H-BR Cruises To Second Straight
Sectional Title
Sectional Title
Defending 1A Champs Pound Elgin Academy 62-35 ...
| Northern Illinois Sports Beat http://www.northernillinoissportsbeat.com |
Photo by Bill Lidinsky
SECTIONAL CHAMPIONS - Left to Right: Jessica Leifheit, Alyssa Baunach, Kaitlin
Phillips, Maxzine Rossler, Jess Meyer, Jenna Thorp, Tess Godhardt, Katie Hollis
SECTIONAL CHAMPIONS - Left to Right: Jessica Leifheit, Alyssa Baunach, Kaitlin
Phillips, Maxzine Rossler, Jess Meyer, Jenna Thorp, Tess Godhardt, Katie Hollis
By Bill Lidinsky
Northern Illinois Sports Beat Contributor
MOOSEHEART - During the past two high school basketball seasons, the Hinckley-
Big Rock varsity girls hoop team had been embroiled with Little Ten Conference foe
Newark in a duo of scintillating sectional championship contests.
In 2008, the Lady Norsemen beat the Lady Royals at the buzzer by a point and
ended up finishing second during the small school playoff at Redbird Arena in Normal.
Last year, H-BR bested Newark by a single tally in the sectional final at Serena in
dramatic fashion and ended up winning the school's first ever girls state
championship after a great run at Redbird Arena.
With the Lady Norsemen out of the playoff mix this season, the Lady Royals took on
upstart Elgin Academy at the Mooseheart-held sectional title game on Thursday,
February 18.
While the contest didn’t nearly resemble the epic battles the two LTC combatants
had put forth on the court during the previous two campaigns, the end result was just
as sweet for the Lady Royals as what they experienced in 2009.
Behind game-high totals of 23 points and seven rebounds by junior Tess Godhardt,
H-BR advanced to its second consecutive Class 1A Super Sectional with a relatively
easy 62-35 victory over Elgin Academy. The Lady Royals will now face Stockton at 7:
30 p.m. Monday night at Judson University in Elgin for the right to move on to the 1A
Final Four next weekend in Normal.
Stockton defeated Durand during the Forreston Sectional Championship contest 44-
24 also on Thursday evening as the Lady Blackhawks punched their ticket to
compete against the defending 1A champs Monday at Judson.
“Anytime you’re one of eight teams remaining in Class 1A, you’ve got to be happy for
that. The fact is that the last two years we’ve battled with the state’s best in Newark in
the sectional finals. They got us by a point two years ago and then we got them by a
point last year,” said Hinckley-Big Rock head coach Greg Burks. “This year we saw a
much different opponent in Elgin Academy and I thought they gave a great effort
event though they weren’t expected to stay with us as a big underdog. In the end, we
did what we needed to do to win our second straight sectional championship.”
Both teams battled to a 4-4 tie after the first 1:30 of the contest before H-BR tallied
the next 14 of 16 points to go up 18-6 with 1:05 to play in the first period. The Lady
Hilltoppers closed out the final minutes of the opening quarter with a 5-0 run to make
the score 18-11 entering the second stanza. Even though Elgin Academy turned the
ball over eight times during the first eight minutes, it managed to hit on all five of it’s
field goal attempts to keep the contest within seven going into period two.
“I told the girls we were only chasing seven after the first quarter and in reality that’s
where we wanted to be against such a high powered team like Hinckley-Big Rock,”
said Elgin Academy head coach Vincente Pena. “But they made some adjustments in
the second period with their press and we really struggled after that.”
The Lady Royals (30-2) outscored Elgin Academy 18-4 in the second quarter as
Godhardt registered seven more points to go with her seven in the first period as
Hinckley-Big Rock led 36-15 at the half.
Senior Maxine Rossler also added a bucket with five seconds to go before the
intermission to give the Lady Royals the 21-point bulge.
Rossler’s five first half points posted her with 1,001 total scores on the varsity level
for Hinckley, making her only the ninth player in Lady Royal history to eclipse the
much-coveted thousand-point plateau.
“It’s really a great accomplishment for me to hit a thousand points. I knew I was
getting close, but for me it’s not about hitting a thousand points, it’s about getting a
win and moving on to our second straight super sectional,” Rossler said.
In the third period, Godhardt was amazing again with nine points that helped her club
outscore the Lady Hilltoppers 18-11 and own a 54-26 lead after 24 minutes of play.
“Definitely in the post season I want to come through in big games. I knew we had a
big advantage tonight, but I wanted to make a difference,” Godhardt said. “Hopefully
we’ll get back to state this year and tonight was a big step toward our goal which is
winning two consecutive state championship.”
Elgin Academy (14-10) outscored H-BR 9-8 in the final stanza, but it wasn’t nearly
enough to overcome the huge lead the Lady Royals had amassed up until the final
eight minutes of play.
After Godhardt, Thorp helped the Lady Royal effort with 16 points and six rebounds.
Rossler was next in line with nine tallies. Senior Lauren Steimle headed Elgin
Academy with nine points.
“Tonight was realistically a tough go. After playing Newark in two great sectional
championships the last two years, what could we expect from a team like Elgin
Academy that didn’t seem to have much of a presence against us.” Burks said. “But
they (Elgin Academy) gave us a good run even though it wasn’t Newark for a chance
this year. Now it’s off to the super sectionals again. Hopefully we’ll make the most of
our appearance Monday versus Stockton.”
Bill Lidinsky is a Northern Illinois Sports Beat contributor. He can be reached in care
of NISB at Northernillinoissportsbeat@yahoo.com. --- Talk about what's written on
our Message Boards!
Northern Illinois Sports Beat Contributor
MOOSEHEART - During the past two high school basketball seasons, the Hinckley-
Big Rock varsity girls hoop team had been embroiled with Little Ten Conference foe
Newark in a duo of scintillating sectional championship contests.
In 2008, the Lady Norsemen beat the Lady Royals at the buzzer by a point and
ended up finishing second during the small school playoff at Redbird Arena in Normal.
Last year, H-BR bested Newark by a single tally in the sectional final at Serena in
dramatic fashion and ended up winning the school's first ever girls state
championship after a great run at Redbird Arena.
With the Lady Norsemen out of the playoff mix this season, the Lady Royals took on
upstart Elgin Academy at the Mooseheart-held sectional title game on Thursday,
February 18.
While the contest didn’t nearly resemble the epic battles the two LTC combatants
had put forth on the court during the previous two campaigns, the end result was just
as sweet for the Lady Royals as what they experienced in 2009.
Behind game-high totals of 23 points and seven rebounds by junior Tess Godhardt,
H-BR advanced to its second consecutive Class 1A Super Sectional with a relatively
easy 62-35 victory over Elgin Academy. The Lady Royals will now face Stockton at 7:
30 p.m. Monday night at Judson University in Elgin for the right to move on to the 1A
Final Four next weekend in Normal.
Stockton defeated Durand during the Forreston Sectional Championship contest 44-
24 also on Thursday evening as the Lady Blackhawks punched their ticket to
compete against the defending 1A champs Monday at Judson.
“Anytime you’re one of eight teams remaining in Class 1A, you’ve got to be happy for
that. The fact is that the last two years we’ve battled with the state’s best in Newark in
the sectional finals. They got us by a point two years ago and then we got them by a
point last year,” said Hinckley-Big Rock head coach Greg Burks. “This year we saw a
much different opponent in Elgin Academy and I thought they gave a great effort
event though they weren’t expected to stay with us as a big underdog. In the end, we
did what we needed to do to win our second straight sectional championship.”
Both teams battled to a 4-4 tie after the first 1:30 of the contest before H-BR tallied
the next 14 of 16 points to go up 18-6 with 1:05 to play in the first period. The Lady
Hilltoppers closed out the final minutes of the opening quarter with a 5-0 run to make
the score 18-11 entering the second stanza. Even though Elgin Academy turned the
ball over eight times during the first eight minutes, it managed to hit on all five of it’s
field goal attempts to keep the contest within seven going into period two.
“I told the girls we were only chasing seven after the first quarter and in reality that’s
where we wanted to be against such a high powered team like Hinckley-Big Rock,”
said Elgin Academy head coach Vincente Pena. “But they made some adjustments in
the second period with their press and we really struggled after that.”
The Lady Royals (30-2) outscored Elgin Academy 18-4 in the second quarter as
Godhardt registered seven more points to go with her seven in the first period as
Hinckley-Big Rock led 36-15 at the half.
Senior Maxine Rossler also added a bucket with five seconds to go before the
intermission to give the Lady Royals the 21-point bulge.
Rossler’s five first half points posted her with 1,001 total scores on the varsity level
for Hinckley, making her only the ninth player in Lady Royal history to eclipse the
much-coveted thousand-point plateau.
“It’s really a great accomplishment for me to hit a thousand points. I knew I was
getting close, but for me it’s not about hitting a thousand points, it’s about getting a
win and moving on to our second straight super sectional,” Rossler said.
In the third period, Godhardt was amazing again with nine points that helped her club
outscore the Lady Hilltoppers 18-11 and own a 54-26 lead after 24 minutes of play.
“Definitely in the post season I want to come through in big games. I knew we had a
big advantage tonight, but I wanted to make a difference,” Godhardt said. “Hopefully
we’ll get back to state this year and tonight was a big step toward our goal which is
winning two consecutive state championship.”
Elgin Academy (14-10) outscored H-BR 9-8 in the final stanza, but it wasn’t nearly
enough to overcome the huge lead the Lady Royals had amassed up until the final
eight minutes of play.
After Godhardt, Thorp helped the Lady Royal effort with 16 points and six rebounds.
Rossler was next in line with nine tallies. Senior Lauren Steimle headed Elgin
Academy with nine points.
“Tonight was realistically a tough go. After playing Newark in two great sectional
championships the last two years, what could we expect from a team like Elgin
Academy that didn’t seem to have much of a presence against us.” Burks said. “But
they (Elgin Academy) gave us a good run even though it wasn’t Newark for a chance
this year. Now it’s off to the super sectionals again. Hopefully we’ll make the most of
our appearance Monday versus Stockton.”
Bill Lidinsky is a Northern Illinois Sports Beat contributor. He can be reached in care
of NISB at Northernillinoissportsbeat@yahoo.com. --- Talk about what's written on
our Message Boards!
At Mooseheart
Class 1A Sectional
Championship
Hinckley-Big Rock 62
Elgin Academy 35
H-BR (62) – Hollis 2 0-1 4,
Phillips 3 0-0 6, Meyer 0 0-0
0, Thorp 5 6-8 16, Rossler 4
0-0 9, Baunach 0 2-2 2,
Leifheit 1 0-0 2, Godhardt 10
3-4 23, Totals 25 11-15 62.
EA (35) – Steimle 3 2-2 9,
Ward 4 0-0 8, Barnes 3 0-0 7,
Pena 3 1-2 7, Keslinke 2 0-0
4, Martinez 0 0-0 0, Johnson
0 0-0 0, Siddiqui 0 0-0 0,
Dussard 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 3-
4 35.
H-BR (30-2) 18 18 18 8 – 62
EA (14-10) 11 4 11 9 – 35
3-point goals – H-BR 1
(Rossler); EA 2 (Steimle,
Barnes). Rebounds – H-BR
26 (Godhardt 7); EA 11 (Pena
5). Turnovers – H-BR 11; EA
25. Totals fouls (none fouled
out) – H-BR 12; EA 13.
Class 1A Sectional
Championship
Hinckley-Big Rock 62
Elgin Academy 35
H-BR (62) – Hollis 2 0-1 4,
Phillips 3 0-0 6, Meyer 0 0-0
0, Thorp 5 6-8 16, Rossler 4
0-0 9, Baunach 0 2-2 2,
Leifheit 1 0-0 2, Godhardt 10
3-4 23, Totals 25 11-15 62.
EA (35) – Steimle 3 2-2 9,
Ward 4 0-0 8, Barnes 3 0-0 7,
Pena 3 1-2 7, Keslinke 2 0-0
4, Martinez 0 0-0 0, Johnson
0 0-0 0, Siddiqui 0 0-0 0,
Dussard 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 3-
4 35.
H-BR (30-2) 18 18 18 8 – 62
EA (14-10) 11 4 11 9 – 35
3-point goals – H-BR 1
(Rossler); EA 2 (Steimle,
Barnes). Rebounds – H-BR
26 (Godhardt 7); EA 11 (Pena
5). Turnovers – H-BR 11; EA
25. Totals fouls (none fouled
out) – H-BR 12; EA 13.
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