By Bobby Narang
Nazareth Academy High School senior forward, Stella Sakalas, carried the offense March 6.
With Sakalas in foul trouble during Saturday’s Class 4A State championship game against Loyola, it was Nazareth junior guard Sophia Towne’s turn to provide the scoring.
Towne scored 17 points and dished out five assists to power Nazareth to a 55-23 rout over Loyola at Illinois State’s CEFCU Arena.
Nazareth (35-3) notched its second State championship after capturing a 3A title in 2023. The 32-point victory was the largest margin in a 4A final since the start of the four-class system in 2008. The Roadrunners closed out the season with 25 straight wins, also ending Loyola’s 25-game winning streak.
Towne sparked the victory by hitting two 3-pointers on Nazareth’s first two possessions.
“We’ve been waiting all year for this,” Towne said. “We were so close [last season], so we always had [being in the state championship] in the back of our minds. ‘Peak in March’ is what we always say, and once the time came, we all knew we were not losing this game.
“We wanted it more than them. Once the time came, we took it to them”
Loyola (34-3) had a frigid night shooting the ball, missing its first 15 3-pointers to fall into a 31-13 hole early in the game.
“Loyola is a really good team, but I think we showed everybody in the state that we’re the best team in Illinois,” Nazareth coach Ed Stritzel said. “Our guards put so much pressure on the ball and it allowed our wings to be really aggressive.”
Sakalas, a BYU recruit, was whistled for her third foul midway through the second quarter, finishing with seven points, including five in the fourth quarter. But the Roadrunners didn’t miss a beat without their best player. Nazareth junior Samantha Austin picked up the slack with seven points and 10 rebounds.
“Stella is such an amazing player and she has done so much this season for us,” Towne said. “She got a couple tough fouls, but we didn’t let that slow us down.”