Somonauk Captures Third Place
Game Over Hinckley-Big Rock
Game Over Hinckley-Big Rock
Lady Bobcats need overtime to defeat Lady Royals ...
| Northern Illinois Sports Beat http://www.northernillinoissportsbeat.com |
By Brian Hoxsey
Northern Illinois Sports Beat Contributor
EARLVILLE – They have come a long way.
The Somonauk girls basketball team battled eventual Little Ten Conference Girls
Basketball Tournament champion Newark to the final minute in last Thursday's semifinal
loss, but on Monday night in the third place game against second-seeded Hinckley-Big
Rock they were able to finish the deal.
The Lady Bobcats lead for most of the contest against the Lady Royals, but needed
overtime to capture a thrilling 51-50 victory.
Senior center Lauren Brummel led Somonauk with 15 points, 13 rebounds and four
blocked shots. Junior Allison Humes added 12 markers, five rebounds and a game-high
six assists, Emily Clark chipped in 10 points and grabbed five boards.
H-BR was paced by 21 points and 10 rebounds from senior Katie Hollis, while senior
guard Kaitlin Phillips scored 15, added 11 caroms, dished off for five assists and swiped
six steals. Bridgette Edmeier also reached double figures with 10 points.
“This is my third year as head coach and the first game we played H-BR my first year they
beat us 77-13, so this just shows how far our program has come,” said Somonauk coach
Eric Roberts. “We only have six girls and brought up a sophomore, these girls played the
best game they have all season because scoring was spread around - everyone
contributed - we took care of the basketball and we controlled the game the whole way.”
Fifth-seeded Somonauk (10-12) jumped out to a 17-10 lead after the opening eight
minutes with Humes and Katie Peluse combining for 10 points. Brummel netted eight
second quarter points, on 4-for-4 shooting, as the teams traded baskets and the Lady
Bobcats holding a slim 30-27 lead at halftime.
“She has taken the lead,” Roberts said of Brummel. “The rest of the team wants to win for
her and play as hard as she does. She's a player like a Kaitlin Phillips, you want 10 of
them on your team and win a state championship.”
Hinckley-Big Rock (17-5) took their first lead of the game with 25 seconds left in the third
quarter on a Hollis lay-up, but a Peluse 15-foot jumper seconds later gave the winners a
39-38 advantage heading to period number four. Another Hollis hoop opened the fourth
frame, but Humes countered with a wing trey and free throw before Brummel sank a pair
of charity tosses to make it 45-40 with exactly 6 minutes to play in regulation. A 6-0 run by
the Lady Royals ended with a Phillips drive, but SHS guard Ashlee Kawall scored ahead
of another Humes free toss to put make it 48-46. Then after three consecutive offensive
rebounds in the closing seconds, Phillips scored with 3 seconds remaining to send the
game to overtime.
“Our main focus was to limit Phillips scoring from the outside, while also making sure she
didn't drive in the lane,” said Kawall of the plan to stop all-stater. “We worked on it in
practice and I had Emily Clark on top of the zone helping me. We just wanted to make
sure we were ready for anything they threw at us. She just got free for the last one.”
As for overtime ...
“We needed to play as hard as we had at the beginning of the game,” she said of coach
Roberts instructions preceding the extra period. “It was nice to finally beat them, it's been
a long time.”
Clark started the overtime scoring with a pair of free throws at the 1:38 mark, but Hollis
matched that with a layup off an in bounds play seconds later. Brummel then sank the
second of two free throws with 31 seconds to go and the Lady Bobcats were able to hold
on for the win.
“It was a tough tournament for us for a multitude of reasons,” said H-BR head coach Greg
Burks, who club had won the previous five tournaments and lost in overtime last Thursday
to runner-up Serena. “On the right night you had a chance to win the tournament, instead
you lose two games in overtime when you have the game tied both times. It just wasn't
meant to be. I thought Somonauk really worked hard tonight and there was a couple of
plays we just didn't respond too. We were tested and hopefully in the long run we will be
better off because of it. We have to regroup and regroup fast.”
Brian Hoxsey 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
EARLVILLE – They have come a long way.
The Somonauk girls basketball team battled eventual Little Ten Conference Girls
Basketball Tournament champion Newark to the final minute in last Thursday's semifinal
loss, but on Monday night in the third place game against second-seeded Hinckley-Big
Rock they were able to finish the deal.
The Lady Bobcats lead for most of the contest against the Lady Royals, but needed
overtime to capture a thrilling 51-50 victory.
Senior center Lauren Brummel led Somonauk with 15 points, 13 rebounds and four
blocked shots. Junior Allison Humes added 12 markers, five rebounds and a game-high
six assists, Emily Clark chipped in 10 points and grabbed five boards.
H-BR was paced by 21 points and 10 rebounds from senior Katie Hollis, while senior
guard Kaitlin Phillips scored 15, added 11 caroms, dished off for five assists and swiped
six steals. Bridgette Edmeier also reached double figures with 10 points.
“This is my third year as head coach and the first game we played H-BR my first year they
beat us 77-13, so this just shows how far our program has come,” said Somonauk coach
Eric Roberts. “We only have six girls and brought up a sophomore, these girls played the
best game they have all season because scoring was spread around - everyone
contributed - we took care of the basketball and we controlled the game the whole way.”
Fifth-seeded Somonauk (10-12) jumped out to a 17-10 lead after the opening eight
minutes with Humes and Katie Peluse combining for 10 points. Brummel netted eight
second quarter points, on 4-for-4 shooting, as the teams traded baskets and the Lady
Bobcats holding a slim 30-27 lead at halftime.
“She has taken the lead,” Roberts said of Brummel. “The rest of the team wants to win for
her and play as hard as she does. She's a player like a Kaitlin Phillips, you want 10 of
them on your team and win a state championship.”
Hinckley-Big Rock (17-5) took their first lead of the game with 25 seconds left in the third
quarter on a Hollis lay-up, but a Peluse 15-foot jumper seconds later gave the winners a
39-38 advantage heading to period number four. Another Hollis hoop opened the fourth
frame, but Humes countered with a wing trey and free throw before Brummel sank a pair
of charity tosses to make it 45-40 with exactly 6 minutes to play in regulation. A 6-0 run by
the Lady Royals ended with a Phillips drive, but SHS guard Ashlee Kawall scored ahead
of another Humes free toss to put make it 48-46. Then after three consecutive offensive
rebounds in the closing seconds, Phillips scored with 3 seconds remaining to send the
game to overtime.
“Our main focus was to limit Phillips scoring from the outside, while also making sure she
didn't drive in the lane,” said Kawall of the plan to stop all-stater. “We worked on it in
practice and I had Emily Clark on top of the zone helping me. We just wanted to make
sure we were ready for anything they threw at us. She just got free for the last one.”
As for overtime ...
“We needed to play as hard as we had at the beginning of the game,” she said of coach
Roberts instructions preceding the extra period. “It was nice to finally beat them, it's been
a long time.”
Clark started the overtime scoring with a pair of free throws at the 1:38 mark, but Hollis
matched that with a layup off an in bounds play seconds later. Brummel then sank the
second of two free throws with 31 seconds to go and the Lady Bobcats were able to hold
on for the win.
“It was a tough tournament for us for a multitude of reasons,” said H-BR head coach Greg
Burks, who club had won the previous five tournaments and lost in overtime last Thursday
to runner-up Serena. “On the right night you had a chance to win the tournament, instead
you lose two games in overtime when you have the game tied both times. It just wasn't
meant to be. I thought Somonauk really worked hard tonight and there was a couple of
plays we just didn't respond too. We were tested and hopefully in the long run we will be
better off because of it. We have to regroup and regroup fast.”
Brian Hoxsey 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!
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At Earlville
Little Ten Conference
Tournament
Third-Place Game
Somonauk 51, Hinckley-
Big Rock 50 (OT)
Somonauk (51) –
Brummel 4-12 7-8 15,
Humes 4-7 2-4 12, Kawall
3-9 1-2 7, Clark 3-8 2-4 10,
Peluse 3-11 0-0 7,
Weismiller 0-1 0-0 0, Brue
0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-48 12-
18 51.
H-BR (50) – Phillips 5-15 4-
5 15, Hollis 9-21 3-6 21,
Paver 1-4 0-0 2, Warner 0-
1 0-0 0, Tosch 1-5 0-0 2,
Hamm 0-2 0-0 0, Edmeier
5-7 0-0 10, Cowan 0-0 0-0
0. Totals 21-55 7-11 50.
Somonauk 17 13 9 9 3 – 51
H-BR 10 17 11 10 2 – 50
3-point goals – Somonauk
5-14 (Humes 2-4, Kawall 0-
3, Clark 2-5, Peluse 1-2);
H-BR 1-4 (Phillips 1-3,
Hamm 0-1). Rebounds –
Somonauk 28 (Brummel
13); H-BR 36 (Phillips 11,
Hollis 10). Assists –
Somonauk 12 (Humes 6,
Clark 4); H-BR 13 (Phillips
5). Steals – Somonauk 5
(Peluse 2); H-BR 9
(Phillips 6). Blocks –
Somonauk 6 (Brummel 4);
H-BR 1 (Hollis). Turnovers
– Somonauk 14, H-BR 15.
Total fouls (none fouled
out) – Somonauk 13, H-BR
16.
Records: Somonauk 10-
12, H-BR 17-5.
Little Ten Conference
Tournament
Third-Place Game
Somonauk 51, Hinckley-
Big Rock 50 (OT)
Somonauk (51) –
Brummel 4-12 7-8 15,
Humes 4-7 2-4 12, Kawall
3-9 1-2 7, Clark 3-8 2-4 10,
Peluse 3-11 0-0 7,
Weismiller 0-1 0-0 0, Brue
0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-48 12-
18 51.
H-BR (50) – Phillips 5-15 4-
5 15, Hollis 9-21 3-6 21,
Paver 1-4 0-0 2, Warner 0-
1 0-0 0, Tosch 1-5 0-0 2,
Hamm 0-2 0-0 0, Edmeier
5-7 0-0 10, Cowan 0-0 0-0
0. Totals 21-55 7-11 50.
Somonauk 17 13 9 9 3 – 51
H-BR 10 17 11 10 2 – 50
3-point goals – Somonauk
5-14 (Humes 2-4, Kawall 0-
3, Clark 2-5, Peluse 1-2);
H-BR 1-4 (Phillips 1-3,
Hamm 0-1). Rebounds –
Somonauk 28 (Brummel
13); H-BR 36 (Phillips 11,
Hollis 10). Assists –
Somonauk 12 (Humes 6,
Clark 4); H-BR 13 (Phillips
5). Steals – Somonauk 5
(Peluse 2); H-BR 9
(Phillips 6). Blocks –
Somonauk 6 (Brummel 4);
H-BR 1 (Hollis). Turnovers
– Somonauk 14, H-BR 15.
Total fouls (none fouled
out) – Somonauk 13, H-BR
16.
Records: Somonauk 10-
12, H-BR 17-5.