Girls Basketball: Gracie Carstensen’s sizzling 3-point shooting sends Nazareth into state championship game

Carstensen matches Class 3A tournament record with six threes in 55-24 Roadrunners’ romp

Nazareth's Amalia Dray and Gracie Carstensen celebrate as time ticks down in their win over Morton in the Class 3A state semifinal game Friday, March 4, 2022, in Redbird Arena at Illinois State University in Normal.

NORMAL — Midway through the second quarter Friday, Nazareth junior guard Gracie Carstensen slowly backpedaled up the court, glancing to her left with a bewildered look on her face.

A starter since her freshman season, Carstensen experienced a wide range of emotions in the first half of Friday’s Class 3A state semifinal against Morton at Redbird Arena.

Carstensen tied a 3A state record, burying six 3-pointers for a team-high 18 points to spark the Roadrunners to a 55-24 romp, setting up a third meeting this season against Carmel in Saturday’s 5:30 p.m. state championship game.

“It was weird shooting in that gym, but I was like ‘Oh, they are all going in,’” Cartensen said. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

The all-East Suburban Catholic Conference championship game pits two teams with vastly different styles of play.

The Roadrunners (33-2) defeated the Corsairs (27-7) by double digits in both games, most recently a 58-47 win on Feb. 5 in the ESCC tournament championship game. Carmel crushed Civic Memorial 51-24 in the first semifinal on Friday.

Nazareth's Gracie Carstensen shoots over a Morton defender during their Class 3A state semifinal game Friday, March 4, 2022, in Redbird Arena at Illinois State University in Normal.

The 5-foot-10 Carstensen, a 3A honorable mention all-stater, made a big impression in her first state game, shooting a sizzling 6-for-10 on 3-pointers for the game-leading 18 points. Cartensen broke open a close game, burying five consecutive 3s — all swishes well past the arc — in a torrid display of shooting in the second quarter to hand the Roadrunners a 32-16 lead. The six threes were one shy of the IHSA all-class state tournament record.

“Gracie stretches out the floor so much,” Nazareth coach Ed Stritzel said. “She’s getting better as time goes on. She used to be a spot-up shooter, and now she’s able to penetrate. She’s becoming a complete basketball player and is getting and better…She stretches so far out, you have to cover so much ground out there.”

After missing her first two 3s in the first quarter, Carstensen opened the second quarter by draining a long trey to push the Roadrunners ahead 15-13.

That turned out to be the start of the Carstensen show. She called it the best shooting game of her young career, a culmination of hard work through the years.

“We’ve all had really good chemistry since day one,” Carstensen said. “We’ve put in so much hard work…I think we proved it today, how much we’ve been working for.”

Nazareth's Caroline Workman drives against Morton's Paige Griffin during their Class 3A state semifinal game Friday, March 4, 2022, in Redbird Arena at Illinois State University in Normal.

Carstensen buried five 3s in a three-minute span that ended with the Roadrunners ahead 27-14 at the 3:51 mark of the second quarter. Morton senior forward Katie Krupa, a 3A First-Team All-State selection and Harvard recruit, was a one-team show in the first quarter. She scored 10 of her team-leading 13 points in the first quarter, but she admitted Carstensen’s deluge of 3s changed the game.

“It was very impressive,” Krupa said. “I was very impressed with (Carstensen). I was upset we didn’t adjust. We should’ve seen that after her third three in a row. It was an impressive performance by her.”

Nazareth sophomore forward Danni Scully, the third-leading scorer on the team with 9.6 points per game, attempted just six shots to compile seven points and six rebounds. Scully said the Roadrunners gained confidence from Carstensen’s hot shooting, helping erase a slow start that included a 13-12 deficit following the first quarter.

“I thought she really picked us up because weren’t really scoring that much in the beginning,” Scully said. “She got our offense going and got all of our confidence going. The work she puts outside the games really proved on the court today.”

Nazareth’s Amalia Dray, who buried two 3s for 10 points, agreed.

“Once (Carstensen) started scoring, we all gained more confidence and scored more,” Dray said. “There were more opportunities because she was being guarded a lot closer. We could then run plays for her to get the open shots, and also the driving lanes were more open and everything kind of opened up and it was able to flow better.”

Nazareth's Olvia Austin gets to the basket against Morton's Anja Ruxlow during their Class 3A state semifinal game Friday, March 4, 2022, in Redbird Arena at Illinois State University in Normal.

Morton coach Bob Becker, who has won four state championships since 2015, said his team lost track of Carstensen on the floor.

“They shot particularly well and handled it,” Becker said. “(Carstensen) lit it up in the second quarter.”

The Roadrunners, who avenged a state semifinal loss to Morton in 2019, heads into the state title game riding a 14-game winning streak. Nazareth, in Stritzel’s second season, lost 55-46 to Peoria Richwoods in the program’s only other title-game appearance in 2018. Sophomore forward Olvia Austin tossed in 10 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Roadrunners, who will play for the program’s first state title on Saturday.

“It feels great, been a goal of ours since we started conditioning,” Stritzel said of playing in the title game. “I don’t think a lot of people knew about us because of the COVID year, but I knew we had something really good. They’ve bought into our system, and are a very talented group of kids and very unselfish…This is a very unique team.

“Carmel causes so much matchup problems, so big. They have great guard play and coaching. We’re so thankful for the opportunity….I’ve been fortunate to go downstate three of the last (full) four years. Two of them we just had great teams. I’m starting to feel we have a really great program. The program is in a good spot for the future. We’re going to give it our best shot tomorrow.”