown after that.Walters scored on a drive-and-dish from Cassie Reiley, then Reiley scored a three-point play off a curl from a Danielle Cooney pass.
Des Lawson’s basket stopped that mini-run, but Kramer’s bucket off another Reiley drive-and-dish kicked off a 6-0 Prophets run to close the quarter; Walters’ layup off a third Reiley penetration pass put Prophetstown up 41-19 heading into the final quarter.
Unruh scored six of Erie’s 12 points over the final eight minutes, but another Kramer layup and a Reiley pull-up jumper – both set up by Reiley’s ability to get into the lane – nixed any comeback.
“They outhustled us a lot of times tonight, and that’s not something that usually happens to us,” Erie coach Brian Howell said. “I think once they got the lead, with their big-game experience and our lack of it, they settled down quicker than we did. Our nerves got to us, and things snowballed from there.”
In addition to winning the team’s fifth straight regional title and 11th in the last 15 years, the Prophets also avenged last week’s loss to Erie – a loss that cost Prophetstown the outright Three Rivers title.
“We were hungry to get this win; we really, really wanted it,” Kramer said. “Coach told us that we had to have a foxhole mentality – trust in each other, work together on both ends of the court and take advantage of every chance you get. We did a very good job of that tonight.”
Girls basketball
Class 1A Erie Regional championship
Prophetstown 48, Erie 31
Star of the game: Riley Walters, Prophetstown, 14 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals
Key performers: Cassie Reiley, Prophetstown, 13 points, 5 assists; Clare Kramer, Prophetstown, 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals; Kali Unruh, Erie, 17 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists
Up next: Class 1A Eastland Sectional semifinal, Prophetstown vs. East Dubuque/River Ridge-Scales Mound winner, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday
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