Nazareth and Waubonsie Valley both brought star power into the Class 4A Lyons Supersectional on March 2.
The Roadrunners looked to BYU-bound Stella Sakalas, while the Warriors leaned on nationally ranked Illinois State recruit Danyella Mporokoso.
Both scored nine points, as Sakalas flirted with a double-double, finishing with 11 rebounds and eight assists.
But the X-factors were Nazareth senior Lyla Shelton and junior Sophia Towne. Shelton scored a game-high 18 points and Towne added 17 as the Roadrunners pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 54-42 win.
Nazareth (33-3) heads to state for the sixth time in eight non-COVID seasons. The Roadrunners will play Belleville East (28-5) in the Class 4A semifinals at 2:30 p.m. March 6 at CEFCU Arena in Bloomington.
This state berth was earned on the same court where Nazareth’s season ended last season with a one-point loss to eventual 4A champ Kenwood in the sectional semifinals. Now that result finally is in the rearview mirror for the Roadrunners.
“It’s so awesome, man, it’s so awesome,” Shelton said. “Me and Stella wanted it so badly and we just worked together.
“We all wanted it so bad and we know what it’s like not to get there.”
Nazareth is still a young team with just three seniors on the roster, so there could be more trips downstate on the horizon.
But this is the last one for Sakalas and Shelton.
“It means the world,” Sakalas said. “I mean, I’ve been playing with some of these girls since fifth grade. So this is such a full-circle moment, getting to go down to Illinois State and playing the sport that we love.”
It looked for a bit like Nazareth would cruise. A 14-0 run highlighted by two 3-pointers by Towne put the Roadrunners up 14-3 late in the first quarter,
But Waubonsie ran off 11 straight points of its own to tie the score at 14 midway through the second. It was back and forth for the better part of two quarters before Shelton’s 3-pointer at 6:20 of the fourth finally put Nazareth ahead to stay.
Both teams were on target from the perimeter, with the Roadrunners making eight 3-pointers and the Warriors seven. But Nazareth had enough in the tank to end the game on a 17-5 run. Both Shelton and Towne were only too happy to take advantage of a Waubonsie defense focused on containing Sakalas.
“Stella’s really good at driving and kicking,” Towne said. “So once she realized they were guarding her pretty tight, she was able to get it out to us and we were able to knock down the shots when we needed to.”
“We have five players that can score,” Shelton said. “Obviously, Stella’s just one heck of a player. But you can take away Stella and we still have Sophie, still have Sam (Austin).”
On the other end of the court, the Roadrunners understandably were focused on Mporokoso.
“We play zone but we wanted her to see two (defenders) every time she got (the ball),” Nazareth coach Eddie Stritzel said. “And I think we did a pretty good job. … Our goal was to hold them in the 40s.”