How Pecatonica stopped Orangeville from a rare milestone 25 years in the making
PECATONICA — Pecatonica stopped Orangeville from making history Saturday.
And kept alive their own history-making hopes.
Elaina Rager scored 10 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter to lead Pec to a 46-45 girls basketball victory over Orangeville.
That delayed Orangeville (19-4, 5-1 NUIC North) from posting its first 20-win season in 25 years. And it kept alive hopes for Pecatonica (15-6, 5-2) to win 20 for only the third time. Pec has seven regular-season games remaining. The school record is 22-7 in 2017.
“We're very excited,” said Lauren Mellentine, who scored 17 points for Pec. “We’re just going to keep going and try as hard as we can. Right now we are on a roll.”
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Mellentine, a 5-foot-2 sophomore, made five 3-pointers for Pec, but Rager took over late. The 5-8 freshman scored all 10 of Pec’s fourth-quarter points. Three of the baskets were particularly huge: a put-back of her own miss to pull Pec within 41-40, and then back-to-back 3-pointers, the first to tie the game at 43 and the last for a 46-45 lead with 1 minute, 40 seconds to play that proved to be the game's final points.
“Elaina came out of her shell,” Pecatonica coach Tim Bukoski said. “She is a great ballplayer who has had a very solid freshman year, but also a very frustrating year. This is the most comfortable game I’ve seen her play.
“I see it in practice all the time, where she puts on a highlight show. I’ve never seen it in a game. Now I’ve seen it in a game. It was a good step-up game for her.”
Said Rager: “My focus was there and I just felt good about myself. I play better when I’m under pressure.”
Rager led Pec with 10 rebounds and four steals. Madison Carlson added nine points and five assists for Pec, which shot 8-for-15 on 3-pointers.
"When our shooting is on, this is how we have been playing," Bukoski said. "When we are off, we play ugly."
Orangeville, a school with only 107 students and only three girls sports (basketball, volleyball and softball) is mostly known for its softball team, which finished third in the state last spring. The Broncos haven’t won a girls basketball regional in 25 years or had a winning season since 2011 before this year.
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But a balanced squad brought a 13-game winning streak to Pecatonica on Saturday. Whitney Sullivan, a 6-2 sophomore left-handed forward, is averaging 12 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks. Freshman Laney Cahoon averages nine points, four assists and five steals and junior Leah Baker six points and six rebounds. Ella Doyle and Kylie Wirth are the only senior starters, with Doyle averaging seven points and eight rebounds and Wirth six points and four steals.
Saturday, it was Sullivan coming up big again with 20 points, eight in the fourth quarter. But Pecatonica collapsed on her late and Orangeville missed a free throw, four shots and had a turnover to go scoreless on its last four possessions.
“This was a humungous win for us,” Bukoski said. “To knock off a team of that caliber. That is a very good, young ballclub also. A very unknown ballclub that has been running the table quietly.”
Orangeville will get another chance to make some noise Monday when the Broncos play at No. 5-ranked River Ridge/Scales Mound (17-1).
Orangeville coach Jay Doyle said this was the type of big game the Broncos need to learn from before regionals begin. In particular, he said the Broncos need to move the ball better when teams collapse on Sullivan.
“We’ve got to kick it and the other girls have to make them pay,” Doyle said. “We were moving the ball and doing some good things early, and then we got tentative with the ball and didn’t move it as quick. When everybody sinks in, you have to move it one or two times to get that open look. We would kick it and hold it and that would give them time to regroup. We weren’t getting that extra pass down the stretch.
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"We just played a little tight. That happens. You’ve got to play in these types of games to learn. We just don’t want to see it happen next time.”
Said Sullivan: “We have faith in everyone. Everyone has their own job. We’ve got 3-point shooters. We’ve got ball handlers. Everyone knows what they need to do.
“We didn’t play the best game today, but we will the next time. But there are a lot of teams that are good. We can’t just assume we will win because we have been winning.”
Matt Trowbridge: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com; @matttrowbridge
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Pecatonica tips Orangeville in duel of NUIC West's 2 best young teams
