For the first eight minutes Thursday night, Morton looked like it was going to give Springfield a real battle for the Class 3A Champaign Sectional title.
But the Senators started to pull away late in the first half and dominated the second on the way to a 78-48 win at Champaign Central.
The Potters, who won nine of their last 10 games, jumped out to a 16-11 lead late in the first quarter.
“The first quarter kind of showed what we were going to do for the game,” said Morton coach Bob Becker. “But eight minutes isn’t 32. I thought we had some quality possessions where we were very patient and we were pretty efficient scoring the ball.”
The Senators (30-2) came back to tie it at the end of the period
“They made a lot of shots the first half,” said Springfield coach Brad Scheffler. “They were going up and down with us. I was wondering how long it was going to last. But the second half, it didn’t.”
Morton (18-16) stayed close until 2:36 of the second quarter, when Springfield went on a 9-2 spurt to end the half and lead 36-28.
“I thought right before the end of the half, you could see we were wearing them down,” Scheffler said.
The second half was all Springfield. Morton was outscored 16-5 in the third quarter and just didn’t have anything left.
“We said at halftime, if we could come out and rebound — that was a point of emphasis — and I don’t know,” Becker said. “A couple of our girls got banged up in the first half and we just kind of left something in the locker room that didn’t come out with us. But they’re a good team.”
Springfield, ranked third in the final state poll, finished fourth in the Class 3A state finals last year.
The Senators were led by sophomore guard Zahna Medley with 24 points. Kelly Korza added 21 and Kasi Korza 12 points. Kelly Korza also had 12 rebounds.
Morton got 12 points from junior point guard Mariah Nimmo and nine from Caitlyn Vandermeer. Freshman Sarah Livingston had six rebounds.
Morton returns everyone next season but senior Carly Yingling.
“What really happened down the stretch of the season is our girls really had a stick-to-itiveness about them,” said Becker. “I think they pulled together and they care about each other and hopefully they took pride in what they accomplished because they accomplished a whole lot.
“Unfortunately, we came up a little short. The Sweet 16 was pretty sweet until we hit the wall tonight.”
NOTE: Limestone junior Felicia Johnson advanced to the state finals of the 3-point contest. Her eight made shots were the most of the field of eight players. She advances to Thursday’s preliminary rounds.
Jane Miller can be reached at 686-3207 or [email protected] .
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