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Harvest Christian makes easy work of 1A sectional final

Not only did Harvest Christian continue to blaze a new trail through the playoffs on Thursday night, the Lions left a path of destruction in their wake.

Harvest scored the first 44 points in its Class 1A sectional girls basketball championship game against visiting Chicago Hope Academy on its way to capturing its first sectional title with a dominating 75-31 win. The Lions have now outscored four postseason opponents by a combined 142 points.

Harvest Christian (25-6) will take on Gilman Iroquois West Monday at 7 p.m. at the Lewis University supersectional in Romeoville.

Junior Paulina Castro led the assault with 26 points, including six 3-pointers. Senior Kylee Knox added 22 points.

"The girls came out so focused," Harvest coach Rich De Tamble said. "They had heard about other higher seeds being knocked off and they were determined not to let that happen. Our defense set the tone early and we weren't going to allow any breathing room until it was a done deal."

Knox scored 19 points in the first quarter alone. The Lions forced 14 turnovers and led 33-0.

"It was amazing," Knox said. "Our defense was on fire. Our goal is always to hold the other team without scoring as long as we can. To be able do it as long as we did tonight was unbelievable. We had so much energy and we never stopped moving after the ball."

Knox has been with the team since day one when the Lions became IHSA eligible in 2012.

"The progression has been amazing," Knox said. "When we started we didn't even have enough players to scrimmage. Now we've got six or seven players able to come off the bench every game. It has been so exciting to be a part of it."

Hope didn't get on the board until there was 4:18 left in the second quarter. The Lions hit 11-of-16 (69 percent) of their 3-point attempts in the first half. Castro had six, including four in the second quarter, as the Lions extended the lead to 54-7 at the half.

"We were in the mindset right from the start that we had to come out strong," said Castro, who transferred from Montini just before the start of the school year. "The defense was amazing. We executed the press exactly how we practice it. We have made incredible progress as a team both on and off the court. We have really bonded as a team and it has worked out perfectly where we are clicking at just the right time now."

"I am so happy for the girls,"De Tamble said. "They have worked so hard for this. You have a couple players show the way like Paulina and Kylee where they stay for 3 hours on a Saturday and then come in to watch film on a Sunday and that becomes contagious. Pretty soon everybody is doing it."

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