Lady Indians play Thursday at Redbird Arena
Maddie Hessing and Jaclyn Fabry.
By JEFF LAMPE
For The Weekly Post
They prefer to play fast. But Monday night, the top-ranked Brimfield girls basketball team proved they can grind out a game with the best of them.
After jumping to a characteristic big early lead, Brimfield (30-4) had to rally late for a 45-42 win over No. 2 ranked Okawville (29-3) at the Brown County Supersectional.
As has been the case so many times, senior cousins Ella Lune and Elynn Peterson delivered big plays in the clutch – plays that sealed Brimfield’s first trip to the state tournament since placing fourth in 2009.
Among those was a long 3-pointer by Lune, shortly after Okawville took its second lead of the game at 41-40 with 2:30 left.
“That was funny. It hit the front of the rim and nobody thought it was going to go in,” Brimfield Coach Maribeth Dura said. “Somehow it spun backwards and went in. It took some effort for the ball to get itself into the basket.”
It also took plenty of practice over the past two years for Lune to develop a 3-point shot to go with her deadly Euro step and inside game.
Not to be outdone, Peterson had a steal, made two clutch free throws with 20 seconds left and grabbed a rebound after Okawville missed an open 3-pointer, then dribbled out the final seconds.
“We finally did it,” Peterson told Jim Mattson. “To finally get that opportunity now and to get the rebound, it was so, ‘Omigosh we did it.’”
Peterson and Lune each had 15 points in the supersectional, which Brimfield led 13-4 with two minutes left in the first. In winning a sectional on its home floor last week, Brimfield made early leads stand up against No. 5 Brown County (63-49) and No. 7 Mendon Unity (56-40)
Not so against Okawville, which battled back behind 22 points from sophomore point guard Alayna Kraus. The Rockets grabbed their first lead early in the fourth quarter on a Krause 15-footer and led once more, briefly, before Lune’s long 3.
That shot came in the midst of a flurry of three blocked shots and three rebounds by Lune in a two-minute span. The Eastern Illinois recruit finished with 12 rebounds and 3 blocks.
“When she blocks shots, they don’t just go out of bounds, she goes and chases them down,” Dura said. “She’s a hustler, she likes to win and she’s going to carry her team as far as she can with what she likes to do.”
In last Thursday’s sectional final against Mendon Unity, Lune scored 28 points, with three 3-pointers and 7-for-11 shooting on 2-pointers – many of them drives to the basket.
“I knew if they thought I shot outside a lot I could drive and get to the basket,” Lune said. “I probably got the Euro step down beginning of my sophomore year and that has been my move throughout high school.
“I hear it a lot from the fans who say ‘Travel.’ But I know it’s not a travel and I keep doing it.”
Brimfield took an 18-4 lead after one quarter against Unity on one of those Lune drives. The lead never dipped below seven points as the Lady Indians hit timely shots to quell each Unity rally and the five starters played the entire game.
“We thought we had a chance. We just had to weather the storm to start the game. We obviously didn’t,” Unity Coach Brad Begeman said. “We kind of dug too big of a hole.”
Several of Brimfield’s timely shots came from senior Jaclyn Fabry (10 points, 7 rebounds) and from junior Elly Doe (12 points), who was 5-for-7 from the field.
“In both sectional games [Doe] hit some really big threes that kind of changed the game for us,” Dura said. “She doesn’t shoot enough, by the way.”
Heading into today’s semifinal, Lune leads Brimfield with 19.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Peterson averages 11.9 points and 4.7 assists per game, Bedell is at 8.5 ppg and 5.7 rpg, Doe is at 5.6 ppg and Fabry is at 5.4 ppg and 3.9 rpg.
