Johnsburg’s Skye Toussaint reflected on Thursday’s 57-38 defeat to St. Edward in the Class 2A Johnsburg Sectional final, the first loss of the Skyhawks’ season.

The 6-foot-2 sophomore was happy to play in Johnsburg’s gym one more time this season, but it made the end result a little more tough to stomach.

“It meant a lot having all our classmates here to support us,” said Toussaint, whose Skyhawks won their first 34 games, a program record. “It kind of makes losing harder though. I’m looking over and I see our net is cut down. It’s just a little ... yeah.”

Top-seeded Johnsburg (34-1) was never able to fully recover after second-seeded St. Edward (26-8) took a commanding 13-2 lead after the first quarter. In the end, it was the Green Wave celebrating a sectional title and cutting down Johnsburg’s net.

Johnsburg was hoping to keep its perfect season going and win its first sectional title since 2016.

“They’re very fast,” junior guard Addison Sweetwood said of the Green Wave, who were led by junior guard Savannah Lynch with 16 points. “Their defense is really good and they got a lot of fast breaks. We struggled on defense tonight. I think that’s what our issue was.”

While St. Edward never trailed, the Skyhawks fought back after a sluggish opening quarter, thanks largely to the 6-2 Toussaint, who tallied all 10 of her points in the second quarter.

“Our view was that they lacked a little bit of depth, so part of our game plan was to try and be the aggressors,” Johnsburg coach Erin Stochl said. “Try to get the ball inside as much as possible and try to attack lanes. I felt Skye took that role on herself and demanded the ball inside. That’s when we started to make a little run.

“We had many opportunities to be in that game in the first quarter, and we missed a lot of easy baskets. In the second, I felt like something clicked in Skye. She just finished really well around the rim and took over.”

Despite Toussaint’s big second quarter, Johnsburg still trailed 33-21 at halftime.

St. Edward coach Michelle Dawson credited her team for slowing down the Skyhawks’ top offensive playmakers – Skye Toussaint (12 rebounds, four blocks) and twin Summer Toussaint, the Kishwaukee River Conference Player of the Year, who finished with six points.

Specifically, Dawson felt Lynch and Dawson played excellent defensively.

“We wanted to try limit (Summer Toussaint’s) shots and then we wanted to limit (Skye Toussaint’s) touches in the paint and always have help behind her,” Dawson said. “Layne and Savannah are so skilled and they’ve been playing with each other forever. They’re a great combo.”

Sweetwood led the Skyhawks with 13 points and knocked down her team’s only two 3-pointers. Her second 3 cut St. Edward’s lead to 45-36 with 6:44 remaining in the fourth, but the Green Wave responded with a 10-0 run to put the game out of reach.

“I thought she had a phenomenal basketball game today,” Stochl said of Sweetwood. “That kid has worked so hard. I feel like all season, she’s kind of been like a little secret weapon for us. So much attention is on the Toussaints, and that kid usually catches fire for us. She’s just a huge spark. She played her game today and she played it really well.”

Junior Addie Graff had four points for Johnsburg, senior Lauren McQuiston had three and senior Casie Majercik (five rebounds) had two. Senior Carlie Majercik grabbed seven rebounds in her final game.

Stochl, whose Skyhawks flew past the previous school’s single-season record of 28 wins, lauded her team’s unselfish nature.

“These kids were a team in every aspect,” Stochl said. “Played for each other, never complained about playing time. They truly cared about each other, more than any statistic, or anything like that. Our team battled, they never gave up. We’re going to be back here. I truly believe that. This group’s hungry.”

The Toussaints were proud of a season filled with accomplishments, which included the team’s first conference title since 2017.

“It was a great season. I’m proud of everyone,” Skye Toussaint said. “I’m definitely going to miss our seniors because they just brought a lot of energy and leadership.”

“If you were to tell me that we would have made it this far in the beginning of the season, I wouldn’t have believed that,” Summer Toussaint said. “I’m very proud of us, even if we didn’t play great today. Our whole season was still great.”