Mother McAuley senior Quinn Arundel is one of the more even-keeled athletes around.
No matter what a game might throw at her, for good or bad, she’s steady as ever.
But with a regional championship on the line, even Arundel couldn’t hide her excitement.
Hitting a clutch late 3-pointer, Arundel let out a fiery yell as the Mighty Macs closed strong in a 65-56 victory on Feb. 19 over Andrew in the Class 4A Sandburg Regional championship.
Arundel finished with 29 points, four steals and two assists.
“It was a point in the game we needed a basket,” Arundel said of her 3. “It changed the momentum of the game. I don’t get rattled much. My teammates, we knew the game plan. We had each other. We knew not to get worried or upset because we believe in our teammates.”
Host Mother McAuley (24-6) advanced to play Homewood-Flossmoor on Feb. 24 in a sectional semifinal. Marist was set to play Bloom in the other semifinal.
Senior Delia Sullivan (17 points) and junior Taji Alexa (14 points, 11 rebounds, two blocks) also starred for McAuley.
It was the Mighty Macs’ first regional championship since 2023.
Arundel drilled her clutch 3-pointer from the wing with 2:01 left in the game to put McAuley up 60-54.
The Macs had trailed by 12 points in the second quarter against a fired-up, hot-shooting Andrew squad.
Arundel said she loved seeing the team’s response to the adversity.
“This is a big win for us,” Arundel said. “We haven’t won a regional since my freshman year. It’s the best team to do it with. These are all my best friends. It’s a good start to the playoffs.”
Arundel is a four-year starter and was named the GCAC Red Player of the Year.
Alexa was glad to help win the regional for the seniors.
“We all knew we were doing it for our seniors and ourselves too,” Alexa said. “This is definitely a big win. It’s our chemistry, honestly. It’s perfect.”
Held scoreless in the first half, Alexa scored all 13 of her points in the second half, including the go-ahead three at 55-54.
“Everyone knew I could take it to the basket and score,” Alexa said. “I had to just score, slow down and know we’re good. We said at halftime, ‘Let’s take it one play at a time.’”
McAuley coach Curtis Lewis said he encouraged his team to try to stay calm and stick to the game plan.
“We’re a senior-led team,” Lewis said. “The girls have the composure, but they’re kids. They get caught up in the moment. They do uncharacteristic things because they want to win so bad. The second half showed what we can do.”
Senior Christa Olson led Andrew (19-12) with 25 points and seven rebounds.
Junior Bree Milazzo (10 points) and seniors Nawal Kaleel (nine points, five rebounds) and Ana Cisek (seven points, five rebounds) also chipped in for the Thunderbolts.
Cisek scored her 1,000th career point in the fourth quarter.
Andrew coach Bobby Matz was proud of his team’s effort.
“We’ve been a different team the second half of the season,” Matz said. “All teams evolve. Some evolve and kind of plateau. We kept evolving. This team bought in every week, went harder, played harder and got better and improved. We knew we could play with anybody.”