advertisement

IC Catholic collects a matching trophy

NORMAL - There was a time early in Aubree Schuett's tenure as IC Catholic Prep girls basketball coach when she didn't give more than a fleeting thought at playing at Redbird Arena.

Yet, there were Schuett and the Knights for a second straight season on Illinois State University's campus Saturday night, collecting a Class 2A fourth-place trophy that will go nicely next to the one they earned last season.

This season's hardware haul came after a young Bloomington Central Catholic team bumped the Knights in the third-place game 51-29.

"There are 171 teams in 2A," Schuett said, "and we're fourth. That's an incredible accomplishment, and that was my last message to them. We came and fought every inch of the way. There's nothing to hang your head about."

The Knights finished 21-13 after going 25-8 a year ago.

"This definitely puts us out there and people know who we are now," said senior guard Erin Maloney. "It's awesome to be able to do this two years in a row."

The Knights, fatigued from an overtime semifinal loss to Breese Central on Friday night and not settling into their hotel until nearly midnight, were frustrated from the outset by Bloomington Central Catholic's hawking full-court press.

The Saints (24-8) forced the Knights into 11 first-half turnovers and beat them to 11 offensive rebounds to open a 26-13 halftime lead. Bloomington Central Catholic 6-foot sophomore Kate Hoerdemann nailed back-to-back 3-pointers and junior guard Lexi Davis hit another to outscore IC Catholic Prep 20-9 in the quarter.

"I felt like our press took them out of their game a little bit in the first half," said Bloomington Central Catholic coach Debbie Coffman. "And when Kate is shooting like that, it makes things easier on all of us."

Hoerdemann finished 4 of 6 from the 3-point line for 15 points and 9 rebounds. Junior Sydney Shanks had game highs of 16 points and 6 steals from the point of the press.

"We didn't handle that 1-2-2 press as well as we would have liked," Schuett said. "We've seen that kind of pressure all season long from teams in our own conference. I could see the frustration on our faces. But they kept trying to work through it."

The Knights, who got 8 points from senior Chiara Gaudio, committed 25 turnovers while shooting 11 of 36 from the field and 0 of 7 from the 3-point line.

Honorable mention all-state forward Anjella Farmer led the Knights with 11 points, while freshman forward Claire Gibler had a game-high 10 rebounds for IC Catholic. Along with sophomore Tess Reardon, that trio is a strong returning nucleus for the 2015-16 campaign, which could include a bump to Class 3A.

"There's been a shift in our program," Schuett said. "We're going see our younger programs that want to play basketball year around. When I first got here five years ago, that was not a thing. These guys are part of turning this around.

"I never dreamed I would be sitting here two years in a row to begin with. Now it's about there is another hump. I'm already thinking about what we need to do in April and leading into the summer."

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.