Girls basketball: Normal Community too much for Joliet West to handle

JOLIET – Two 26-win teams, Joliet West and Normal Community, squared off Tuesday night in a Class 4A Joliet Central Sectional semifinal. Normal came into the game riding a seven-game winning streak, with its last loss coming Jan. 29 to the Tigers.

But this night was a different story as West (26-4) found itself in a deep hole early. The Ironmen jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first two minutes of the game, and West never recovered in a 66-35 loss.

The big story of the game was the nonstart and limited playing time by West’s Lisa Thompson. The junior rolled her ankle during the regional final last weekend in Moline and saw only two minutes of playing time, the final minute of the first quarter and the first minute of the second quarter.

In the first quarter, Normal (27-6) hit five 3s, forced the Tigers into six turnovers and never let them do anything offensively and led 25-10 heading to the second quarter. Normal scored the first five points of the second quarter to go up 30-10, then the Tigers finally scored with 4:49 remaining in the quarter as Caiside Snapp scored five consecutive points. The half ended with the Ironmen up, 40-22, as they hit two more 3s in the quarter.

“They are a very good team,” West coach John Placher said. “We tried to zone them early, they hit the 3, and then they stretched it out. They attacked us, and to win you have to match that aggressiveness and intensity, and that didn’t happen tonight.”

It didn’t get any better for West in the third quarter, as Giana Rawlings (17 points) hit two 3s and added another basket in the first three minutes of the quarter as Normal went up 48-22. Snapp would hit the Tigers first field goal of the third quarter with a 3-pointer with 1:08 remaining as the quarter ended with Normal up 54-30.

A sequence on Normal’s first possession of the third quarter saw the Ironmen grab five missed shot rebounds, which was a staple for them all game. They had more offensive rebounds than defensive ones. The Normal starters also had only six turnovers for the game and forced West into 18. Normal also went 10 for 26 from behind the arc, with many of those second opportunity shots.

“We talked at the half about rebounding, because they were getting so many offensive rebounds in the first half, and then you come out of the locker room and on the first possession they get five rebounds,” Placher said.

“We ended up 26-4 and only lost to teams that are state ranked, and this is a disappointing way to end the season, but we had a great season.

“Grace Walsh, a senior, was a trooper this season. She played a different role for us, as we moved her to a forward, and she is a natural guard. She is a big reason we won 26 games. Our other senior, Caiside Snapp played a great scoring role and will have success at the next level.”

Snapp ended the game with 12 points and grabbed five rebounds, with Walsh getting nine points. Destiny McNair added nine rebounds for the Tigers.