Pretzels twist Indians

E-mail this story

Print this story

Share

FREEPORT – Marengo’s girls basketball team looked as if coach Todd Price had flipped a switch in the third quarter against Freeport.

The Indians trailed by 13 points and were in danger of losing touch with Freeport when Price summoned full-court man-to-man pressure. For almost six minutes, the Pretzels scored only one basket and Marengo climbed back into the game.

“Man-to-man is our best weapon, and once we started full-court we really picked up our intensity,” junior guard Shawney Damisch said. “We had a chance. It was intensity and adrenaline.”

Marengo cut Freeport’s lead to two before the Pretzels put on a remarkable free-throw display and pulled away for a 53-41 victory in the IHSA Class 3A Freeport Regional championship Thursday night.

The No. 2-seeded Indians (9-19) cut the lead to 37-35 on Amanda Hart’s three-pointer with 3:30 remaining, but No. 4 Freeport (10-19) made 16 of its next 18 free throws, and finished with 18 of 24 foul shooting for the game.

“There was still 3 or 4 minutes left and I felt good,” Price said. “The momentum had shifted and we needed one spark to get over that hump.”

Freeport will meet Hampshire at 8:10 p.m. Monday in the second semifinal of the DeKalb Sectional. It was the fourth consecutive regional title for the Pretzels.

“We had clutch shooting here and on Tuesday [a 37-32 victory top-seeded Belvidere North],” Freeport guard Caitlin Greene said. “If we don’t make those, it’s a whole different game. It was a tense game and we were a little stressed. We decided to pick it up and we weren’t going to lose this game.”

Damisch had six steals for the game and scored early in the fourth to make it 33-27. Lauren Roudabush hit a pair of free throws with 5:16 remaining to make it 33-30. Danielle Simons, who led Marengo with 11 points, scored in the lane, and Hart hit a three to cut the lead to two.

“We had a few runs when we had our press on,” Simons said. “We just had a few turnovers [earlier] that killed our momentum. We were right there though.”

Greene, the lone returning starter off last year’s Class 3A state runner-up team, hit six consecutive free throws in the final quarter. Michelle Hail-Harris and Rebecca Wagner each hit four in a row.

“Those free throws are huge,” Freeport coach Jennifer Slaght said. “It’s good for the kids’ confidence that they’re not afraid to knock down those big shots.”

Damisch and Bethany Degrand, who hit two threes in the fourth quarter, finished with eight points each for the Indians. Damisch also had eight rebounds. Greene led Freeport with 15 points.