Game 151: Maine South vs. Whitney Young (Girl's Basketball)

Maine South Celebrates 3rd Place

Game 151
Maine South vs. Whitney Young (Girl's Basketball)
Class 4A Third Place
(3/5/11)

Between the Class 3A and 4A sessions, I had pondered going out to get a bite to eat in Bloomington/Normal, however I did not cover the 4A games on Friday night, and wasn't as prepared as I would like to be, so I hung out at Redbird Arena doing my homework. 

Dave Bernhard from the IHSA Network arrived and we had a conversation about the weekend's games.  He asked me if I was tired after doing 150 games, and without hesitation I said; "No!"  He looked a bit surprised by my response! 

Dave and I also discussed the boy's basketball post season, and I mentioned that it would be pretty tough for Peoria Notre Dame to get through their Sectional at the new Bradley University arena.  Bernhard is a Bradley alum, and we talked about the new arena, and he said he had not seen it yet.  Notre Dame will play (Peoria) Central on Tuesday in the semifinals, and if they won, would probably meet Rock Island in the championship game.  In my humble opinion, I think Rock Island advances out of the Peoria Sectional.  I've seen both teams a few times this year, and that's just my feeling.  By the way, Notre Dame beat Rock Island earlier this season.

Matt Troha of the IHSA came over and talked before the 3rd place game between Maine South and Whitney Young.  He shared some stories from the weekend.  The state finals always produce some interesting, but non-blog worthy stories!

Whitney Young was the overwhelming favorite in the Class 4A 3rd place game, bringing with them a #9 national ranking by USA Today.  The struggle would be to forget about their loss the night before to the #5 ranked team in the nation, Bolingbrook, in the semifinals in overtime (50-49). 

It seemed as though that would be a bigger hurdle than most would have thought.  Maine South took an early lead, 11-6.  However, the Dolphins stormed back outscoring the Maine South Hawks 18-6 in the 2nd quarter to lead, 24-17 at halftime. 

Whitney Young Dolphins (USA Today #9)

In the 3rd quarter, Whitney Young continued their run, leading 39-26 heading into the 4th quarter, and looking to win the 3rd place trophy by double digits, something most fans in attendance expected to happen.  It didn't!

Maine South roared back, taking advantage of Whitney Young turnovers, missed free throws, and a pair of technical fouls.  The first technical foul was called on Whitney Young head coach Corry Irvin for arguing calls, while the second "T" came after the Dolphins called a timeout, when they didn't have any left....ala Chris Webber (Michigan vs. North Carolina), in the 1993 NCAA National Championship game. 

The Hawks had big baskets in the 4th quarter by Mackenzie Duffy....times three.  She knocked down three three-pointers in the final eight minutes, to go along with Michelle Maher's three, and Jacqui Grant's 8 points.  Maine South outscored Whitney Young 28-14 in the 4th quarter, to shock Whitney Young, 54-53.

Chanise Jenkins, a senior headed to DePaul, scored a game-high 21 points for Whitney Young.  Michelle Maher (5'9" Jr.) scored a team-high 18 points for Maine South, while sophomore teammate Jacqui Grant added 12 points.

Did you know?  Maine South's Alicia Gutierrez is a 2016 Olympics hopeful in boxing???  Or that her first name is actually pronounced, Uh-Lee-See-uh, not Uh-lee-Shuh?

Game 151 Miles: 0