The Morton High School Lady Potters (30-5) lost to two-time defending IHSA State Champions Quincy Notre Dame (29-0) 67-51 at Redbird Arena in Normal, IL. Kassidy Gengenbacher led QND with 15 points, with her sister Kristen added 13 points and unanimous first-team all-stater Jordan Frericks scored 12 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. Morton freshman Chandler Ryan led the Potters with 18 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field. Kaitlyn Bryne added 15 points and senior all-stater Sarah Livingston scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. They play three-time Class 3A state champion Lombard Montini (34-2) in the third-place game at noon Saturday.
-Bob
orto
Wichita State (22-5, 11-4 MVC) went on an 8-2 run in the final 40 seconds to edge Illinois State (16-11, 8-7 MVC) by a score of 68-67, Sunday night, on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena before 8,668 rowdy fans. Tyler Brown led four Redbirds in double figures with 17 points to go along with 17 rebounds Jackie Carmichael also had a solid game with 12 points and nine rebounds in the loss to the Shockers. Malcolm Armstead led the Shockers in scoring with 18 points. Illinois State went 0-for-7 from the field to start the game, before the Redbirds scored the first field goal of the game on a runner by Johnny Hill at the 15:52 mark. Two free throws by Brown pulled the Redbirds within 5-4, and a Bryant Allen three-point play gave ISU its first lead of the game, 7-5, with 13:12 remaining in the first half. Wichita State answered with a 9-2 run to pull within 63-60 on a Cleanthony Early three-pointer at the 2:10 mark. The Shockers then edged within two points at 67-65, after two free throws by Early and a Demetric Williams three-pointer with 28 seconds left. A turnover by Hill gave Wichita State the ball, and Early drilled a three-pointer with 4.8 seconds remaining, to give the Shockers their first lead since early in the first half. After a timeout with four seconds left, Carmichael attempted a runner in the lane, which rimmed out, securing Wichita State’s victory.
-Bob
Senior Jackie Carmichael had 27 points and 13 rebounds as streaking Illinois State avenged a loss to Bradley two weeks ago with a 79-59 victory Wednesday night. Tyler Brown added 22 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Redbirds (16-10, 7-7 Missouri Valley). Bradley (14-12, 6-8) got 15 points from Walt Lemon Jr., 11 from Jake Eastman and 10 from Tyshon Pickett, but the Braves were hurt by a back injury to the season’s second-leading scorer, Dyricus Simms-Edwards, who went scoreless on 0-for-7 shooting while hobbling through 21 minutes. The Braves will return to Carver Arena Saturday afternoon to host Indiana State. In addition to the halftime inductions of the 2013 Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame class, Saturday’s game is being promoted as “Go Pink, Go Bradley” and the activities to promote breast cancer awareness will include the Braves wearing pink uniforms for the game.
-Bob
Bradley junior point guard Walt Lemon Jr. scored a career-best 27 points and the Braves (13-9, 5-5 MVC) rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit to snap its longest losing streak in the Interstate 74 Rivalry with an 83-77 win against Illinois State (12-10, 3-7 MVC) Tuesday night at Carver Arena before 9,088 fans. It appeared Bradley would be headed to its eighth-consecutive loss against the Redbirds, which would have been the longest drought for either team in the rivalry, when the Braves opened the game just 4-for-20 from the field. As cold as Bradley started, Illinois State was equally hot, making 9-of-13 field goal attempts en route to a 25-9 lead with 9:02 remaining. Tyshon Pickett and Dyricus Simms-Edwards both scored 15 points in support of Lemon’s effort. The trio of Lemon (5 steals, 5 rebounds), Simms-Edwards (4, 6) and senior swing man Jake Eastman (3, 6) combined for 12 of Bradley’s 13 steals and 17 rebounds. Jackie Carmichael and John Wilkins shared Illinois State team-high scoring honors with 16 points and guard Tyler Brown shook off a first-half hand injury to finish with 13 points, as well as game highs of eight rebounds and six assists. Click here for complete game stats.
-Bob
No. 16 ranked Creighton (13-1, 2-0) held off a late Illinois State (9-5, 0-2) rally to beat the Redbirds 79-72 Wednesday night in Normal, IL before 8,813 fans. Bryant Allen and Tyler Brown led the way offensively for the Redbirds with 15 points apiece, while Zeke Upshaw chipped in a career-high 11 points. The ISU defense limited national player of the year candidate Doug McDermott to just 15 points, as Grant Gibbs led the Bluejays with 16. The seven-point margin of victory was the smallest this season for the preseason favorites to win the Missouri Valley Conference. With the Bluejays up 69-65 at the 5:12 mark, Brown found Jackie Carmichael for a two to bring ISU back within two, before Kaza Keane hit one free throw to make it a one-point game. That was the closest the Redbirds would get the rest of the way, as Carmichael missed a three-point attempt with the score 73-70 in the game’s final minute.
-Bob
