Ottawa shoots its way past Morris 57-48 to get even in I-8 Conference

The Ottawa Pirates did a lot of things well in their 57-38 Interstate 8 Conference victory Tuesday evening over visiting Morris.

Especially when it came to shooting the basketball.

“We shared the ball well, and a lot of the looks we got were clean,” said Ottawa coach Brent Moore, whose Pirates’ impressive 56.1% (23-of-41) shooting from the field included even more impressive 63.6% (7-of-11) marksmanship from 3-point distance. “We practice shooting those 3s consistently on a daily basis, and when they’re going in, yeah, it makes everything look really good. ...

“I thought we weren’t engaged enough defensively at the start of the game. I thought we were just a step slow, and [Morris] was kind of getting what they wanted. But offensively, I thought we were really good.”

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Ottawa's Hailey Thrush runs in for a layup against Morris on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025 in Kingman Gymnasium at Ottawa High School. (Scott Anderson)

Morris (2-6 overall, 1-1 in the Interstate 8) scored the night’s initial points on a 3-pointer from Cami Pfeifer 40 seconds after the opening tip, but in a sign of things to come Ottawa freshman point guard Kennedy Kane drained an equalizing 3 just 17 seconds later. By quarter’s end, the Pirates (5-3, 1-1) led 12-10 – all 12 of those points coming three at a time on a trio of 3-pointers and a Kane old-fashioned three-point play.

Two more 3s in the second quarter helped the Ottawa lead wax to 32-21 by halftime, and two more in the third were part of a run that left the Pirates comfortably ahead by 18 points, 45-27, at the close of the third quarter.

“We just lose our intensity sometimes,” Morris coach Mike Lutz said, “and I thought Ottawa outplayed us pretty much from the second quarter through the end of the game. We just got outplayed tonight.

“[Ottawa] shot the ball well and played harder than we did, and it’s too bad. We didn’t look sharp. ... I thought it was going to be a good game, and it ended up not being a good game.”

Kane finished with a game-best 18 points and was 2-of-3 from the 3-point arc, as was Mary Stisser, who finished with a dozen points and five rebounds. Hailey Thrush also scored 12 points for Ottawa, with Libby Muffler adding seven and Ashlynn Ganiere four to go with her team-highs of six rebounds and five assists.

“Overall, this was a great night for the Lady Pirates,” Moore said. “We were able to protect Kingman. We told the girls this was a must-win situation [after Friday’s conference-opening loss to Kaneland], and they came out and responded and got it for us.”

Morris's Ava Petersen looks to pass the ball off around Ottawa's Libby Muffler on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025 in Kingman Gymnasium at Ottawa High School. — Morris's Ava Petersen looks to pass the ball off around Ottawa's Libby Muffler on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Ottawa's Kingman Gym. (Scott Anderson)

Senior post Lily Hansen led Morris with a 14-point, eight-rebound near double-double. Alyssa Jepsen added eight points and eight rebounds, earning special mention for her effort from Lutz, while Pfeifer and Brooke Thompson scored six points apiece for the visitors in the loss.

A 15-8 edge in turnovers forced also helped fuel Ottawa’s runs in the contest’s middle quarters. Morris did hold a slight edge in rebounding on the night, 20-18.

Morris is scheduled back in action Friday at home against Rochelle.

Ottawa, too, plays Friday, visiting Seneca ahead of a Saturday afternoon I-8 showdown at archrival La Salle-Peru.