Antioch and North Chicago will play for the Class 3A girls basketball sectional title at 7 p.m. Thursday at Antioch after both teams posted semifinal victories on Tuesday night.
Antioch (29-3) cruised past Regina Dominican 54-35 and North Chicago (24-8) beat Vernon Hills 55-46 to set up the title matchup. Thursday’s winner will play in the supersectional at 7 p.m. Monday at Hoffman Estates against either Montini or Marshall.
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Thursday’s game will be the third meeting between the Sequoits and Warhawks this season, with Antioch winning 41-32 on Dec. 2 and 55-50 on Jan. 14.
While Antioch was in command throughout, the North Chicago win was filled with drama, including a game-ending 11-0 run after the Warhawks trailed 46-44.
Vernon Hills actually led 33-24 with 7:27 left in the third quarter when North Chicago called a timeout. When the teams returned to the court, the Warhawks cranked up the defensive intensity and for the rest of the game, the Cougars were 4-for-16 from the field and did not score in the final 5:50.
Meanwhile, North Chicago was 13-for-28 from the field after that timeout. The game-deciding sequence started with a basket by Tiara Garrett that made it 50-46 with 3:25 left. Vernon Hills turned the ball over and North Chicago then held the ball while Vernon Hills chased.
With 1:07 left, Warhawk senior Kylah Collins was knocked to the floor and the flagrant foul resulted in two free throws plus the ball. Collins hit both shots and on the ensuing possession, Alexis Means scored on an uncontested layup against a spread-out defense and it was 54-46 and over.
Point guard TT Maggett led the winners in scoring with 17, and Zyaire Strowder had 16. Garrett and Collins each scored eight.
For Vernon Hills (22-8), Kasey Firnbach had 10 points, Becky Bahlmann nine and Monica Bahlmann seven.
North Chicago was 24-for-56 shooting and Vernon Hills was 15-for-45. Vernon Hills had 20 turnovers, 13 in the second half, while North Chicago had 12 total.
“We stepped up the defense, which is what won us the game,” said Maggett. “It feels great to be part of the first team advancing to a sectional final.”
North Chicago coach Laurence Brown has guided his teams to three straight regional titles — the first three in school history — and now comes the first sectional-final appearance.
“My team was nervous coming out,” he said. “My girls really took charge and played well in the second half. We knew if we could put pressure on them, we would get turnovers. Our defense won the game tonight.”
Vernon Hills coach Paul Brettner agreed that the game’s script flipped after the Warhawk timeout at 33-24.
“We were able to get a couple of quick scores to start the second half, but after the timeout, they amped up the pressure and that was the difference,” he said. “We made a few too many mistakes tonight … too many possessions that we didn’t get a shot off.”
Brettner praised the play of North Chicago’s guards, and also his own hustling team.
“They have great guards. It’s hard when we don’t get shots. We just didn’t take care of the basketball for the last 14 minutes,” he said.
“This was a really special group,” he added of his own players. “We lost two Division I players (to graduation) and we were one win away from being right back in the same spot (in the playoffs). These kids didn’t let their level of play drop. They worked really hard and the seniors were great this season.”
Antioch was in control all the way in its win. It led 16-8, 29-22 and 40-27 at the quarter breaks.
Sophomore Amy Reiser (21 points, 16 rebounds), senior Carly McCameron (12 points, 14 rebounds) and point guard Ashley Reiser (8 points) keyed the victory. Antioch was 21-for-56 shooting, 3-for-15 from 3-point range.
“We took care of business tonight,” Antioch coach Tim Borries said. “We haven’t made it to a sectional final since I’ve been here (19 years). This is a big deal. Twenty-nine wins in a season is a big deal.”
Antioch, like North Chicago, has never won a sectional title. Borries said a 68-54 win on the road two weeks ago over area 4A power Stevenson in the North Suburban Conference championship game gave his girls the belief that they could perform on a big stage.
“The Stevenson game was huge for us,” he said. “Playing in the big game in front of a big crowd … it is only going to help us as we get into bigger games and bigger crowds. We have to play solid defense and control our emotions, especially on the offensive end.”
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Phillyp Bonato is a freelance writer.