Bishop McNamara’s struggles at Redbird Arena continued Saturday.
The Irish finished fourth in Class 2A — the best finish in its history — after a 50-40 loss to Teutopolis in the third-place game.
Unlike Friday’s lopsided semifinal defeat to Rochester, Bishop McNamara (22-10) was able to keep this game close. It trailed 37-36 with a little more than five minutes left after senior Brittany Hasselbring (16 points) hit an 8-foot runner in the lane.
The Lady Shoes (31-5), a five-time state champion, were able to pull away.
Rochester wasn’t able to hold down West Hancock in the 2A title game. Marley Hall scored a game-high 23 points to lift the Titans to a 44-37 victory and their first girls state basketball championship.
Bishop McNamara has been Downstate four of the last five seasons but is 0-5 at Redbird.
“It was my last game, so I just played as hard as I could, leave it all out on the floor,” McNamara senior Brandi Branka said. “I was hoping we’d come up with a third-place win, but that’s OK. We made it down here.”
Flanagan wins Class 1A
Anna Jones set a girls state title-game record by scoring 39 points in the Falcons’ 62-60 overtime victory over Newark for the title. She also had 13 rebounds and six steals.
Moweaqua Central A&M beat Jacksonville Routt 49-41 for third place.