advertisement

Kaneland makes it 12 straight

Clinging to the narrowest of leads in the final minute, Kaneland seniors Jamie Martens and Jenni Weber made sure a 12th consecutive victory didn't slip through their grasp.

A determined Ottawa squad shaved a 12-point halftime deficit down to 45-44, but Martens came up with a huge steal, took a charge, and combined with Weber to make 5-of -6 free throws as the Knights held on for an exhilarating 50-44 Northern Illinois Big XII crossover girls basketball win Saturday afternoon in Maple Park.

"That's what seniors are supposed to do. We expect that from them," said Knights coach Ernie Colombe as his team improved to 19-2 overall and 7-1 in league play. "They're big-time players and they work hard in practice so that they're able to make plays like that when the game's on the line."

"It's weird that we're the only seniors, but I think we have real good chemistry between our team so that helps a lot when it comes to key situations," said Martens after finishing with 13 points and a team-high 7 rebounds. "We can read each other well and know what we need to be doing."

The Pirates (12-8, 4-4) were looking to pull off their second straight upset after scoring a huge double overtime victory over 18-win Sycamore on Thursday.

Junior guard Angelique Cowan spearheaded Ottawa's comeback attempt by tallying 13 of her game-high 21 points in the second half. Senior point guard Teegan Guerrero (11 points) also connected on a pair of clutch fourth quarter trifectas.

The Pirates had the ball underneath with a chance to take the lead with 45.7 seconds left, but Martens deflected and grabbed the inbounds pass, which led to Weber hitting both ends of a 1-and-1 for a 47-44 lead.

"I just looked at her eyes and it looked like she was going up with the pass, so all right, I better put my hands up," Martens said. "We work on those situations during practice, so we have to start with a stop."

Martens stepped in front of Cowan driving down the lane to draw the offensive foul on the Pirates' ensuing possession, then drained two free throws to essentially seal the win.

"People look to us to lead," said Weber, who paced the Knights with 17 points. "If we make big plays then people get excited and want to make big plays. It spreads throughout the team and we all want to win, but it starts with us for sure."

Weber carried the offensive load in the first half with 13 points. The Knights went on a 12-2 run to end the first quarter with a 19-9 advantage.

Chloe Conley hit a clutch 3-pointer for Kaneland in the second quarter and Maddy Wheatley added a buzzer-beating layup for a 30-18 halftime lead.

With the Pirates doubling Weber in the second half, junior Heather Armin stepped up with consecutive third quarter 3-pointers as part of an 11-point performance.

"They took away Jamie and Jenni a little bit, but we were still able to put 50 points up," Colombe said. "We need other players to step up and look for shots and Heather is capable of doing that."

Rebounding factored into the Pirates' second-half surge as they crashed the boards and maintained a 19-11 edge on the glass.

"We definitely have to clean up our rebounding. They also beat us to a couple of loose balls, so that needs to get fixed for our next game," Colombe said.

The Knights hope to continue their one game at a time mantra in Tuesday's pivotal rematch at Sycamore.

The Spartans (18-4, 7-2) handed Kaneland its only conference loss in a 45-42 decision Dec. 8 behind 20 points from Kylie Feuerbach and 11 points apiece from Jackie Rapp and Faith Klemm.

"We knew this was a big game and we couldn't be looking ahead to Sycamore," Martens said. "We pulled through so now we need to focus on Sycamore. They beat us before and have Kylie and a bunch of good players."

"Ottawa put Sycamore one game behind us. Now we can't fall down to them or we'll be right back in the same situation," Weber added.

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.