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Another regional title for Harvest Christian

The postseason is often a time when the best players elevate their games to a whole new level. That was certainly the case on Thursday night at the Class 1A Westminster Christian girls basketball regional final when three of the most talented players in the Fox Valley area put on quite a show.

The big difference was top-seeded Harvest Christian (21-7) had two of those players while the host Warriors only had one.

Senior Paulina Castro poured in 30 points and sophomore Alyssa Iverson added 24 to lead the Lions to their second straight regional title with a 66-44 win over the Warriors. It was the third time this year that Harvest has beat Westminster.

The Lions will take on either Chicago Hope Academy or Walther Christian at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Harvest Christian sectional semifinals.

Westminster senior and all-time leading scorer Maddie Versluys went out in a blaze of glory in her final game with 30 points and 14 rebounds. Versluys finished her career with 2,072 points.

"It was an amazing performance," Harvest coach Rich De Tamble said. "Maddie is a great player for them and just a great kid that we respect a lot. Then we have a couple great players of our own. Paulina is a senior and she has grown into such a leader. You could tell by her emotion tonight that she really wants this. Then Alyssa added a huge spark. It's a good win and we are happy to be moving on."

Castro, who will play at Northern Illinois next year, was the first to take center stage. She scored 10 points in the first quarter to help get the Lions grab a 16-8 lead. However, Castro was just getting warmed up. She drained five 3-pointers in the second quarter to finish with 25 points in the first half and the Lions led 36-25 at the half.

"I was ready to go. We were all ready to go," Castro said. "We have been working for this all season. In the huddle we always break by saying 'business' and tonight we went out and took care of business."

Versluys almost single-handedly tried to keep her team in the game. She scored all 19 of the Warriors' points in the second half, including 16 in the third quarter alone. Twice she got the Warriors (13-16) to within 7 points, but they could get no closer.

"I am feeling so many emotions right now," Versluys said. "I just know I left everything I had on the floor tonight. I'm proud of my teammates. They battled and gave it everything they had."

Iverson had the answer in the third quarter when the Warriors tried to inch closer. She had 15 points in the quarter, including a pair of steals and layups during an 18-5 run that allowed the Lions to open a 56-36 lead.

The Lions' defense was relentless all night forcing 34 turnovers. Iverson had 10 steals and Castro had 8.

"It was tough to get any momentum against their defense," said Westminster coach Fred Versluys, Maddie's father. "When a team has that much speed and can put that much pressure on up top it's going to cause some struggles. I'm proud of the way our girls hung in there. We knew it was going to be a tough game. Our only desire was to leave everything we had on the court and we did that."

Images: Harvest Christian vs. Westminster Christian, girls basketball

  Harvest Christian celebrates its Class 1A regional title with a victory over Westminster Christian Thursday in Elgin. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Westminster Christian's Hannah Haecker gets a hug from head coach Fred Versluys as she comes off the floor in the final seconds of the Thursday Class 1A regional title game loss to Harvest Christian in Elgin. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Harvest Christian's Rachel Oostdyk pressures Westminster Christian's Maddie Versluys into a turnover late in the Class 1A regional title game Thursday in Elgin. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
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