Super-Sectional Game Recap: Civic Memorial vs. Mahomet-Seymour
A state finals birth was on the line Monday night when Civic Memorial and Mahomet-Seymour met at Highland High School for the 3A Super-Sectional. We saw a great game that had the Eagles of Civic Memorial punching their ticket to…
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Continue ReadingA state finals birth was on the line Monday night when Civic Memorial and Mahomet-Seymour met at Highland High School for the 3A Super-Sectional. We saw a great game that had the Eagles of Civic Memorial punching their ticket to state with a win by the score of 53-48. Here is a breakdown by quarter:
Q1: Civic Memorial – 13, Mahomet-Seymour – 6
The game started out slow for both teams where you could tell the nerves where getting the best of both teams. Midway through the first things started to loosen up for everyone. Mahomet-Seymour struggled to shoot early when Civic Memorial started to find their touch. Olivia Durbin found her range late in the quarter hitting two deep ones to give the the Eagles the lead after one.
Q2: Civic Memorial – 26, Mahomet-Seymour – 13
For the Eagles, the second quarter picked up where they ended the first. Aubree Wallace was finding open teammates to help extend the lead. Kelbie Zupan Kelbie Zupan 5'5" | PG Civic Memorial | 2022 State IL hit her second and last shot from the field early in the quarter when she then started to find her way to the line from that point. Free throws were the story of the second quarter. Zupan went 6-6 from the line in just the second while the Bulldogs struggled from the line shooting 0-6. Mahomet-Seymour continued their shooting struggles in the second.
Q3: Civic Memorial – 36, Mahomet-Seymour – 32
The bulldogs came out with a fight to start the second half. They started to find some rhythm in their shots and cut the lead to 29-22 three minutes into the half thanks to some good shooting from Durbin Thomas Durbin Thomas 5'3" | PG Mahomet | 2023 State IL , Cayla Koerner, and Abigail Bunting. Olivia Durbin had an answer for the bulldogs every time they hit a big shot though. She was able to burry three deep ones in the 3rd. Mahomet-Seymour kept fighting though cutting it to a four point game to enter the final period thanks to a shot at the buzzer by Ivie Juarez.
Q4: Civic Memorial – 53, Mahomet-Seymour – 48
The fourth quarter was more of the Olivia Durbin show where she continued to hit big shot after big shot. She hit three number six and seven early in the quarter to extend the lead again for the Eagles. Ivie Juarez and Nichole Taylor went to work in the paint in the final period to keep Mahomet-Seymour in the game. Foul trouble got the best of the Bulldogs to help Kelbie Zupan Kelbie Zupan 5'5" | PG Civic Memorial | 2022 State IL and the Eagles close it out on the free throw line where she was 4-5 from the line to close out the game in the fourth.
Mahomet-Seymour finished the year one game from the state finals with their best year in program history finishing at 30-5. Civic Memorial earned their first ever state finals birth improving to 32-4 where they will meet Mundelein at 10am on Friday morning in the state semi-finals at Redbird Arena on the campus of Illinois State University.
Here is a look at a few of the standout players from the 3A Super-Sectional:
Olivia Durban – Civic Memorial – 2023
Olivia had yet another impressive shooting night. She is very efficient, has no hesitation, and has a very quick release that makes her almost automatic from deep. The junior showed off some serious range fighting through screens and hitting them from well behind the three point line. Olivia led all scorers with 25 hitting seven deep ones.
Kelbie Zupan Kelbie Zupan 5'5" | PG Civic Memorial | 2022 State IL – Civic Memorial -2022
GRITTY. If there was one word to describe Kelbie it’s gritty. She’s constantly all over the floor fighting for loose balls and in passing lanes turning defense into offense. Kelbie gets it done on both ends of the floor. In this game she didn’t need to shoot the ball from the floor because she kept sacrificing her body to get to the free throw line where she shot 12-15 from the line. She showed early she can shoot it well hitting two deep ones but it isn’t the only part of her game allowing her to score 18 points.
Ivie Juarez – Mahomet-Seymour – 2022
Ivie has a great strong build that allows her to be dominant in the paint. She stuck down there all night long with her back to the basket to score and rip down rebounds on both ends the the floor. The senior led the team in scoring with 16 thanks to her post moves. Ivie is also very athletic with the ability to be a shot blocker.
Nichole Taylor – Mohomet-Seymour – 2022
Nichole started out the game slow but you could tell her athleticism would not allow her to have a quiet night. She is a strong and aggressive player that isn’t afraid to put the ball on the floor and score with contact. The senior was able to score all eight of her points in the second half on strong moves to the basket.
Cayla Koerner – Mahomet-Seymour – 2022
Cayla is a quick guard with great handles that the Bulldogs can thank for keeping them in the game. She has a great shot with great rotation on the ball. Every shot she put up you thought was going in. She struggled to find the net in the first half but was deadly in the second half knocking down three deep ones to chip in nine points.
Aaron Stout is a new scout for Prep Girls Hoops Illinois, and is trying to bring more coverage to central and southern Illinois. He and the rest of PGH Illinois staff seek to cover the entire state by keeping subscribers up to date with player evaluations, recruiting info, and statewide news. Our audience often supplies with some of our best information. If you have any information on players, teams, or statewide news in Illinois, please email Aaron Stout at prephoopsaaron@gmail.com or DM him through Twitter @Astoutprephoops.