West Aurora falls in Siljendahl's finale
Connie Siljendahl was trying to come to terms moments after her final appearance as the West Aurora girls basketball coach.
"It just happened so fast," Siljendahl said after Oswego East stunned the Blackhawks 53-48 in their Class 4A regional semifinal Wednesday night. "I'm trying to wrap my head around it."
Oswego East (15-14), the No. 11 seed, overcame a 22-point third-quarter deficit in advancing to meet Lockport in the championship game.
Siljendahl, who took over the West Aurora program in 2006, had her sixth-seeded Blackhawks' season come to a close at 19-8.
The end result appeared inconceivable through the first two and half quarters of play.
The Blackhawks' harassing and pressing defense forced Oswego East to miss on 12 of its 13 first-quarter shot attempts from the field.
The Wolves averaged a conversion for every 7 attempts in clanking 18 of 21 shots in the first half, which ended with West Aurora totally in command with a 28-11 lead.
Keva Tomas drained a 3-pointer to give West Aurora a 35-13 lead in the third quarter.
But the Wolves rebounded in dramatic fashion.
Oswego East scored 17 of the last 20 points of the third quarter to trail 38-30 entering the decisive fourth.
West Aurora gradually had its game-long lead disappear as the Wolves converted 13 of 16 fourth-quarter free throws.
"We must have been out of position," Siljendahl said of Oswego East being in either the penalty or double-bonus for the entire fourth quarter.
Chelsea McCullum and Christine Corpuz were the twin spearheads of the Wolves' improbable comeback win.
Each player scored 17 points to share game-scoring honors, and the latter had 15 of her total in the fourth quarter.
Corpuz had a 3-pointer to give Oswego East the lead for good, at 49-46, with 55 seconds to play.
"When I shoot threes, I just unleash it," Corpuz said. "You have to believe in yourself."
Olivia Vanderwoude, who led the Blackhawks with 13 points, brought West Aurora to within one on the ensuing possession.
But Oswego East closed out the game at the free-throw line.
"I Just feel bad for the kids," Siljendahl said amid a cracking voice. "They had a great season."
Tomas had 19 points for West Aurora, with fellow starters Skylar Doby, KIyanna Rodgers and Essence Rayford adding 7, 5 and 2 points.
Dajour Miles' 8 points paced the West Aurora reserves.