JUNIOR HIGH GIRLS BASKETBALL: North Ridge loses title game
Dec. 16—NORMAL — The North Ridge 8th grade girls basketball team was confident going into Thursday's IESA Class 8-4A Championship Game.
But Quincy was a little more confident in the start of the game, taking a 20-6 halftime lead and would got on to beat the Ridge Runners 40-26 at Normal Parkside Junior High.
"As much as we tried to fight the nerves, they were there," North Ridge head coach Drew O'Connell said. "We picked up some quick fouls and that rattled us. After the first quarter, we settled down and competed, but when you play a team like Quincy, you can't lose a quarter like we did and try to win. The girls fought hard all the way through and I was proud of them for that and it speaks to their character."
In the second half, the Ridge Runners and Comets each had 20 points, which O'Connell said was the result of the team just not giving up.
"We challenged them and we were not going to go away easily," O'Connell said. "I told them that I wanted them to continue to fight and be as much as champions as they could. We had nothing to lose and we fought all year long and it was important for us to come out this way."
Jada Bell led the Ridge Runners with 19 points, while Ashanti Conaway had five points.
"Jada led the way for us, but she or Ashanti doesn't care if they are the high scorers, they just wanted the win," O'Connell said. "We moved the ball a lot, but we got into foul trouble. It was hard to get anything going. We played good defense in the second half and played good defense, but we ended up falling short."
The game ends an emotional day and postseason for the team as they received a sendoff before going to Normal.
"I haven't been emotional much because we have been super focused, but we have been able to take a step back and look at what we accomplished," O'Connell said. "We had kids from the elementary schools make signs for us and we had an great sendoff and everyone from the school was there. We had amazing crowd. The girls are disappointed tonight, but they will wake up tomorrow and they will realize that they made history and made Danville proud. "
The Ridge Runners end the season 23-3 and tied the best finish for a North Ridge girls team in the playoffs and was in their first 8th grade championship game.
"We are proud of the whole team. They were crying at the end and it was not because they made history, it was because they didn't win," O'Connell said. "That is the mentality they had and that is what brought them here. I hope for them to move on to high school and change the local programs here next season."
