Girls basketball: Eastland holds off Sterling charge to win in Dixon

Sterling vs. Eastland

DIXON – Trailing by 11 points at halftime, the Sterling Golden Warriors weren’t quite ready to call it a day at the Dixon KSB Holiday Tournament.

So they fought back from that deficit to get within one point midway through the fourth quarter.

But the Eastland Cougars made enough plays down the stretch on both ends of the court to pull out a 39-37 victory in their consolation game Tuesday afternoon at Reagan Middle School.

“It just feels great to come back, because we don’t do it a lot, so when we do it, it’s a good feeling to fight back,” Sterling junior Maggie Rowzee said. “We just never gave up. When we were down at halftime by 11, it meant a lot to come back and fight for it.”

Using a strong high-post attack in the first half, Eastland (9-5) took a 22-11 lead into the locker room, led by Quinc Haverland’s eight points and eight rebounds down low. The Cougars out-rebounded the Warriors 22-15 in the first half, and had seven steals on 14 Sterling turnovers.

“I think we could’ve done it better, just because we didn’t see the option right away,” Haverland said about the high-low post-to-post passing. “Once we started to see it, we developed it more. When we started getting it down, I think that’s when we knew we could use it more.”

In the second half, Sterling (1-15) turned up the intensity on the defensive end and started to take advantage of Eastland miscues. The Warriors nabbed 13 steals and forced 16 Cougar turnovers, and used the extra possessions to rally.

Sterling trailed 28-15 with 5:54 left in the third quarter after Paige Joiner nailed a pair of 3-pointers for Eastland, but Taah Liberty’s basket on a loose ball under the rim started the comeback. Rowzee and Olivia Melcher hit 3-pointers, then Melcher scored on an inbounds play to cut the deficit to 30-25 through three quarters.

“I feel like we started taking better shots instead of rushing our shots. We got the right open look and took our time a little bit more, and we really stepped up on defense,” Sterling sophomore Delali Amankwa said. “We went zone for the first time in a really long time – we ran our 1-3-1 – and we all just really played our part and our spot and made sure we were where we needed to be. We also played with a lot of energy.”

Amankwa opened the fourth with a drive to the basket, then Rowzee hit another 3 to make it 31-30. But after Sterling came up empty on three consecutive trips with a chance to take the lead, Haverland scored inside and Trixie Carroll scored off a pass from Haverland to stretch the lead back to 35-30.

“What I think personally is communication is the key,” Haverland said about the Cougars keeping their cool during Sterling’s surge. “I like to lead everyone in that positive way. Leading people means a lot when other teams are starting to have more success against us.”

Haverland’s putback answered another Amankwa drive to the hoop for a 37-32 margin, but Amankwa found Liberty on a basket cut for a layup, then Olivia Turner hit a free throw to make it 37-35 with 40.3 seconds remaining.

Sterling forced an empty possession, but Joiner stole the ball at half-court and went the other way. She was fouled on her layup attempt, but buried both free throws to push it back to a four-point margin at 39-35.

“It was big for us, and it was nice that I hit the free throws,” Joiner said of the key steal. “There was some pressure there, but I tried to stay calm.”

Amankwa banked in a leaner in the lane to make it 39-37 with 5.6 seconds left, then she stole the inbounds pass at half-court. But her floater didn’t fall, and Madison Austin’s putback attempt also was offline as the Cougars held on.

Amankwa, Melcher and Rowzee all scored eight points for the Warriors, with Rowzee and Melcher both hitting two 3-pointers. Amankwa dished five assists and nabbed three steals, Rowzee added seven rebounds and two assists, and Melcher had five steals and four rebounds. Turner finished with five points, five rebounds and six steals, Austin added four points, six rebounds and four blocks, and Liberty scored four points.

Haverland finished with a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Joiner added nine points, four rebounds and three steals for Eastland. Sarah Kempel had five points, five rebounds and two steals, Adi Rush and Audrey Sundquist both scored four points, and Lily Mullen chipped in three points, six rebounds and three steals.

“We didn’t have as many turnovers in the first half, which is what we really struggled with and had way too many in the second half. We executed our offense decently, but I think turnovers are what killed us in the second half,” Joiner said. “The big thing is making sure we take care of the ball, and not throw it away, especially at the end. We also have to slow things down, because we don’t have to rush in those types of situations.”

Ty Reynolds

Ty Reynolds

Ty is the Sports Editor at Sauk Valley Media, and has covered sports in the Sauk Valley for more than two decades.