Lady Red Devils aim to go big, not home
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| Seniors Jaclyn Kain (from left), Kelle Nett and Liz Mosbach won their first regional championship in their four years at Hall, defeating St. Bede 52-48 with a little help from their sophomore and junior teammates. Next up is a sectional semifinal vs. Stillman Valley at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Rock Falls. (Photo contributed) |
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Come Tuesday, it will be time to go big or go home for the Hall Lady Red Devils.
Hall will make its first sectional appearance in four years, squaring off against Stillman Valley at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the second semifinal of the Rock Falls Sectional. The Cardinals pack a wallop on their fullcourt press, using their size upfront.
Hall coach Dave Kain plans to fight fire vs. fire, or rather size vs. size, utilizing the ball-handling skills of his senior posts, Kelle Nett and Jaclyn Kain, his daughter, to thwart the Cardinals’ press.
“From what I hear, they put the big girls up on the press. Kind of like our halfcourt trap, that’s what we do, put Kelle and Jaclyn jumping the ball. Most teams don’t believe in doing that, they keep the big girls back,” Dave Kain said. “We should be able to throw it up over their big girls and set up the offense and not throw it away, throw it away and give away points.
“If we get the low-scoring game, 25-24, I don’t care as long as we get the win. Even though we don’t like to play that way, we may have to.”
Kain said the Lady Red Devils will have do a better job handling the ball and limiting turnovers, or “it’s going to be a long day for Hall High School.”
Stillman Valley coach Heather Alderks believes the Cardinals match up with Hall, with 6-foot senior Robyn Alde and 5-10 Jesica Gerig and 5-10 Katie Fowler ready to contend with Hall twin towers Nett (5-11) and Kain (5-11). Gerig leads the Cardinals in scoring (14.7) and rebounding (7.2).
“We need our post players to step up defensively and control the rebounds. We also feel like a key to our success will be containing their guards and not allowing any easy looks,” Alderks said.
Hall certainly came up big Thursday, upsetting St. Bede 52-48 for the Princeton 2A Regional championship, rallying from an 11-point third quarter deficit.
“It’s awesome. Our coaches are so proud,” said senior guard Liz Mosbach, who played what coach Kain said was her best game in four years against St. Bede, scoring 13 points.
“That was wonderful. The seniors had never beat St. Bede for three years. They were just so, so, so excited,” Kain said. “If we continue on, great. If we get beat, they got a regional championship. I told them, when you come back 5 years, 10 years, 20 years for class reunion, they can never take that away from you.
“We got down 11 and I looked at them and said, you either got to turn it on, or it’s going to be over. And we made that run and got up four at the end of the third quarter after being down 11. That was huge,” Kain said. “I could just see it, we weren’t going to lose. They had that determination, and that was great. The three seniors stepped up when they had to and that was just so perfect for those three. That was great.”
Stillman Valley had an equally challenging test of character, falling behind 9-0 and 15-2 in the first quarter before rallying for a 50-36 runaway win over host Oregon. Gerig led the Cardinals’ comeback, scoring 14 of her game-high 22 points in the second half. Stillman held Oregon to four field goals in the second half and pulled away with a 36-10 run.
“There was definitely some nervousness out there when we were down that big,” Gerig told the Rockford Register Star, “But at halftime, I think it really hit us that this could be our last game. Right there we knew we had the heart to go out and get this one back.”
Hall lost to that same Oregon team 49-26 in the Oregon Tip-Off Classic before Thanksgiving, but Kain said, “We’re a lot better team than we were early in the year, a lot better.”
• Notes: Rock Falls opened the sectional Monday with a 62-47 win over Rockord Lutheran. The Lady Rockets (20-10), await Tuesday’s winner in Thursday’s championship game at 7:30 p.m.
Rock Falls (2A) Sectional at a glance:
Monday: Rock Falls 62, Rockford Lutheran 47
Tuesday: Game 2 - Hall (19-11) vs. Stilman Valley (23-6), 7:30 p.m.
Thursday’s finals: Rock Falls vs. winner game 2, 7:30 p.m.
BCR Insider: Hall won its first regional in four years, defeating St. Bede 52-48. It also beat St. Bede for its last regional championship in 2008. Hall seeks its first win at sectionals since its 2006 state squad won the Mendota Sectional. To accomplish it, the Lady Red Devils will have to overcome a Stillman Valley team which beat Oregon 50-36 in the regional finals. Oregon beat Hall by 23 points (49-26) in the Oregon Tip-Off Classic. Should Hall advance past Stillman, it will have to beat a Rockford Lutheran team that it lost to by 20 points (62-42) at Oregon. ... Stillman, which has won two regionals in three years and five since 2004, has won nine of its last 10 games to bring in a 23-6 record. The Cardinals avenged last year’s 54-48 loss to Oregon in the regional finals ... Sectional favorite Rockford Lutheran won its fifth regional title in the six years, but had to overcome an Elgin St. Edward squad that rallied with a 16-2 to take a 38-37 with 2:09 left to play. Lutheran has a squad built around AAU talent, including Rachel Konieczki, who scored 13 of the Crusaders’ first 20 points and netted 20 overall. Lutheran beat St. Bede 59-44 to win the Bureau Valley Sectional last year before falling to Quincy Notre Dame in the supersectionals. ... Rock Falls won its first regional since 2005. It had lost to Lutheran twice in Big Northern West clashes, the closest (53-40) coming Jan. 6.Midland (1A) Sectional at a glance:
Midland (1A) Sectional at a glance:
Monday’s semifinal: Kewanee Wethersfield 48, Ottawa Marquette 34
Tuesday’s semifinal: Game 2 - Annawan (28-1) vs. Hinckley-Big Rock (22-7), 7:30 p.m.
Thursday’s finals: Kewanee Wethersfield (26-6) vs. winner game 2, 7:30 p.m.
BCR insider: The Bravettes are No. 1 ranked in 1A, but face a tough task Tuesday against HBR, who won back-to-back 1A state crowns (2009 and ‘10). HBR won its Little 10 showdown with Newark 47-43 for the Shabbona regional title. Annawan rolled at the Amboy Regional, defeating LaMoille/Ohio and the host Lady Clippers by a combined 75-point margin of victory. Key players for the Bravettes include senior Jordan Jackson, and 6-2 sophomore center Celina VanHyfte. VanHyfte’s mother, Val Wancket, was a standout at Atkinson High School and Bradley University. Jackson and Marquette’s Cordy Murphy (19 pts, 19 rebonds in regional finals) will play Division I volleyball for Western Illinois University and Bradley University, respectively. ... Annawan beat Marquette in last year’s regional finals 60-48 before falling to Stark County at sectional.
BCR pick: Annawan over Kewanee Wethersfield.
Next: Winner advances to the Bloomington Supersectional vs. Colfax Sectional winner at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Illinois Wesleyan.
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