NORMAL — Three-plus months and 37 games into the season, Nazareth wasn’t going to try anything fancy on Friday afternoon.
The Roadrunners brought a simple game plan into their Class 4A semifinal against Belleville East at CEFCU Arena.
Get the ball to the best player on the floor early, often and in a variety of ways.
Senior BYU recruit Stella Sakalas did the rest, scoring an efficient 30 points as Nazareth rolled to a 54-36 win to advance to its fourth state-title game since 2022 and fifth since 2018.
Freshman Mia Gage added 13 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks for the Roadrunners (34-3). Samantha Austin had five points, five rebounds and four assists.
Sakalas made 13 of 17 from the floor and 4 of 5 from the foul line. She was on the receiving end of numerous pinpoint passes from Sophia Towne (five assists), Austin and Gage. And several times Sakalas went coast to coast after grabbing a defensive rebound.
She credited the success to preparation.
“We have really good coaching so we watched quite a bit of film and we knew what they were planning to do on defense,” Sakalas said. “And I mean, this team — we’re so unselfish and whoever scores, scores for us.
“We did a really good job of moving the ball and passing … and just working together, which gave people the opportunity to score.”
Nazareth jumped ahead 12-3 halfway through the first quarter. But Belleville East hung tough and was within 23-19 at 4:09 of the second. Then Gage made two free throws and Sakalas scored three straight baskets to stretch the lead to 31-19.
It was 33-21 at the half and 46-24 after three. Nazareth coasted home from there.
Hailey Gray, Belleville East’s top scorer at 14.8 points per game, finished with eight on 2-for-16 shooting. Demya Bartelheim led the Lancers (29-6) with 14 points.
Meanwhile, Roadrunners coach Ed Stritzel told Sakalas beforehand what she needed to do.
“Stella and I had a conversation (Friday) morning,” Stritzel said. “Stella’s obviously still very good, but I told her I wanted her to end her (high-school) career this weekend playing her best.”
Being in a familiar venue didn’t hurt. This is Nazareth’s third trip to CEFCU Arena in Sakalas’ career. The Roadrunners were Class 3A champs in 2023 and second in 4A in 2024. They fell to eventual 4A champ Kenwood by a point in the sectional last season,
“I think we all feel pretty at home here,” Sakalas said. “We came here (for state) a couple times (before) and we play her in the summer. So I feel very comfortable on the court and even more comfortable with this set of girls.”