IHSA Class 3A State Tournament Recap

As most know, this past weekend was the Class 3A and 4A State Finals hosted at Redbird Arena in Normal, IL. Montini, Simeon, Morton, and Springfield Lanphier gathered to compete for the title in 3A with Simeon coming away with a win in a Championship game for the ages against Morton. Here is a breakdown of the four 3A games from the State Tournament: Semifinal 1: Montini vs. Simeon Going into this game I wanted to watch how Montini’s depth contributed against Simeon’s size and athleticism. Simeon had dominated the glass all season, so if Montini was able to limit Simeon second-chance opportunities, they could come away with the win. Sophomore Sophie Sullivan Sophie Sullivan 5'7" | PG Willowbrook | 2022 State IL led the Lady Broncos in scoring with 12, but no other Montini player scored over 5 points. All-Stater Aneesah Morrow Aneesah Morrow 6'1" | SG Simeon | 2021 State #46 Nation IL led Simeon with a dominant 22 point, 13 rebound performance. While Simeon only out-rebounded Montini 34-30, the Wolverines brought down 20 offensive rebounds which led to too many second-chance points for Montini to withstand. Simeon won 48-40. Semifinal 2: Morton vs. Springfield Lanphier Morton entered the game with a perfect 36-0 record, and I looked for them to get past Lanphier with little resistance. The Lady Potters started out on fire, especially Senior UAB commit Lindsey Dullard Lindsey Dullard 6'1" | PF Morton | 2020 State IL who had 19 of the teams 31 points in the first half. The Morton offense stalled a bit throughout the second half as Martrice Brooks led Lanphier on a bit of a come back to make things interesting, as they trailed Morton by less than 10 in the fourth quarter. Ultimately the Morton veterans were able to stop the upset bid from happening and advanced to the Finals with a 48-36 victory. Dullard led Morton with 23, while Brooks led Lanphier with 15. 3^rd Place Game: Montini vs. Lanphier While Lanphier fought hard against Morton to make things interesting, the 3^rd Place game was all Montini. The Lady Broncos led 18-9 at the end of 1Q and 36-14 at the mid-way point. Freshman Guard Shannon Blacher provided a nice spark for Montini off the bench with 8 first half points to break things open early. Sophie Sullivan Sophie Sullivan 5'7" | PG Willowbrook | 2022 State IL , again, led in scoring with 15 points, and Junior Taris Thornton Taris Thornton 6'0" | SF Willowbrook | 2021 State IL added 12 points and 6 rebounds. Montini took home 3^rd Place with a 55-43 win. Championship Game: Morton vs. Simeon This was an instant classic. Morton jumped out to a quick 16-0 lead in the first quarter with a dominant display of basketball. Katie Krupa Katie Krupa 6'2" | SF Morton | 2022 State IL and Dullard were able to match up well with Simeon in the paint and score at ease early on. Simeon was able to settle in a bit, but still trailed 24-12 at half. The 3Q saw some ramped up defensive pressure and full court pressing from Simeon, which resulted in 21 total turnovers from Morton. Morrow and Co used that to their advantage, outscoring the Lady Potters 33-20 in the second half and winning the game on a Diamond Stokes layup with 3 seconds to go. Krupa finished with a game-high 19 points to go along with 7 rebounds for Morton and Cashay Dixon led Simeon with 10 points, while Khaniah Gardner Khaniah Gardner 6'2" | PF Simeon | 2021 State IL chipped in 6 points and 10 rebounds.