Beecher survives Momence comeback bid

MOMENCE — The Beecher girls basketball team held on for a close win on the road over Momence on Monday. After holding a lead for most of the game, the Bobcats needed a pair of late baskets from Aylin Lagunas to turn a 36-35 deficit into a 39-37 win.

Beecher held onto third place in the River Valley Conference with the win, improving to 10-13 overall and 8-4 in conference play. Momence fell to 7-12 overall and 6-5 in the RVC.

Lagunas’ late scores salvaged a game for Beecher in which the Bobcats held an 11-point halftime lead and led by as many as nine points multiple times throughout the second half.

Momence briefly took their 36-35 lead on a shot from A’Miracle Johnson with just under three minutes to go, but Lagunas got the ball under the basket just over a minute later and put the Bobcats back on top. After a defensive stop, Lagunas put Beecher up 39-36 with the eventual difference maker.

Beecher head coach Adam Keen said that Monday’s win was big in terms of the team’s development.

“It was something I’ve preached since the beginning, that we’re still learning and growing as a team and figuring each other out,” he said. “Now we’ve figured out that to play at 100 percent through the whole game is the next step, and I think we took that next step today.”

He added that the team had been in situations similar to the one at the end of Monday’s game recently, particularly in a 32-27 loss to Reed-Custer in their previous game, but were able to execute at the end this time.

Lagunas finished with a team-high 12 points for the Bobcats as she continued to be a strong presence in the paint. Keen said that she has been a big part of the team’s improved play in recent weeks.

“Offensively and on the glass, we’ve really leaned on Aylin,” he said. “I think she’s really, really stepped up in this second half as someone that we can guarantee will fight for us and get us that basket when we need it, or get us the ball back on a rebound. That’s been a big part of who we are, and I think she’s done a phenomenal job stepping up and taking charge.”

For Momence, a comeback push was needed for them to even be in a position to have their brief lead. Head coach Tim Bleyle said he was happy with the way his team was able to fight back from a double-digit deficit, but some late lapses led to the game slipping away.

“They came out and played really hard,” he said. “I couldn’t ask for more tonight. We were down by 11 at one point, came back and made it a game, but had a couple turnovers late. But [Beecher] is a good team and they’re going to take advantage of that.”

Momence had several runs earlier in the game that managed to keep things competitive and stop Beecher from pulling away. They turned a 13-5 deficit early in the second quarter into a 13-11 deficit, and turned a 24-13 halftime deficit into a 29-24 one.

Bleyle said he thought the team did a good job generating offense after getting steals and running out in transition, but stagnated a bit at times.

“It’s good to see that when we press, that’s where our offense comes from,” he said. “If we sit back, we get a little lackadaisical with our offense. We’re quick, we’re long, and that’s what we try to take advantage of. But tonight they just made better decisions than we did.”

STAT BOOK

For Beecher, Lagunas scored four of her team-leading 12 points in the final minute and a half to put the Bobcats over the top. Pevion was also in double figures with 11 points while Pattenaude finished with nine points.

Momence was led by Gunn and VanSwol with 11 points apiece, with VanSwol knocking two of the team’s three 3-pointers on the day. Johnson had the other one and finished with seven points.

UP NEXT

After hosting Iroquois West on Tuesday, Beecher will have the rest of the week off before visiting Central on Feb. 3 at 7 p.m.. Momence will be on the road on Thursday to play Grant Park at 7 p.m.

https://daily-journal.com/sports/girls-basketball-beecher-survives-momence-comeback-bid/article_9b6568c0-dd34-11ef-a9af-ef991bbec0c0.html