Girls basketball: Turnover woes, shooting struggles ground Rockets in 2A Oregon Regional final loss to Winnebago

OREGON – The Rock Falls girls basketball team’s season came to an unceremonious end Thursday night at the Blackhawk Center in the 2A Oregon Regional final.

Missed shots and turnovers dug the Rockets an 11-3 hole in the first quarter, and they never really recovered, losing 54-24 to Winnebago.

“Winnebago, that’s a heck of a team right there. There’s a reason why they have the record that they do,” Rock Falls coach Dan Herrera said. “And they’re very good defensively. So yes, we let them kind of rush us a little bit. Some of their defensive pressure kind of got to us a little bit.”

Jacee Sigel swished in a 3 to pull Rock Falls within 6-3 in the first two minutes, but every other possession during the first quarter resulted in a turnover or rimmed-out shot for the Rockets.

In the last 1:17, the Indians went on a 5-0 run.

Renee Rittmeyer started it off by intercepting a pass and finding Miyah Brown on the fast-break, who converted an and-1 layup for a 9-3 Winnebago lead. About 30 seconds later, Ella Provi followed with two free throws to extend the lead to 11-3.

In the second quarter, Rock Falls improved its offensive execution slightly, but Winnebago matched it, building a nine-point lead at halftime.

“It wasn’t for a lack of trying from our team and the effort,” Herrera said. “And I told our girls in the locker room, ‘Thank you for not quitting.’ And then they gave everything they had.”

The Indians seized a 13-3 lead on two Rittmeyer free throws with 5:21 to go.

Over the next three minutes, the Rockets responded with a 5-0 run, their largest of the game.

Brooke Howard hit the first of two free throws to initiate the run at the 4:38 mark. With 4:02 to go, Rylee Johnson, positioned at the top of the key, found a cutting Howard in the lane for a layup, narrowing the deficit to 13-6. Claire Bickett then scored a layup off an inbounds pass at the 2:40 mark to cut the margin to 13-8, the smallest of the game after the first quarter.

Over the next 2:39, Winnebago’s defense forced a few more turnovers, and the Indians stretched their lead to 19-10 at the half.

In the first half, the Winnebago went 7-for-7 from the free-throw line, and Rock Falls coughed up nine turnovers.

“They definitely put a lot of defensive pressure on us. They put pressure on our guards, so they made it difficult to get it inside,” Bickett said. “And that’s what our team really relies on, is getting the ball inside. I think the pressure just got us there.

“They didn’t miss at the free-throw line,” Bickett added. “So we knew if we were going to foul them, it wasn’t going to be good, knowing that they don’t miss free throws. And they took advantage of that.”

In the third quarter, Winnebago came out hot, outscoring Rock Falls 15-7 to grab a 17-point lead heading into the fourth.

Mallory Pinske hit a mid-range jumper to draw within 24-15 at the 4:45 mark of the third, but the Indians got to the free-throw line three more times and converted 5 of 6 foul shots, expanding their lead to 34-17 by the end.

In the fourth quarter, Winnebago went on a 20-7 run to pull away. Sigel hit her second 3-pointer and Bickett scored four points in the final quarter, but the Indians’ defense was too tough to overcome.

“They’d run us off our offensive sets we were trying to run. And so, we can’t quite get open or we can’t make the correct pass,” Herrera said. “And then when we do, we feel like we have to rush that shot. Now all of a sudden, it doesn’t look as good.”

Bickett finished the night with eight points and three rebounds to lead Rock Falls, while Sigel scored six points, and Pinske added four points, three rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

Winnebago was led by Sarah Seger and Rittmeyer with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Brown and Campbell Schrank added nine points each for the Indians.

Looking back on their 2021-22 season, Herrera and Bickett feel there are plenty of positives to take away.

“I think we had a pretty good season. We improved greatly,” Bickett said. “We’ll miss our seniors, but we have a lot of young players that will be ready for next year.”

“I told them, ‘I said you girls are the type of team that belong in a championship game like this.’ Sometimes the competition goes our way, and sometimes it doesn’t,” Herrera said. “We’re going to use this as motivation to not only get back here, but hopefully to get one of those plaques sometime.

“The girls, fantastic season,” Herrera added. “I said this from the beginning, we can’t let our season be defined by the number of wins or losses we had or didn’t have. It’s did we learn? Did we progress? Did we get better? And I think it showed we did because we’re here, we’re in this championship game. So we just gotta take this and learn from this, and say, ‘We’ll get back here.’”