Prairie Central falls short of regional title

FAIRBURY — Madyson Kibelkis delivered the lethal blow midway through the fourth quarter to lift Peotone to a 70-57 victory over the host Hawks to win the Class 2A Prairie Central Regional Friday night.

The ninth-ranked Blue Devils, heavily favored as the second seed in the sub-sectional after making it through the regular season with only one loss. But Prairie Central made them work for it from the start.

Both coaches said that their respective tams were looking toward this matchup since they squared off in the final of the Reed-Custer Regional last year. Prairie Central came away with the win then. On this night, it was the Blue Devils.

But the Hawks made the favorites work for it.

“I'm proud of our girls, they battled the whole game,” PC head coach Gaby Zeedyk said. “We were outsized by a lot (but) we came out and we were scrappy, we did everything we could possibly do.

“The girls absolutely wanted to win. … They had been preparing, they did exactly what they were asked to do.”

Prairie Central knew it was going to take a total team effort to pull off the upset, and that's what Zeedyk got from her charges. Lucy Whitfill got the Hawks on the board with the first two points of the game 23 seconds into the game.

By the time first lap concluded, there had been six lead changes with Prairie Central securing the last on a Mariya Sisco basket to make it 12-11. Carmen Gradberg added two baskets before the quarter ended as PC led 16-13 at the horn.

Whitfill made two free throws and Chloe Sisco hit a 3-pointer as the lead grew to 21-13 just 62 seconds into the second period. For Chloe Sisco, that basket concluded her scoring on the night.

Mariya Sisco added a basket 30 seconds later and made a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter to conclude her scoring effort.

Trying to contain the Siscos was a key for Peotone.

“That was priority number one,” Peotone head coach Steve Strough said. “They had other people that made us pay (but) the priority was to try to shut them down.”

That's where the “team” effort came into play for the Hawks. On many nights, it was easy to sit back, play defense and let the Siscos do the scoring. But that wasn't the case on this night. Zeedyk needed some others to step up and that's what she got.

“Even though both the Siscos were covered very well, they did a very good job of finding the open person,” Zeedyk said. “You saw that in Lucy, finding her open on the baseline; finding Carmen open on the baseline.”

The primary player coming through was Whitfill, who seemed to be in the right place at the right time all night. When the Hawks needed a basket, it was Whitfill coming through.

Whitfill hit a 3-pointer with 4:25 left ion the first half to give the Hawks a 30-18 advantage, which was their biggest lead of the night. It capped a 14-5 PC run.

Prairie Central was up 34-24 after Marissa Collins hit from the left wing with 50 seconds left in the half. But a 3-pointer from Kibelkis at the end of the period made it a 34-27 game at the half.

The Blue Devils snatched the momentum heading into the locker room and revved it up in the third quarter.

Strough said that he didn't tell his team anything special during the halftime break. He said the Blue Devils just needed to stay the course.

That meant solid defense on the Siscos and make plays on offense. The size advantage for Peotone really came into play as it outscored the Hawks 20-4 in the first 6½ minutes of the third period.

“They came out firing in the second half,” Zeedyk said. “They made their changes and they did them very well.”

Kibelkis hit a 3-pointer to put Peotone up 47-38 in capping the run. Prairie Central closed out the third quarter with an 8-2 run to trail 49-46 heading into the final frame.

Prairie Central stayed within striking distance before finally regaining the lead with 4:15 to go. Gradberg did the honors with two free throws to put the Hawks up 55-54.

But then Kibelkis delivered the dagger that did in the Hawks. Kibelkis drilled a trio of 3-pointers that pushed the Blue Devils to a 63-55 lead in a matter of 80 seconds. It was the start of a 16-2 run that closed out the game.

Prairie Central's two points came from Whitfill. Whitfill led the Hawks with 23 points on the night. Mariya Sisco added 11 points and Gradberg threw in 8 markers. Collins chipped in 6 points, Chloe Sisco scored 5 and Kelly Wilkey scored 4 points.

For the Hawks, who finished the season with a 20-8 record and an Illini Prairie Conference championship, it was the last time the seniors laced up their basketball shoes as Marissa Collins, Jazmen Karnes, Louisa Moser, Chloe Sisco and Mariya Sisco said goodbye.

“I'm very proud of my senior class,” Zeedyk said. “Marissa, Mariya and Chloe have been part of the program since they were little.”

Kibelkis poured in 29 points, including scoring 23 in the second half, to lead Peotone (30-1) to the regional title. Jenna Hunter added 24 points and Madison Schroeder scored 10 points. The Blue Devils will next face St. Joseph-Ogden in the semifinal round of the Coal City Sectional.

This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Prairie Central falls short of regional title against Peotone