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JUNIOR HIGH BASKETBALL: Ridge Runners ready to fight for title

marvin holman marvin., commercial-news, danville, ill.
·4 min read

Dec. 15—DANVILLE — The North Ridge 8th grade girls basketball team has come together at the right time.

The Ridge Runners have rolled into tonight's IESA Class 8-4A Championship game with wins against quality teams, but head coach Drew O'Connell said it has been hard work to get to this point.

"It wasn't always pretty during the season, but I thought the team would be good, O'Connell said. "I talked to them about making history and winning the regional and getting a team to state."

The Ridge Runners (23-2) worked to being a top seed in regional play and O'Connell said it was the catalyst for the state run.

"Some things worked out in that we didn't have to play Mahomet on their floor because they got upset and we took care of business," O'Connell said. "Most of the pressure was from the regionals in that it was goal we wanted. After we won the regional title, the players got loose.

"We went to the sectionals in Mahomet and played Taylorville, who was the defending champions. No one thought we could do it outside of our team. In all of these game, we were down at halftime or up a couple of points and we regroup and in the third period, we come back and we take care of business."

North Ridge have been led by two players, Jada Bell and Ashanti Conaway, who have been around winning players in their family. Jada's sister, Sierra, was a standout at Schlarman Academy, while Conaway's sister, Nau'Tika, was a top player for Danville.

Winning is definitely in those two families. Ashanti sent me a picture of her sister holding the 2015 regional plaque and when she sent me that, I knew she had a focus," O'Connell said. "We have had both of their sisters in the locker room before games. Sierra addressed them before the regional game and at halftime at state and I look at both of the sisters and I waved them over and they talked to the team during halftime.

"It is cool that we are making history but we don't get there without recognizing the history before us. To have both of them being successful sets a blue print for girls in the town. They (Jada and Ashanti) have been our leaders all season."

The Ridge Runners beat Bolingbrook Jane Addams 42-32 and Lockport Oak Prairie 30-22 in Saturday's action at Normal Parkside Junior High School. After beating Taylorville in sectionals, O'Connell said that it was team was not scared of the challenges from those teams.

"We saw tapes of them and we thought id that is the best in the state, then we can be right there with them," O'Connell said. "We took care of business in the first game and then we had the second game and Lockport was 22-1 and we just thought we were the better team all game. We played a really good 1-3-1 defense. We were happy, but we wanted more. I walked in there and the girls were sitting down with smiles on their faces. They are not satisfied yet and that is best compliment that I can give them."

O'Connell also says that it is the teams' togetherness that has been the main component.

"As a coach you want to make sure they believe, but I haven't had to do much of that because they are practicing harder and working harder," O'Connell said. "We are still growing as a team and I feel they are still playing because they don't want this team to dissolve. I feel they are fighting to stay together."

North Ridge will face Quincy today. The Comets are 28-1, but the Ridge Runners are confident.

"We were able to watch Quincy twice. They have a girl that averages 15 points a game and they surround her with shooters and athletic guards," O'Connell said. "They are streaky and they can rattle off eight to 10 points. We know we have to be physical and when they go on a run, we have to answer it. If we can get close, we can win that game."

The game starts at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Parkside, but the team will have a sendoff at the school at 3 p.m. O'Connell thanks the fans for the support during the run and the season.

"The Danville community have really gotten behind these girls," O'Connell said. "We packed the house all year and they made the difference in the regional and sectional. In state, we brought the biggest crowds. It was great to see them come out and we want to say thank you for that."