Cary-Grove hung tough for as long as it could.

After holding a sharpshooting Boylan squad to 14 first half points, the Trojans found themselves down by just four entering the fourth quarter.

But C-G, which dealt with a stingy 2-3 zone defense all evening, saw its season end with a 45-31 loss to the Titans during Thursday’s Class 3A Belvidere North Regional final.

“We were a really tight group and that’s what’s important,” said senior guard Kennedy Manning, who led the Trojans with 13 points and drilled four 3-pointers. “Having a new coach this year, we all had to come together and support him. We knew that he supported us.”

In a first half dominated by defense, C-G (22-9) flustered Boylan (26-7) with a combination of zone and man schemes. The No. 3-seeded Trojans held the No. 2-seeded Titans scoreless for the first four minutes of the game. Manning, who had the hot hand early, drained three first half triples and had 10 points in that period.

“I knew it was win or go home, so I knew I needed to step up and make some plays,” Manning said. “I had that confidence in me. Our coach told us in practice that we were going to win this game in a defensive battle, so we were really honing in on that. Their entire team was good at shooting, so we knew we had to close out hard.”

While Manning made C-G’s first basket of the game, the Trojans struggled to find space against Boylan’s zone, finishing the first quarter with two field goals to trail 9-5. With the Titans closing off the painted area, Manning continued to fire from range, nailing a long triple to give C-G an 11-9 advantage in the second quarter.

Giving Boylan’s shooters minimal space to operate, C-G effectively rotated on defense and closed out nearly all of its defensive sets with rebounds. The Trojans, who didn’t allow a point for close to six minutes in the second quarter, held Boylan to five points in that timeframe. At the end of the first half, the game was tied 14-14.

“That’s kind of been our M.O. all season,” said C-G coach Bryan Stortz, who’s in his first year leading the Trojans. “We have a lot of really good defenders on our team. They play great team defense.”

An offensive rebound and putback from 6-foot-1 senior forward Olivia Leuze gave the Trojans a 22-21 lead midway through the third quarter. Leuze, who found more effective post positioning in the second half, finished with 10 points and six rebounds for C-G.

“I realized that this could be our last game and I had to give everything,” Leuze said. “I had the advantage and I just used it. I focused on finishing and I tried my best to do whatever I could.”

Boylan’s pace on offense eventually caught up to the Trojans, as the Titans took a 26-22 lead into the fourth quarter where a 3-pointer from Emme Hernandez forced a C-G timeout. Hernandez then buried another triple out of the timeout before a steal and layup by Bailey Westlund required the Trojans to stop play again.

Despite a valiant effort by the C-G defense, Hernandez proved to be unguardable as she canned six 3s and led all scorers with 18 points. Behind Hernandez’s shooting stroke, Boylan went on a 12-2 fourth quarter run that put the Titans up by 14 points. On the other end, C-G’s shooting fizzled out against Boylan’s zone.

“They packed it in defensively, so we needed to knock down a few more shots and we just didn’t,” Stortz said. “They have multiple shooters that can kind of go off at any time and [Hernandez] is one of them. She caught fire and it certainly had an impact.”

Aria Stanton totaled four points, five rebounds and two assists for the Trojans, whose quest for a third straight regional title ended with Thursday’s loss. Westlund, who made 11 free throws and helped Boylan ice the win at the line in the fourth quarter, had 17 points, five rebounds and two assists for the Titans.

With the win, Boylan advances to the 3A sectional tournament at Crystal Lake Central. The Titans will face No. 5 seed Geneva, which upset No. 1 seed Dixon 49-40 in a regional final Thursday night.

https://www.shawlocal.com/northwest-herald/2026/02/20/kennedy-manning-olivia-leuze-lead-cary-grove-in-class-3a-regional-final-loss-against-boylan/