Shorthanded Kaneland rallies past St. Edward
Kaneland entered the Class 3A Sycamore regional semifinals Tuesday against St. Edward without senior leading scorer Jenni Weber, sidelined with a sprained right ankle suffered in the final regular season game Saturday.
Behind the trio of Yssa Sto. Domingo, Mariel Franco and Madison Knott, St. Edward made life even harder for Kaneland early, jumping to a 10-point lead after one quarter and 11 at halftime.
All season Knights coach Ernie Colombe has been looking for his role players to emerge and complement the senior backcourt of Weber and Jamie Martens, and that group did just that with Kaneland's season on the line in the second half.
Hannah Armin, Keely Noel, Abby Peeler and Peyton Giffney made clutch shot after clutch shot in the second half, and Kaneland rallied from 12 points down for an improbable 53-50 victory.
"We won as a team," said Giffney, whose 8 points off the bench were a career high. "I'm so excited we won. We passed the ball and looked for shooters and started making shots."
Trailing 27-16 at halftime after Sto. Domingo, Franco and Knott combined for 25 points, Kaneland (25-4) hit 9 of 14 shots in the third quarter and 5 of 9 in the fourth for 61 percent shooting in the second half. Many of those were long-range jumpers.
"Some of the young kids, it was fun to watch, because all year we've been preaching it can't be all Jamie and Jenni," Colombe said. "We have a lot of confidence in our players who have been role players this year. They just need to take their time and catch their breath."
Kaneland opened the second half on a 7-0 run to pull within 27-23, but St. Edward (19-8) built its lead back to 42-32 late in the third quarter on Sto. Domingo's 3-pointer and a basket by Franco.
Giffney's jumper and Noel's bucket got the Knights within 42-36 going to the fourth, and Martens drove for her first points of the game to start the fourth. Armin's steal and layup, then her lay-in on a feed from Martens tied the game at 42.
Giffney nailed another jumper with 4:20 remaining for a 46-44 lead, Kaneland's first since it was 4-2. Sto. Domingo and Franco knocked down shots sandwiched by two Peeler free throws to leave the game tied at 48 when Sto. Domingo gave St. Edward its last lead 50-48 with a scoop shot after a steal with 1:55 remaining.
Martens, who scored all 8 of her points in the fourth quarter and also had 10 rebounds and 8 assists, drove to tie the game at 50 at 1:16. St. Edward had the ball with a chance to retake the lead twice but missed both times, and Peeler was fouled at midcourt with 25.1 seconds to go. She split her two free throws for a 51-50 lead.
"I just wanted to take my time and focus on making it obviously because it was quite an exciting game and an amazing comeback we had," Peeler said. "I really wanted to make it for us. We all contributed. I think we did it for her (Weber). We want to keep going."
St. Edward missed twice at the line with 14 seconds to go. Martens made a pair of free throws for a 53-50 lead, and instead of attempting a game-tying 3, St. Edward drove and missed a layup on its final possession.
"We didn't go to what's been our strength the whole year especially down the stretch which is our team play," St. Edward coach Michelle Dawson said. "Passing the ball and moving the ball and we got away from that too much. I really think it was us getting away from our team play that hurt us."
Sto. Domingo led all scorers with 18 points. Franco and Knott both finished with 14.
Armin scored 13 points for Kaneland, Noel had 10 points and 12 rebounds, Peeler had 8 points and Maddy Wheatley 6.
The Knights will try to reverse two tight losses to Sycamore in the regional title game Thursday, one in overtime and the other by 3 points. They also hope to get Weber back.
"They are an excellent team and we get a day to regroup and get ready and it's two more days for Jenni," Colombe said.