Tigresses to host ‘wide open’ regional
The road to postseason success and a regional title plaque for area girls 2A basketball squads will run through Princeton’s Prouty Gymnasium as the host Tigresses entertain a regional field that includes Bureau Valley, Hall, Mendota and St. Bede. In Class 1A play LaMoille/Ohio will head to Serena, and DePue will head to the Wyoming Regional.
Action in the 2A Princeton regional tips off Monday, when the host Tigresses, who drew a No. 4 seed, and No. 5 Hall will tangle in a play-in game at 7:30 p.m. The winner will earn the right to face top-seeded Bureau Valley Tuesday at 6 p.m.
On the other side of the bracket, second seed St. Bede will square off against No. 3 Mendota in Tuesday’s 8 p.m. nightcap.
Finals will be held Thursday at 7:30 p.m. with the winner advancing out to the Winnebago sectional to face the winner of the Bryon regional.
Here’s a look at the match-ups for the Princeton Regional:
Princeton (9-17) vs. Hall (7-21)
The Tigresses and Lady Devils split a pair of regular season contests, each claiming a win on their opponents’ home turf. Princeton claimed a 55-45 win early in the season on Dec. 5 at Red Devil Gymnasium, and the Lady Devils returned the favor with a 56-52 overtime victory Jan. 20 at Prouty Gym.
Unfortunately for Hall, the Lady Devils will be coming into their regional match-up shorthanded, as a scheduling snafu with the Devilette dance crew’s trip to Florida will have the squad missing three members, including two of their top six players, according to coach Dave Kain.
“We’re going to be handicapped in the game,” Kain said. “Hopefully, someone else from our team can step up and we can get the upset.”
Princeton coach Spencer Davis, whose squad features an aggressive style of pressure trapping defense and relies upon a trio of guards, seniors Katlin Petersen and Molly Stephens, and soph C.J. Rhodes for the bulk of their offense, said this year’s regional field is wide open.
“I think it’s all up for grabs. Every game we’ve played with every team has been a close one. I think that’s been the way its gone with all the other teams when they’ve played, too,” he said. “If we can put four quarters together we can play with anybody. I’m looking forward to, hopefully, getting another shot at a couple of these teams. But starting with Hall, we’ve just got to play four solid quarters and take care of the basketball.”
St. Bede (21-7) vs. Mendota (15-11)
The Lady Bruins, who captured a regional title last year at Bureau Valley, have twice topped their opening round opponents from Mendota, securing a 53-46 Dec. 14 victory at Mendota, and posting a 50-34 win at home in the Lady Bruin Christmas Classic.
The Lady Bruins feature a very balanced scoring attack, with Stevie Fisher leading the way averaging 7.5 points a contest, and four other members averaging over five points: Hailee Brayton (6.7 ppg), Brittany Burgess (6.2 ppg), Emily Considine (5.6 ppg) and center Kelsey Moravec (5.1 ppg). SBA has relied on tough defense to stymie their opposition’s offensive output, with opponents averaging just over 32 ppg, to record their third-straight 20-win season.
“I think we’re playing strong, I think that our team’s together. I like my team, I like the makeup of the individual girls and the talents and roles they have on this team. They fit in very well with each other,” SBA coach Tom McGunnigal said.
Despite posting the pair of victories earlier this season over the Lady Trojans, who are led by senior Brianne Blumhorst and junior point guard Lauren Kellen, McGunnigal said his squad is not taking anything for granted.
“They’re a very competitive team, we’re not looking past them, we never look past anybody. We play it one game at a time, and we’re going to come in ready to go,” he said.
Bureau Valley (18-8) vs. Winner PHS/Hall
The top-seeded Storm will wait in the wings to face the winner of the PHS and Hall match-up. Bureau Valley will not be strangers with their first opponent regardless of who wins the play-in contest, as the Storm notched an early season 53-45 victory over Hall Nov. 30, and twice topped the Tigresses, posting a 63-57 win at The Lady Bruins Classic over Christmas break, and edging out a 68-65 victory Jan. 5 in Manlius.
Storm coach Jeff Ohlson said both of the potential match-ups for BV present their own challenges.
“If Princeton hits their free throws and makes shots, they’re hard to beat with their (defensive) pressure,” he said. “If you’ve got to play Hall, you have to handle their defense and ability to rebound with (Kelle) Nett and (Jaclyn) Kain in there rebounding. And with some other kids throwing some shots in, they become a dangerous team.”
The Storm, which features standout center Melanie Thompson, who recently became the second member of BV’s 1,000-point scoring club, and a strong crew of senior leaders in Lauren Hasbrook, Courtney Doty and Meghan Mussche, have hit a bit of a rough patch late in the season, dropping four of their last five contests. While Ohlson said there’s no such thing as a good loss, the Storm’s recent defeats have come to some extremely tough competition in Fulton, St. Bede, Riverdale and Annawan. Ohlson says the steady string of strong opponents has been a good thing to get the Storm ready for regionals.
“Basically, in the last five games we’ve played teams who are a one or two seed in their regional. You want to play good teams at the end of the year to test you and get you ready for the postseason,” Ohlson said.
1A Regionals
In Class 1A action, sixth-seeded LaMoille/Ohio (4-20) will look to upset the No. 3 seed host, Huskers, at the Serena regional. Coach Bill Stouffer said his troops have come a long way since a 63-19 loss in early December at the hands of the Huskers, and will leave it all on the floor regardless of outcome.
“There’s never been one game that we’ve gone to that they have given up in,” Stouffer said. “They don’t quit.”
The Lady Lions will look to ride the hot hand of Lorraine Stamberger, who came two points away from setting a school record last Saturday with a 32-point performance in the co-op’s win against Putnam County, and followed up with a 23-point performance Monday against DePue.
• In other 1A regional play, No. 6 DePue will square off Monday against No. 3 Wethersfield at the Wyoming regional.
