There was a moment in the sectional championship game of Jolit-Guruwar that appeared in the evening for the Lincoln-way East Girls Basketball Team.
With Griffins at the beginning of two points in the second quarter, Eva Dilagar saw an open form from the left corner. The shot by Senior Forward seemed to be down halfway, but then turned around the rim. The ball jumped and hung on the rim for a moment before falling.
This expressed everything to the griffins, which were slightly away on the key plays all night.
The result was the Homewood-FloSmore which was emerging with a win of 47-36 in the title game of Class 4A Jolyte West Sectional.
Vikings (23-7), who won 14 out of 15, will face the Nazreth Academy, which is 50–37 winners on Kenwood in the maternal Mcouli section, which is at 7 pm on Monday evening at Hinsdale Central Superstional.
Lincoln-Vay East Senior Center Heven Smith said, “We looked a lot of great shots and good.” “But things just did not fall in our way.”
No, they did not. Especially on rebounding end. Small Vikings took a 30–19 rebounding lead in the game and caught 12 aggressive rebellion.
HF coach Tony Smith said, “My small 5-foot-6 and 5-foot-8 girls went to glass against their 5–11 and 6-foot-6 girls.” “They wanted it and had heart and courage.”
Senior Guard Zeda Murphy, who stands 5-6, led HF with 22 points. Sofomore Guards Jennis Moore (10 points), which is 5-5, and Aiyi (9 points, 8 rebounds), which are 5-8, also contributed to the Vikings.
Smith, who will continue his career at the University of Illinois, scored 14 points and eight rebounds to lead Lincoln-Vay East (28–6). Senior Point Guard Makayala Kelly (four points) and Senior Forward Lana Kerli (four points) scoring Griffins Scoring with Senior Swing Player Lily Dockmier (eight points) and Maddy Yakobozi (six points).
“They are small, small and very aggressive,” Kelly said about Vikings. “We needed to get more boards, and we did not.”
HF saw the game in hand, 32–15 in the third and ahead 40-24 after three. But Griffins were not going down without fighting. Dockemeyer hit a 3-pointer, Smith replaced the three-point play, Yakobozi made a late, and Smith scored 10–0 on a spin trick inside a spin in the lane and scored 40–34 runs with 4:29 to play in the game.
“We gave 100 percent,” Smith said. “Every girl in the team gave all this.”
He did, but Griffins missed the 3-point opportunity, which cut it into three, and HF scored three direct points. Kerly created the only basket of the game with 1:47 to attract Griffins within 43–36. But Vikings maintained the possession and hit 4 out of 6 free throw in the final 1:04 to achieve their first sectional title since 2020.
Lincoln-way East coach Jim Nair said, “We have really prepared for his full-court press.” “But we did not reversed well. It is hard to come back, but I am proud of girls to bring back to the game. ,
Things started well for the Lincoln-Way East as Kelly scored a leup in 11 seconds in the game. Back 3–2, Griffins scored the next six points, by four Smith, and 8–3 with 2:34 in the quarter.
But it was 8-7 after the first quarter. Senior Guard Laila Pierce hit a 3-paper to open the second quarter and gave the Vikings an edge for good. Dilgar’s shot exited, and HF later shut down the quarter on a 9–0 run for the 24–12 HafTime lead.
“Eva is coming out of the bench for us for the last few sports,” Nair said about Dilr. “It was good to see him back to play after being injured in the last season.
“Many people were pulling for our girls. They are just great to be around, and it is sad that I will not see them in this exercise next week. ,
Nevertheless, Griffins tied the school records set by the 2018 team for most of the winning win in a season. He had no senior in the 2022-23 team, so he knew that it would be a special season, and it was.
“I love this group,” Smith said. “For some of us, it was four years of being together, and it was bigger than basketball.”