Johnsburg survives Carmel's defensive gauntlet
Once Carmel Catholic's girls basketball team stopped high-scoring Johnsburg's run-outs, the Corsairs made a run.
And like that, no longer was the No. 2 seed thinking about running away with Tuesday night's sectional semifinal. Rather, the Skyhawks were trying to figure out how to simply win on their home court.
They did, surviving a furious third-quarter push before finally beating the third-seeded Corsairs 42-31.
"(Carmel's) defense just clamped down," said Johnsburg coach Brad Frey, whose Skyhawks saw a 21-9 halftime lead trimmed to 21-20 on a baseline shot by Carmel junior Ava Speer with 2:34 left in the third quarter. "I'm going to go watch this tape so I can learn what they're doing and start doing it, because it was fantastic. We had no answer. It felt like there were eight girls out there for them. We couldn't get a ball across half court."
Despite getting outscored 11-2 in the third, Johnsburg (25-8) built its cushion to as many as 15 points in final quarter, as the Skyhawks finally got their transition game going again. By doing so, the sectional host advances to Thursday's 7 p.m. Class 3A final against top-seeded Antioch (29-3), which beat No. 4 St. Viator 51-39 in the first semifinal for its 20th win in a row.
Carmel coach Kelly Perz said her team ran its typical half-court, man-to-man defense all game. It just may have been more amped up in the third quarter.
"We're really young, and I think the moment and adrenaline got to us the whole first half," Perz said. "We got in the locker room and I asked them if they were ready to play. They came out guns blazing in the third quarter. We didn't literally punch (Johnsburg) in the face, but gave it right back to them. We were flying all over the place on defense."
Daija Pruitt had a personal 9-0 run to start the second half, as the senior post established inside position and sank her first 4 shots. She led Carmel (19-12) with 13 points and 5 rebounds.
"We just worked hard on offense, passed the ball to each other, and I was open," Pruitt said. "We were playing smart and as a team."
Johnsburg leading scorer Aannah Interrante (16-plus ppg) opened the game with a three-point play just two seconds in, but she popped out her right shoulder less than two minutes later and sat the rest of the half. After seeing Carmel pull within 21-15 with two minutes gone in the second half, Frey put his junior sharpshooter back on the floor.
"I wasn't going to play her and let (the shoulder) rest," said Frey, whose team was already playing without four-year varsity point guard Cortland Sommerfeldt, who tore her ACL and meniscus in the regional final. "It got to be (21-15) and I needed some experience out there. I needed somebody to take care of the ball. She couldn't shoot. She couldn't dribble. I mean, she's in pain."
Danielle McCauley scored 6 of her 12 points in the fourth quarter for Johnsburg. The Skyhawks' Morgan Madsen led all scorers with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting (3 of 5 from the foul line). Madsen and Megan Madsen (2 points) both fouled out, while 5-foot-11 Kayla Stefka (7 rebounds) sat most of the last three quarters with foul trouble.
Freshman Ava Interrante added 8 points coming off the bench for Johnsburg.
The Skyhawks held Carmel leading scorer Katie Lach to a just 3-pointer in the final seconds. Fellow freshman Ranya Jamison had 6 points and 4 steals for the Corsairs.
"Next year's team is going to be a good team," said Pruitt, who graduates along with Jennifer Giesey, Mary Kate Mooney and Danielle Amato. "There's a lot of young talent."