Sophia Towne plays with near boundless energy on the basketball court, which shouldn’t surprise.

Nazareth’s junior point guard has a background in cross country. That sport, Towne could literally run for miles.

“It definitely helped build my endurance for all these games,” Towne said. “It’s not the same training for basketball, but the long distance kind of helped me.”

Towne turned in her running shoes after sophomore year to focus on basketball training.

These days her energies are dedicated to playing the point of Nazareth’s matchup zone defense, and catalyst to its offense.

Nazareth (33-3), back at the state tournament for the sixth time in the last eight postseasons, plays Belleville East (29-5) in a Class 4A semifinal at 2:30 p.m. Friday at Illinois State’s CEFCU Arena.

The Roadrunners are chasing the school’s second state championship.

“We have been waiting for this the whole year,” Towne said. “It’s always been our goal.”

Nazareth coach Eddie Stritzel has had many great players in his 10 years at the school, from his daughter, Annie, to current senior Stella Sakalas.

But Towne might be the most talented point guard he’s ever had.

The 5-foot-10 junior scored 17 points in the supersectional win over Waubonsie Valley. She had nine steals and a near triple-double in a sectional win over Downers Grove North.

On the season Towne is averaging 11.1 points, second to Sakalas’ 18.1 on Nazareth, and leads the team in assists at 3.9 per game and made 3-pointers with 75.

Sakalas and Towne are two of four Nazareth starters that average scoring in double figures, along with freshman Mia Gage (10.6 ppg) and senior Lyla Shelton (10.4 ppg).

“It’s her length,” Stritzel said of Towne. “She is a big point guard. She tells me she’s 5-11, I say she’s 5-10. She is long and has a motor that doesn’t stop. She doesn’t get tired, she’s a cross country kid, she is in great shape. She loves to play and get after it.”

Towne and Shelton at the top of the zone are a big reason why Nazareth held Waubonsie Valley to a season-low 42 points in the supersectional.

That’s also the most points in a game Nazareth has allowed during a 23-game winning streak.

“With her and Lyla at the guards they put so much pressure on the ball. It allows our forwards to be creative in the back row, getting in passing lanes,” Stritzel said. “I really believe that it’s important to what we do is the two guards up front.”

Nazareth hasn’t lost since dropping two games at the Tampa Bay Invitational at Christmas, which Stritzel and his players called the season’s turning point.

“They were excited when they got back, they thought after that we can compete against anybody,” Stritzel said. “It was really a shot in the arm.”

Nazareth and Belleville East are quite the contrast in experience, both on the roster and the program.

While Nazareth has earned five trophies since 2018, Belleville East’s program has never won a trophy. This is Belleville East’s first state appearance since 2001.

While Nazareth starts two seniors and two juniors, Belleville East counters with four sophomores and a junior.

Sophomore point guard Hailey Gray, who averages a team-best 14.8 points per game, is the daughter of first-year Belleville East coach Shardae King, who previously coached for six seasons at East St. Louis.

Belleville East upset state-ranked Alton 45-40 in the sectional semifinal after twice losing to Alton during the regular season.

“The girls know that the plan from Day 1 is to reach the highest level, that’s get to state,” King said. “Whoever is next is going to get it, and they [Alton] was next. We lost to them the first time by four, lost the second time by two. Third one, we got them when it matters. We were not fazed by those losses. If anything it energized us more.”

Nazareth, similarly, is driven by playoff losses to the last two state champions.

The Roadrunners last year lost to eventual champion Kenwood by one point on the same floor at Lyons where they won a supersectional Monday.

At Illinois State, No. 2-ranked Nazareth could get a second crack at No. 1-ranked Loyola, who beat the Roadrunners in the 2024 Class 4A final, in Saturday’s championship game.

Loyola plays Rolling Meadows in Friday’s second semifinal.

“It’s definitely motivating,” Towne said. “Last year especially since we lost four starters [from 2024], it was an underdog year, we were proud we made it to sectionals. Once Kenwood won state it showed how close we were and how hard we had to work to get there. My freshman year against Loyola, we were prepared, it didn’t go our way.

“We are going to be as prepared as we can for the next two games. We’re not looking past anybody.”