Just four seconds after Wilmington’s Nina Egizio’s 3-pointer gave the Wildcats their first tie or lead of the second half against Peotone during Wednesday’s nightcap of the Iroquois West Holiday Hoops Tournament, Blue Devils freshman guard Payton Pape responded with the shot of her young career, a 3-point buzzer beater from the left wing, directly in front of a Peotone bench that immediately scooped her up in jubilation of a 35-32 win.

“It’s pretty cool,” a soft-spoken Pape said with a chuckle. “I had no idea (I would get the shot). There was a little bit of time left and my dad was yelling from the bench there’s just three seconds left. I had to shoot it.”

The Blue Devils weren’t the only ones celebrating either

Peotone’s win meant that the Blue Devils, Wildcats and host Iroquois West – who defeated Tri-Point 35-29 in Wednesday’s matinee – all finished winner’s pool play at 2-1. With 99 points allowed, a 10-point cushion over runner-up Wilmington, the host Raiders were crowned tournament champions.

Seated courtside for the tournament finale, the Raiders joined the Blue Devils and Wildcats in waiting out the championship announcement, sprinting across the gym to secure their tournament trophy and Nutcracker Man.

“It really is exhilarating,” Raiders senior guard Leah Honeycutt said. You think about it and have no clue how it was going to go. It was a really tight game back and forth, and props to (Pape). … This is our court. We’re so happy. This is our second time winning it since I’ve been here and I’m just so happy.”

Both games featured battles that hardly strayed outside two or three possessions in either direction, beginning with Iroquois West’s victory that gave the Raiders (6-7) their fourth win in six games after a 2-5 start.

Head coach Kristy Arie said that after some early-season frustrations, she’s seen her Raiders start to see in themselves what she’s seen in them since their preseason practices.

“I told them all the time the reason I got so frustrated is I know what they’re capable of, I know what their potential is,” Arie said. “Just getting them to get over that hump and play to their potential, they’re finally starting to do that.”

Leading that charge of late has been senior guard Amelia Scharp, who led the Raiders with 14 points on Wednesday and earned all-tournament recognition alongside senior forward Kenleigh Hendershot. Scharp, who averaged 17.3 points per game in tournament play, credited her hard work and her teammates’ trust for allowing her to take her game to the next level.

“I’ve pushed myself a lot in the offseason,” Scharp said. “I try to go out and get shots up daily, I work with my team well and they help me with my goals and look for me on the court. They have so much trust in me and that helps with my confidence in myself.”

After the Raiders held off the Chargers in a game that never had more than an eight-point margin and featured plenty of impactful defense, that continued into the nightcap between Illinois Central Eight Conference rivals that will also meet again on Thursday.

After both teams exchanged three turnovers apiece to open the second quarter, the Blue Devils (6-7) and Wildcats (9-5) then exchanged six leads on consecutive possessions, with Peotone ending the first half on a 6-0 run and a 17-12 lead.

That lead grew to 22-12 as the Blue Devils scored the first five points of the third quarter before the Wildcats settled back in and slowly clawed their way back. They made it a 30-29 deficit on a Sami Liaromatis bucket with 3:30 remaining, and after Pape split a pair of free throws with both 1:49 and 17 seconds left, got one last game-tying look.

Keeley Walsh, who had a team-high 10 points, drove and dished behind her to Egizio, who matched Liaromatis’ nine points when her tying triple fell in the closing seconds.

Rather than take a timeout, Peotone coach Shawn Bean gave his young team a chance to win it on their own. Pape, who scored 14 of her game-high 18 points in the second half and was joined on the all-tournament team by Walsh and Liaromatis, answered the call.

“We told her about five games ago you’re no longer a freshman,” Bean said. “You’re now just a varsity athlete. She’s just a tough kid, good basketball awareness. She plays like a junior or senior. She’s a basketball savant and eats it all up.”

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Iroquois West's Leah Honeycutt pushes the ball upcourt during Iroquois West's 35-29 win over Tri-Point in the Iroquois West Holiday Tournament on Wednesday, December 17, 2025. (Michael Savoie for Shaw Local Ne)

For the Wildcats, their recovery from a sluggish offensive start was a positive that head coach Eric Dillon and company can take with them, and they entered Wednesday on a four-game winning streak, one that came to a screeching halt at the end of an emotional roller coaster.

“That’s just how basketball goes, man,” Dillon said. “As you would expect, we’re down, thinking what can we do? Then Nina hits that shot, I just want them to not do any stupid fouls or anything like that, but we just gave her too much room on the wing and she knocked it down. And I’ve got to give her credit.