Connecting on its first four 3-point attempts, St. Charles East built a 21-10 first-quarter lead and didn’t look back on the way to a 54-36 victory over Batavia in Thursday’s Class 4A girls basketball regional championship game.
Junior guard Ari Bigda started the early shooting spree with a 3-pointer, and sophomore Kathlyn Bainbridge added another before senior Addie Schilb hit a pair of long-range shots – the last one beating the buzzer to end the Saints’ 11-3 run.
“We came out hot,” said Saints coach Katie Claussner, whose team advances to Tuesday’s Bartlett sectional semifinals against the winner of Friday’s Lake Park-Wheaton North matchup. “We told the girls before the game that no matter what happened tonight, it was the last time on our home floor.
“We wanted to show up for our fans.”
Ahead 24-12, the Saints (20-11) suffered an early scare when Addie Schilb got tangled up with a Batavia player battling for a loose ball and took a hard fall.
A minute later, the Bulldogs (10-22) cut the deficit to 6 at 24-18 following 6 consecutive points from senior forward Ali Thomas.
That’s when Bainbridge helped the Saints extend the lead.
The 5-foot-7 guard fueled a 9-3 surge, hitting a 3-pointer from the corner, and adding a three-point play following a steal and end-to-end driving layup, to make it 33-20.
The Saints led 35-23 at halftime.
“When Addie is off the floor for us, it can get a little nerve wracking,” said Claussner. “KB (Bainbridge) was knocking down shots left and right, and we kept that lead.”
“Her loss of presence – it impacts us a lot, but we had to be like, ‘we want this,’” said Bainbridge, who finished with a game-high 19 points and 7 steals.
Batavia opened the second half with a 7-2 spurt that included a 3-pointer from senior Payton Haslett (11 points) to pull within 7 at 37-30 midway through the third quarter.
Four quick points from Bainbridge, a layup by sophomore Brooklyn Schilb (18 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocked shots), and jumper from freshman Tessa Mallon capped an 8-1 run that extended the Saints’ lead to 45-31 after 3 quarters.
“They’re a very good team,” Batavia coach Kevin Jensen said of the Saints. “That trio (the Schilb sisters and Bainbridge) is so well-rounded with the different things they bring to the game – it’s a tough matchup.
“Brooklyn and Addie are both very skilled, and Kathlyn was shooting the lights out tonight. You kind of have to pick your poison defending them.”
A key contributor on all 3 regional championship teams, Addie Schilb added 8 points and 3 assists.
“It’s amazing,” she said. “The success this program has had – it’s special. I’m so grateful to be a part of these last three years.”
“It is an awesome feeling,” said Claussner. “We’ve worked so hard and we’ve played, so our record may not be the best, but we’re a fantastic team.
“This is the first time St. Charles East has won three regionals in a row (the team won 5 straight as St. Charles High from 1984-1988). We’re happy to make another record, but our job is not done.”
Thomas paced Batavia with 14 points.
“The senior captains – Ali (Thomas), Payton (Haslett), and Eva (Holzl) – they left their mark and left things going in the right direction,” said Jensen.
“They set a great example for us all year.”