Trying to hold off Richmond-Burton late Wednesday, Woodstock coach Juel Mecklenburg banked on Aiyana Fourdyce to get the job done.

The Blue Streaks’ 6-foot freshman didn’t disappoint her first-year coach.

With 11.4 seconds left and Woodstock holding onto a one-point lead, Mecklenburg dialed up a play for Fourdyce, wanting the ball in the first-year player’s hands with the game ultimately on the line.

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Richmond-Burton's Lilly Kwapniewski looks to pass as she is guarded by Woodstock's Salome Freites-Alvarado during a Kishwaukee River Conference girls basketball game on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, at Woodstock High School. (Gregory Shaver/Gregory Shaver )

“We had a nice talk with our players yesterday about stepping up, that we can’t just be a shooter. You got to get to the rim,” Mecklenburg said. “And, you know, she’s indifferent out there. I could yell at her, I could praise her, and she’d just look at me with a stale face.

“She’s stoic. She’s going to go get the ball. I drew that play up for her to come off that stagger because I know she’s going to go get it.”

Richmond-Burton, with no choice but to send Woodstock to the free-throw line, fouled Fourdyce with 9.6 seconds to go on the clock. Fourdyce, who missed her previous six free throws, hit both this time for a three-point lead.

Dani Mazzola made two free throws on the other end with two seconds left as R-B scrambled to extend the game, but Woodstock never let go in a 56-55 win in their Kishwaukee River Conference game in Woodstock.

Fourdyce tied freshman point guard Alex Nowacki with a team-high 15 points as the Blue Streaks (11-14, 6-3) swept the season series against the Rockets (11-11, 4-6). Both freshmen hit two 3-pointers in the victory.

Was Fourdyce feeling relaxed in those final moments?

“I mean ... calm enough,” said Fourdyce, who also hauled in seven rebounds and tallied eight of her 15 points in the third quarter. “I just took a deep breath and reminded myself it will be fine.

“They’re (Richmond-Burton) tough around the basket. They have big girls down there. I just wanted to shut Richmond down.”

Woodstock led 28-26 at half, and the last two quarters saw plenty of fouls called against both teams (13 apiece).

Juniors Lilly Kwapniewski (game-high 19 points, four steals) and Morgan Splitt (nine points) both fouled out in the fourth quarter, but the Rockets kept the pressure on the Streaks.

Richmond-Burton trailed by as many as seven points in the final quarter, but kept forcing the ball inside. The Rockets made 7 of 9 free throws in the fourth, and a Kwapniewski three-point play with 58.2 seconds cut Woodstock’s lead to 54-53. She fouled out on the next play, however, against Fourdyce.

Mazzola scored six points in the fourth quarter and finished with 13. Her hustle on the glass led to extra opportunities for the Rockets.

“Her athleticism shows on the court, baseline to baseline,” R-B first-year coach Maycee Ward said. “It’s really her leadership and the energy that she brings. She’s coachable, she wants to learn. It’s going to be a big loss not to have her next year. The composure that the girls have, they feel better when she’s on floor.

“It’s those last-ditch effort plays that she makes and extra rebounds and plays she makes.”

Mazzola, a 5-6 senior guard, earlier this season set the Rockets’ career rebounding record.

R-B has reached 10 wins for the first time since 2018.

“It’s definitely refreshing,” Mazzola said of R-B’s turnaround this year. “As a senior, the past three years we knew we weren’t going to win many games. This year, I see we all have the driving force to push through and get it.

“Coach Ward has brought a lot of positivity. At times when we need her to be strong, she’s been strong.”

Senior Hayden Williams added nine points and 12 rebounds for Woodstock, while junior Salome Freites-Alvarado chipped in five points.

For R-B, senior center Mattie Furzland had four points and nine rebounds.