Girls Hoops Wrap | Lyons holds off McAuley rally, wins third straight regional

By Jeff Vorva
Correspondent

The last time Lyons won three straight regionals was when it went on an 11-year run of titles from 1989 to 1999.

After the Lions held off a furious Mother McAuley rally in a 57-55 win Feb. 15 in their own Class 4A regional, they celebrated their third title in three years.

Lions coach Meghan Hutchens said this is a team that has been accustomed to high-pressure situations this season.

“We have seen it all,” she said. “We have played without (starting) players. We have competed with some of the best. We have fallen to some teams. We’ve faced some adversity.

“We’ve been through five overtimes. We have seen it all and these kids work hard every single day. They were confident coming into this game and that’s all I could ask for.”

Hutchens expected a Mighty Macs comeback. Lyons had a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter, but McAuley made a big push at the end.

“You are playing with everything you have and that is a very good basketball team,” she said of McAuley. “We played them over Christmas. I respect every one of those players. They are very talented from the 3-point line. They have very talented attackers. That was a heck of a game.”

Avery Mezan had 19 points, Emma O’Brien 17 and Nora Ezike 11 for the Lions.

The fifth-seeded Lions (20-11) were slated to face Nazareth Feb. 20 in the Mother McAuley Sectional.

McAuley finished the season at 24-8.

Macs senior Morgan Feil said despite the outcome, McAuley had a big season.

“Throughout the years I’ve been here, every group is a special group,” Feil said. “This year everyone was close, and it was a very special group.”

Senior Maeve Egan was sad to see it end.

“It was a good run,” she said. “I’ve been playing with Morgan like 12 years. It’s our last ride together and we had a lot of fun. We made a lot of memories. We had a good season, so … it was not the ending that we wanted, but I have no regrets.”

Lyons coach Meghan Hutchens holds up the net after her team’s regional win over Mother McAuley. Photo by Jeff Vorva

Nazareth dominates

Nazareth, the 2022-23 Class 3A state champion, rolled to the title of its first Class 4A regional.

The Roadrunners (28-3) won defeated regional host Oak Park-River Forest, 76-14, on Feb. 13 and won the title with a 70-35 win over Hinsdale Central in the championship gametwo nights later.

Ama Dray and Olivia Austin each had 19 points in the title game.

St. Laurence rolls

St. Laurence had a dominant run in its own Class 3A regional, beating Lindblom 62-25 on Feb. 13 and Simeon 59-26 on Feb. 15. They were scheduled to face top-seeded Hyde Park on Feb. 20 at the St. Ignatius Sectional.

Freshman Aaliyah Flores led the Vikings in the title game with 20 points.

Did you know?

Twelve of the 16 teams that played in the Morton College Holiday Tournament won IHSA regional titles last week.

The Lyons-Mother McAuley regional matchup was a battle of two teams who faced each other in that tournament, with McAuley winning 64-51.

Lyons’ Nora Ezike tries to get by Mother McAuley’s Grace Gambotz during a Class 4A regional title game in LaGrange. Photo by Jeff Vorva