About 15 minutes later, the senior had the regional plaque in his hands and the net draped around his neck.

It was a perfect night for the Hawks, who never trailed in a 65-52 win over Mendota in the Class 2A Rock Falls Regional final Friday at Tabor Gym. It’s their first regional title since 2006, and they advance to the 2A Mendota Sectional against Rockford Lutheran on Tuesday.

“It’s everything we’ve ever worked for in our entire lives,” Salsbury said. “We’ve been playing together since fifth grade, and this has been the dream ever since we started.”

“I’m so thankful,” classmate Cooper Johnson said. “We’ve played basketball together our whole lives and this has been the dream. We finally got it done our senior year, I’m so happy.”

Johnson scored 18 points and dished six assists while keeping his cool running the point against the Trojans’ pressure defense. Salsbury hit four 3s and finished with 14 points and two steals while providing emotional energy. Benny Olalde scored six of his 10 points in the fourth quarter to help the Hawks pull away, and also nabbed three steals. Junior Ethan Peeling had nine points, three rebounds and two steals off the bench.

The list went on and on for Oregon (24-9), which led 18-10 on Johnson’s 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer, then stretched it to 31-18 on a Salsbury 3 and Jaxson Manka layup late in the second. And after Mendota (27-6) made a run to get within two in the third, the senior-heavy Hawks showed their poise again, getting 3s from Brian Wallace and Salsbury to bookend a 12-1 run to take a 53-40 lead 1:06 into the fourth.

“The offense was flowing easy tonight, and it just makes everyone on the court feel more comfortable,” Salsbury said. “You’re confident in giving everybody a shot because you trust every shot they take. I love playing with these guys.

“It’s all energy. We’ve got to come into the game wanting to win, knowing we’re going to win. We just had to find a way to score, taking what the defense gave us.”

Oregon, which lost at home to Mendota 71-62 on Feb. 14, knew a surge was coming. With coach Jarrett Reynolds telling his guys to “weather the storm, we’re fine,” the Hawks took the Trojans’ best punch coming out of halftime.

Mendota scored 10 of the first 12 points in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 41-39 on baskets by Aden Tillman and Drew Becker with 2:44 left in the period.

“Give Oregon credit, they played great tonight. They played super hard, they executed. They guarded really well, they were disciplined, they made key shots every time we made a run,” Mendota coach Steve Wasmer said. “We couldn’t quite get over the hump. I think we expended so much energy to get back in the third quarter that we kind of had tired legs.”

The Hawks responded with the key surge, then held the Trojans to one 3-pointer over the game’s final 5:05 to seal it.

“We were preaching that the whole game, weather the storm every time; we knew they’d make runs, and we just had to stick with it and answer,” Johnson said. “We just decided to come out and dictate every quarter. Whoever dictates the game is going to win it, so that’s what we did.”

Nole Campos scored five points, Wallace added five rebounds to his 3-pointer and Tucker O’Brien chipped in two points and seven rebounds while fighting foul trouble for Oregon.

“I thought our guys did a great job playing complementary basketball and trying to throw Mendota off their rhythm,” Reynolds said. “I thought our guards did a great job, especially Cooper, just handling their pressure and getting downhill. And our communication tonight was the best it’s ever been.

“I just am so proud of these guys. They do everything I ask and ask nothing in return, and they’re so fun to be around.”

Cole Tillman’s 16 points, 10 rebounds and four assists led Mendota, and Dane Doyle added 15 points on five 3s, with four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Becker added 10 points and eight boards and Aden Tillman scored seven as the Trojans saw their 13-game win streak snapped.

“We had an off night, and that’s the beauty and kind of the crux of the postseason. It was the wrong night to have a tough night,” Wasmer said. “It was a great journey and this doesn’t take anything away from that. It’s a tough way to end it, but it was still a great season, and I’m proud of these guys.”

Following her fifth college basketball season last spring, the Sycamore native had the chance to either play one final year or bid farewell to the game she loved. The opportunity to play a sixth season came from being part of the final class that earned a waiver for an extra year during the COVID seasons in 2019-20 and 2020-21, as well as a medical redshirt after missing the 2022-23 season with a knee injury.

After mulling her options as last season ended, Feuerbach decided to run it back one more time at the University of Iowa – and she doesn’t have a single regret.

“I’m so ecstatic. I knew it wasn’t my time to be done, but it’s just been really cool to step into more of a leadership role this year,” Feuerbach said following Iowa’s 62-44 win over then-No. 6 Michigan on Sunday. “There’s so many young girls on this team, and I know how important it was for me when I was going through the first two years with the older girls, and they paved the way. It’s been really cool. It’s a really new perspective for me to really just enjoy it.”

Part of the enjoyment Sunday was going through a rare second senior day at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. With her decision looming last season, she was honored with her classmates before the home finale in 2025.

She improved to 2-0 on her Iowa Senior Days after finishing with eight points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal in 34 minutes as the No. 9 Hawkeyes (22-5, 13-3 Big Ten) won their 22nd straight senior day game.

Feuerbach said she was much more prepared for the emotion and atmosphere this time around.

“I think last year was unique because the girls I came in with when I transferred in were the girls that graduated last year, so it was more of a senior day for me last year. I think last year there was a lot more emotion for me,” she said. “This year, I knew my time was up, I know I have to move on, so I’ve definitely coped with it better in the sense of I know that I’m done, so it’s more so a bittersweet ending and just really playing with some joy.”

That’s been the theme all season for Feuerbach, knowing the end of her career was coming no matter what. So she tried to enjoy the different aspects of a retirement tour of sorts, and plans to make the most of whatever time she has left as Iowa looks ahead to the postseason.

“I’m trying to soak it all in, just everything,” Feuerbach said. “The environment, particularly, and just the girls feeding into each other is really important over these next few weeks or months, whatever it is. It’s just very bittersweet. I don’t want it to ever end. It’s definitely a different perspective this year.”

That stems from her growth into a new role over the past couple of seasons. When she transferred to Iowa after spending her freshman season at Iowa State, Feuerbach said she went through essentially a second freshman season, adapting and adjusting to a new team. She played sporadically her first year at Iowa, then tore her ACL the next summer and missed 2022-23. She returned as a role player off the bench for the 2023-24 team that earned its second straight berth in the National Championship game.

Last season, after Iowa lost Caitlin Clark, Kate Martin and Gabby Marshall to graduation, Feuerbach became a starter, and she has been in that role since. A steady veteran presence on a very young squad last season, she has been a mentor to the next wave of Hawkeyes – the likes of sophomores Ava Heiden, Taylor Stremlow and Chit-Chat Wright, and freshmen Addie Deal and Journey Houston – who have the team in position for a double-bye and potential No. 2 seed in next week’s Big Ten Tournament.

“It has been fun, for sure. It’s been so cool to watch their development because they want to win – and that’s what you want for teammates,” Feuerbach said. “It was definitely an adjustment when we moved on from that Caitlin era, but it’s been really cool to see how the new era is starting to progress, to see them grow, and I feel like a mom with my children, to an extent.”

The extra season – and knowing the end was coming at the end of it – has allowed Feuerbach to reflect on the journey she’s taken at Iowa.

“Throughout all of it, the one thing that I just am so grateful for is the girls that I’m surrounded with every day,” she said. “The culture is just phenomenal, I could not ask for a better group to be surrounded with. It’s been really cool to win the Big Ten titles and go to the Final Fours and play in Kinnick [Stadium], all of those experiences, but I don’t think they would be what they were if it wasn’t for the people that make it that way. It’s been a really, really cool experience.”

After the Hawkeyes’ postseason run ends, Feuerbach will turn her attention to the future. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and a Master’s in Strategic Communication, and is currently working on a second Bachelor’s in Entrepreneurial Management. That has helped her start her own business, which she hopes to build as a secondary job to her future occupation.

“I started a business recently, it’s called His Calling Label, so wanting to grow that – right now it’s just phone cases, but I hope to expand into apparel and other things eventually. But that will probably stay as a side hustle, a side hobby,” Feuerbach said. “Outside of that, I’m going to have to search for jobs when I’m done [with school], and I think I’ll probably want to do something within sports. Not playing – I think I’ll be done with my basketball days – but maybe sports marketing or whatever it is. I definitely love sports, and I love just the community that it brings and the people that are part of it, so whatever that entails.”

The Hawks hit five of their first six 3-point attempts, then used a huge second-quarter run to take control early in a 76-48 win over the Rockets in their Class 2A Rock Falls Regional semifinal at Tabor Gym.

“Our coach told us whoever dictated the game was going to win the game, so we knew we had to come out with energy and just play as hard as we could, so that’s what we did,” Benny Olalde said. “We all just know each other, what we’re going to, how we’re going to play. We have a game plan and we’re going to stick to it. We push it, we go, we shoot 3s. It’s amazing when we play together like this.”

Oregon (23-9) advances to Friday’s title game against Mendota (27-5), which defeated Aurora Central Catholic 78-46 in the first semifinal to extend its winning streak to 13.

Against Rock Falls (10-22), the Hawks got 3s from four different players in the opening five-and-a-half minutes, and shot nearly 50% (9 of 20) from deep in the first half.

That opened up the offense, and in turn gave Oregon more energy and intensity on defense, and the Rockets had no answer.

“We love to come out as hot as we can, making as many 3s as we can. It really helps because it throws the other team off track,” Tucker O’Brien said. “It just builds confidence in shooting the ball. We keep hitting, we keep finding open shots, and we’re going to keep scoring and win the game.”

Cooper Johnson scored off a steal to close the first quarter, and Olalde nailed his third 3 of the game to open the second, igniting a 26-4 run as the Hawks built a 41-16 lead in the final minute of the first half.

“Oregon is a good, disciplined team, and props to them; if they get a lead, they’re a really tough team to come back on, with the multiple defenses they run and different looks that they throw out there,” Rock Falls coach Zach Sandrock said. “They sped us up when we wanted to slow them down. They like to use transition and speed us up on the defensive end to get into their offense, with their multitude of shooters, and we kind of played into their hands.”

Trailing 54-22 three minutes into the third quarter, Rock Falls rallied. Cole Mulnix scored back-to-back baskets in the paint, then Z’Viyon Martin nailed a 3 on the fast break to spark a 19-5 run over the next 6:12.

But even then, the Rockets only cut the deficit to 18, and Oregon scored 10 straight points to retake control.

“It’s tough, especially when you start playing well and go on a big run and you think you’re cutting it down, but you look up and it’s still a big score. That’s so hard to come back from,” Mulnix said. “We really just wanted to keep pushing the ball, not get in our own heads thinking, ‘Oh, we’re down, we’re down.’ We just kept trying to keep our heads on the right line, and we started to make a run, but they were too far ahead.”

The Hawks scored at least 16 points in every quarter and led by double-digits for 23 of the game’s 32 minutes. They shot 40.6% (13 of 32) from 3-point range while limiting Rock Falls to just 11.5% (3 of 26) from deep.

“We were trying to make them move faster than they wanted, force turnovers on defense,” Cooper Johnson said. “It’s good having people know their role and playing their role perfectly, and it gives us a ton of confidence. Then each 3 that goes in just builds it and keeps it rolling, and that’s what gives us the ability to win.”

Olalde hit four 3s and scored 16 of his game-high 20 points in the first half, and he also had five steals, four assists and three rebounds. Johnson had 16 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals, and O’Brien recorded a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double and dished three assists. Brian Wallace hit four 3s for 12 points, Nole Campos had a pair of 3s and added eight points, and Keaton Salsbury also nailed two 3s and finished with six points, eight rebounds and three assists.

Mulnix led Rock Falls with a double-double of 12 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and two blocks, and Max Burns added 10 points, six rebounds and four assists. Cole Heald had nine points and two steals, Martin added eight points and three steals, and Owen Mandrell chipped in seven points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block.