Girls basketball: Lowery, Ottawa get senior night victory over La Salle-Peru

OTTAWA – With less than seven minutes to play in Thursday’s Interstate 8 Conference and regular-season finale, Ottawa senior Kendall Lowery said it really sunk in that this would be her final time playing for the Pirates in Kingman Gymnasium.

“After all the pregame stuff, I really didn’t think of the fact this was going to be my last game in Kingman until I looked up at the scoreboard early in the fourth quarter and we were down two,” Lowery said. “I just said to myself ‘We have to win this game’ and I knew I needed to step up and help make that happen any way I could.”

Ottawa closed out the final seven minutes on a 10-2 run, including an acrobatic drive by Lowery that gave the hosts the lead for good in a 30-24 senior night win over La Salle-Peru.

“I wouldn’t have been very happy leaving here tonight without a win,” said Lowery, who scored a game-high 13 points, grabbed five rebounds and three steals, and shared the senior night win with teammates Hannah Waddell and Haley Waddell and manager Kate Landers. “This was a team win; everyone had a part into it, and we played a little better in the second half. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end my career here in Kingman.

“It’s been an absolute blast.”

The final Ottawa run included an offensive rebound by Hailey Larsen, a three-point play and two free throws by Mary Stisser, a free throw by Ashlynn Ganiere and Lowery’s dribble-drive turned scoop layup with just over two minutes to play.

“Was it the prettiest game you’ll ever see, not by a long shot, but we did enough good things on both ends of the floor throughout the game to put us in position to win.”

—  Brent Moore, Ottawa girls basketball coach

Stisser finished with eight points, six rebounds and four steals.

“The message to the group before the game was, ‘hey, it’s the end of the season, everyone’s tired, but we’ve got senior night against L-P, and we need everyone to give it everything they have,’” Ottawa coach Brent Moore said, his squad improving to 17-12 overall and ending 5-5 in league action. “Basketball is a long season, and all the seniors have given up a lot to be a part of this program the last four years. As a coach, I just wanted those four young women to finish out the time here in Kingman with a win and we were able to do that.

“Was it the prettiest game you’ll ever see? Not by a long shot. But we did enough good things on both ends of the floor throughout the game to put us in position to win. We had a rough first 12 minutes or so when we just weren’t in sync, but we found a little bit of a spark to finish out the first half, and then again when we were down two early in the fourth.”

The Cavaliers led 8-5 after the opening quarter with Addie Duttlinger and Jasmine Garman hitting 3s. The visitors held a 13-8 lead after a pair of free throws by Duttlinger midway into the second, but a 3-pointer followed by a steal and layup by Lowery, and a nifty drive by Stisser, put the Pirates up 15-13 at intermission.

L-P (14-15, 2-8) led 18-17 with 4:22 left in the third quarter, when Duttlinger was injured after diving for a loose ball and did not return. A Garman 3 from the right wing 45 seconds into the fourth quarter gave the Cavs their final lead of the night.

Garman led L-P with seven points and seven rebounds, while Bailey Pode hauled down a game-high 16 rebounds.

“We just started to run out of healthy players and plays to run,” L-P coach Adam Spencer said. “Our two 6-foot girls are already on the bench injured along with our first couple of girls that normally come off the bench, and then we lose Addie. We really struggled on the offensive end tonight and some of that was because of who we do have healthy, there were times where there were girls that haven’t been on the floor at the same time a lot or even at all this season.

“I don’t feel like we played terrible defensively, but Ottawa makes you work so hard for 40 seconds almost every possession it wears you down. It was just a very tough night for us.”

The postseason is next for each side with L-P playing Class 3A regional host Morris at 6 p.m. Saturday, while Ottawa will take on Kankakee at 7 p.m. Monday.

BOXSCORE

At Kingman Gymnasium, Ottawa

Ottawa 30, La Salle-Peru 24

LA SALLE-PERU (24) — Duttlinger 1-9 2-2 5, Abens 1-4 0-0 3, Urbanski 0-5 2-2 2, Pode 2-7 0-0 4, Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Garman 2-7 1-2 7, Shetterly 0-0 0-0 0, Jereb 1-2 0-0 2, Kawiecki 0-2 1-2 1, Depenbrock 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 7-36 6-8 24.

OTTAWA (30) — S. Dorsey 1-5 0-0 3, Schmitz 1-12 0-0 2, Han. Waddell 0-1 0-0 0, Lowery 6-13 0-1 13, Hal. Waddell 0-0 0-0 0, Larsen 1-4 0-0 2, Stisser 2-7 4-7 8, Ganiere 0-0 2-4 2, A. Dorsey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-42 6-12 30.

La Salle-Peru (14-15, 2-8) 8 5 6 5 — 24

Ottawa (17-12, 5-5) 5 10 5 10 — 30

3-point goals — La Salle-Peru 4-18 (Duttlinger 1-5, Abens 1-3, Urbanski 0-2, Garman 2-6, Kawiecki 0-2); Ottawa 2-20 (S. Dorsey 1-5, Schnitz 0-10, Han. Waddell 0-1, Lowery 1-3, Stisser 0-1). Rebounds — La Salle-Peru 36 (Pode 16, Urbanski 7, Garman 7); Ottawa 25 (Stisser 6, Lowery 5). Assists — La Salle-Peru 6 (Duttlinger 2, Pode 2, Garman 2); Ottawa 5 (Larsen 2). Steals — La Salle-Peru 5 (Duttlinger 2); Ottawa 13 (Stisser 4, Lowery 3). Blocks — La Salle-Peru 2 (Urbanski 1, Pode 1); Ottawa 2 (S. Dorsey 1, Lowery 1). Turnovers — La Salle-Peru 20; Ottawa 10. Total fouls (fouled out) — La Salle-Peru 12 (Abens); Ottawa 10 (none).