Harvest Christian headed to state
PONTIAC - There was a moment late in the third quarter when Harvest Christian appeared destined to be spending its weekend in Normal.
Isamar Garcia drove the paint and used her off-hand for a behind-the-back dribble.
The guard not only shook her defender but also kissed home a one-hander off the glass seconds later.
The Lions' eventual 54-39 win was symbolically sealed with the playground move.
Harvest Christian (28-3) won its 24th consecutive girls basketball game in ending the Heyworth season at the Class 1A Pontiac supersectional Monday night.
The Lions will advance to their first Final Four and will meet Annawan in the first semifinal at Illinois State University on Friday afternoon.
"When I do a move like that, I just think about scoring," said Garcia, who scored 6 of her 10 points in the third quarter. "When the ball went in, it was exhilarating."
But it was junior guard Alyssa Iverson who had her fingerprints all over the Lions' latest victory.
Iverson slithered her way to the Hornets' basket with impunity the entire game.
The junior had 10 of the Lions' 21 field goals in scoring a game-high 25 points.
"My points and Alyssa's drives are what got us the big lead," Garcia said.
"It just comes naturally," said Iverson, who repeatedly beat the Hornets' defense off the dribble for easy scores.
The crucial stage of the game was the last four minutes of the second quarter.
Heyworth (27-4) had taken its third - and final - lead when Somer Marlet drained a 3-pointer exactly midway through the second.
But the Hornets would not score again before the intermission as Harvest Christian scored 14 unanswered points to take a 28-16 lead into halftime.
Heyworth would never get back to single figures again.
"That run gave us more confidence than we already had," Iverson said.
"We didn't stick with what got us here," Heyworth coach Tony Griffin said. "There were times when we lost our composure."
The Lions' Katie Kaldenberger had back-to-back 3-pointers during the 14-0 spurt.
"We wanted to do our best to not give them any hope in the first half," said Kaldenberger. "We always stress that the third quarter is the most important of the game."
The Lions sealed any hope Heyworth had of mounting a comeback by dominating the first eight minutes after halftime.
Kaldenberger had the last of her three 3-pointers seconds before the third-quarter buzzer to give Harvest Christian its largest lead of the game at 43-23.
"They're a (heck) of a team," Griffin said. "That Iverson is something else."
"Good AAU teams have made me good at driving to the basket," Iverson said.
Stephanie Brown led Heyworth with 11 points.