Girls Basketball: Watseka holds off Manteno in nonconference nail-biter

WATSEKA — Wednesday’s matchup of two of the area’s top girls basketball teams lived up to the hype in Watseka Wednesday, where host Watseka-Milford saw its lead get as small as a point before finishing off Manteno 45-39.

The Warriors, who jumped two spots to No. 8 in the IHSA Class 2A AP Poll Wednesday afternoon, won their 17th game in a row to improve to 19-1. The Panthers, who fell out of the receiving votes category in Wednesday’s poll, now sit at 16-4.

As the Panthers made one last late-game push, turning a 39-29 deficit with four minutes remaining to a 40-39 deficit with a minute to play, Warriors junior guard Noelle Schroeder said they just had to take a moment, slow down and finish the job, something they did by making five of six free throws in the final minute while locking the Panthers down.

“We knew we had to slow down the ball, for sure,” Schroeder said. “We have our moments, especially in the fourth quarter, but we just had it in our heads that we needed to slow the ball down, just do us, and we knew we had the game.”

The Panthers were the first on the scoreboard on a Macy Iwanus jumper, but the Warriors went on a 9-0 run in response, a lead they never relinquished in a game that was within three possessions for 30 of the game’s 32 minutes. Watseka-Milford built double-digit leads three times, but each time, the Panthers scored on at least two straight possessions to keep their comeback within reach all night.

“We had some minutes tonight where we looked really good, but we didn’t play a full four quarters,” Warriors head coach Barry Bauer said. “There’s still a lot of upside to this team, and there were some stretches where we looked really good.”

Megan Martin, who had a game-high 12 points, put the Warriors up 39-29 with 3:56 left. But the Manteno defense stepped up, forcing three straight turnovers, all leading to buckets the other way, to make it a 39-25 game with 1:40 left.

Schroeder split a pair from the charity stripe before Alyssa Singleton’s bucket made it a one-score game at 40-37 with 1:10 on the clock. Out of a timeout, the Warriors turned it over with an errant pass out of bounds, and 10 seconds later Emily Horath pulled the visitors to within a point at 40-39.

But that’s as close as things would get. The teams alternated missed buckets, and after Rennah Barrett missed a pair of free throws, Watseka was able to force a turnover with 31 seconds left. Martin hit a pair of free throws before Barrett went 3-for-4 from the stripe, all in the game’s final 25 seconds, to preserve the win for the Warriors.

“We never lost our composure,” Bauer said. “There was still talking, asking questions. That was definitely good, we just had some big mistakes in a bad stretch at a real bad time.”

After a 15-0 start, the Panthers have lost four of their last five, one against the team atop the Illinois Central Eight Conference with them, Coal City, and three in a row to teams that have been and/or are currently ranked in the IHSA AP Polls in their respective classes — Morris (receiving votes, Class 3A) last week, Cissna Park (fourth, Class 1A) on Monday and now the Warriors.

“I think our last three games have been pretty tough with Morris, then Cissna Park Monday night and Watseka tonight, all teams that have been in the top 10 in their class,” Manteno head coach Bethany Stritar said. “I’m very proud of our effort tonight, and I thought we had a really good gameplan and did some things well. There are some things we have to get better at, like finishing at the basket, certain passes we have to compete, but it was a good game for us. I really wanted that one, but maybe we can see them at sectionals if we make a run.”

STAT BOOK

Martin tallied a double-double, finishing with 12 points and 13 rebounds, with half of her points coming in the final four minutes. Schroeder added 11 points. Barrett and Christa Holohan each had eight points.

Lila Prindeville’s nine points led the Panthers. Horath had eight points and rebounds apiece. Singleton scored seven points. Standout forward Maddie Gesky was held to two points, but still grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds.

UP NEXT

After Thursday’s 6 p.m. home game against Chrisman, the Warriors have another home game against Westville at 6 p.m. Monday. The Panthers are also in action Thursday, taking a 7 p.m. trip to Wilmington, before they visit Reed-Custer at 7 p.m. Monday.

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