By Bobby Narang
The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) girls basketball season ended with another memorable run Saturday, March 2.
The four-class tournament, which is spread across three days, made history when the Class 3A and 4A State champions both ended with identical 38-0 records.
First it was Lincoln.
After losing to Nazareth in the Class 3A state title game last season, Lincoln roared back to Illinois State University. Led by five senior starters, Lincoln crushed Central State Eight Conference member, Chatham Glenwood 60-44, in Saturday’s 3A final. Led by 38 points from Colorado State recruit Kloe Froebe, the Railsplitters became the second team in State history to finish a season unbeaten.
A few hours later, Loyola Academy joined the undefeated list by knocking off Nazareth Academy, 44-40, in the 4A title game thanks to 17 points from Paige Engels and 15 from Aubrey Galvan. The Ramblers are the third girls basketball team in IHSA history to finish with an unblemished record.
“We never talked about it,” Loyola head coach Jeremy Schoenecker said of finishing undefeated. “They just kept continuing to (win) game by game and they’re just an absolutely phenomenal team. They’re resilient in everything they do.”
The Roadrunners had control of the game in the first half, relying on their big size and State experience advantage. But, the Roadrunners fell apart in the third quarter, getting outscored 15-2 and did not grab a single offensive rebound in the second half to fall short of winning back-to-back State titles in two different classes.
“We got more tentative on the offensive end,” Nazareth coach Ed Stritzel said. “And then the more tentative we got on the offensive end, I thought we got more tentative on the defensive end. Some of that has to do with Loyola. They’re very good.”
Overall, Loyola has won three State titles, including back-to-back State championships in 1997 and 1998.
Fremd defeated Waubonsie Valley, 62-52, in the third-place game. The Warriors (32-5) received 18 points, 10 rebounds and six assists from star sophomore Danyella Mporokoso in the final game of the season. Waubonsie Valley had coach Brett Love said the run to the State tournament fourth place should push his young team throughout the offseason.
“Getting to State means a lot,” Love said. “Every year I set a goal to try and do better than we did last year. We really wanted to get back to the sectional championship and win that. We did that. We set our sights on the supersectional and tried to go as far as we could. It means a lot about improving and producing better than what we did last year.
“It’s going to be hard to beat 32 wins and get to State next year, but we’re up for the challenge. We have a lot of talent in our program. I think this group will work really hard and hopefully do the same next year.”