Facing the top-seeded Cissna Park girls basketball team, which was ranked No. 3 in the final Associated Press Class 1A poll, is a tall task.
Add to that Fieldcrest is without all-time leading scorer Macy Gochanour and the task becomes even more difficult.
The result was a lopsided 55-20 victory for the Timberwolves over the No. 5-seeded Knights in the Class 1A Fieldcrest Regional championship Thursday in Minonk.
“Our senior class really wanted this because between volleyball and basketball we won all eight regionals we played,” Fieldcrest senior Addison Lucht said. “We don’t take anything for granted. We wanted to keep this going and I think we did that well tonight.”
Cissna Park (26-2), which finished third in the state last year, advances to play Heyworth (26-7) in an Iroquois West Sectional semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Hornets beat Tremont 52-47 in the Tremont Regional final.
The Timberwolves made its presence felt right off the bat as Lucht took the opening tip and immediately drove hard to the basket for a layup.
She had a steal and layup for a quick 6-0 lead. The Timberwolves were just getting started as a fast break layup from Sophia Duis and another steal and layup from Lucht made it 10-0.
“I think defense has been our story all year,” Lucht said. “We are really long and athletic and able to get a lot of pressure on teams in our 1-3-1 defense and tonight we did that again and got on them early.”
Pru Mangan, who had a solid game for the Knights, got Fieldcrest on the board with a short jumper after driving down the middle of the lane.
But the inside-outside game was strong all night for the Timberwolves, who got the ball in the paint to Lauryn Hamrick, who finished with a strong move in the post to push the lead to 14-2.
Mangan scored again for the Knights, but Cissna Park wasted no time striking again as Duis got a bucket in the paint off an offensive rebound.
Lucht hit another short-range shot as the Timberwolves led 21-4 at the end of the first quarter.
Cissna Park went right back into the post in the second quarter as Hamrick again made her presence felt with a layup for a 25-4 advantage.
“We felt watching Fieldcrest the other day that we could put the pressure on them and I think we did that well tonight,” Cissna Park coach Anthony Videka said. “We usually don’t run the same thing, but it was working so we stuck with it. I don’t think we shot great tonight, but we were able to work the ball into the post really well.”
After the 10-0 run to start the game, the Timberwolves went on an 11-0 run before Fieldcrest got a bucket behind the arc from Terilynn Timmerman.
But as it did all night, Cissna Park responded over and over again as Hamrick converted a layup and then Josie Neukomm fed the ball into Duis as the lead grew to 36-9 at the break.
Lucht started out the second half making her mark as she did to start the game and this time it was from long range for a 41-9 lead.
Timmerman hit a rainbow shot for the Knights, but immediately Cissna Park answered with a 3-pointer to make it 44-11.
Mangan sliced through the Timberwolves defense for a bucket and then hit a 3-pointer, but Cissna Park got a tip in from Hamrick at the buzzer for a 48-18 lead to start the running clock in the final quarter.
Lucht started the final period with a 3-pointer before both benches cleared and the Timberwolves came away with the 55-20 victory.
“Their length and athleticism were really tough for us,” Fieldcrest coach Jacob Durdan said. “I’m proud of how we fought. We never hung our heads and I could not be prouder of the three seniors and what they did for this program. We have a very young team coming back so I think the future is bright for us.”
Lucht led all scorers with 20 points, while Hamrick added 14.
For Fieldcrest (15-18), Mangan led with 13.