Long time coming: Morris wins its own Ladies Shootout for the first time

MORRIS – In its 28th season, the Morris Ladies Shootout saw something it had never seen.

The host team took home the title.

Morris went 5-0 in the 16-team, two-day event and defeated Metamora 54-50 in the championship game. It is the first time that either the girls or boys team from Morris has won their respective event, with the best boys finish coming in 2004 when they took second.

“I didn’t know that no Morris girls team had ever won the shootout,” Morris senior Landrie Callahan said. “It’s pretty exciting to do something that’s never been done before.

“Our defense was really good this whole tournament. Everyone got involved, and everyone played their role.”

On Tuesday, Morris went 2-0 in pool play, defeating Kankakee and Plainfield Central. Morris began Wednesday’s bracket action with a win over Bloomington Central Catholic, then topped Oswego in the semifinals. Metamora beat Kankakee in the opening round Wednesday and edged Joliet Central on a last-second shot in the semifinals.

“I knew this team was capable of winning this tournament,” Morris coach Mike Lutz said. “We’ve only been together three weeks this summer, but the last week or so, we have really started to move the ball better. We have also played better defense, which is the key.

“Everyone played well. Landrie and Layken [Callahan] were very good, and Lily Hansen came down with some real big rebounds. Alyssa Jepson and Tessa Shannon all played well, and so did Brooke Thorson off the bench. It’s pretty cool for these girls to make school history like this.”

Joliet Central and Oswego elected not to play for third place.

Joliet Central went 3-0 on Monday, beating Oswego, Rock Island Alleman and Kaneland before beating Joliet Catholic Academy in Tuesday’s quarterfinals and falling on a last-second shot to Metamora in the semifinals. The Steelmen finished the tournament with a 4-1 record.

Providence Catholic and JCA played in the fifth-place game, with JCA coming out with an overtime win. The game was still tied at the end of the five-minute overtime period, so the game went to sudden death. After a few scoreless trips up and down the floor for both teams, JCA got an offensive rebound on a missed free throw and made the winning basket.

JCA went 2-1 on Monday, beating Minooka and Rosary and losing to Providence. JCA lost to Joliet Central in the quarterfinals Wednesday, then beat Kankakee to advance to the fifth-place game.

Providence went 3-0 Monday, beating Minooka, Rosary and JCA. The Celtics lost to Oswego in the first round of bracket play Wednesday before beating Bloomington Central Catholic to reach the fifth-place game.

Minooka, playing without its projected starting lineup, went 1-2 Monday, beating Rosary and losing to JCA and Providence. The Indians beat Coal City in the Silver Bracket quarterfinals Wednesday before topping Alleman in the bracket semifinals. They lost to Kaneland in the Silver Bracket championship to finish the tournament with a record of 3-3.

“I couldn’t be prouder of these girls,” Minooka coach John Placher said. “We’ve had some injuries and people on vacation, but these girls came in here in hot and humid conditions, and most of them were playing varsity level for the first time.

“They got better and better every game. It will definitely help us in the future that these girls got such good experience here. That’s what the summer is for. We want to get everyone on the floor and see what we’ve got.

“I really liked what I saw in this tournament.”