McNamara storms away from Watseka-Milford in sectional championship

HERSCHER – When Trinity Davis banked in an improbable half-court buzzer-beater to put the Bishop McNamara girls basketball team up 27-25 at halftime of Thursday’s IHSA Class 2A Herscher Sectional championship against Watseka-Milford, the senior guard was jubilantly mobbed by her teammates and coaches on the way to the locker room.

But once the Fightin' Irish made it inside, their jubilation turned to focus as head coach Khadazhia Sanders let them know they weren’t playing the way they needed to against a quality Warriors team.

"I was fired up and kind of got on them," Sanders said. “I told them we’re not doing enough, especially when it’s win or go home.”

Her message clearly resonated, as the Irish came out of the gate on all cylinders in the second half, going on a quick 9-2 spurt out of the break that set the stage for perhaps the team’s best half this season, pulling away for a 69-38 victory and the sectional plaque that came with it.

It’s the 10th sectional championship in program history and first since 2019 for the Irish, who improved to 27-7 and advanced to Monday’s Tolono Unity Super-Sectional against Mt. Carmel. The Warriors' bid for their first-ever sectional title came up a game shy, finishing the year at 28-5.

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Bishop McNamara's Trinity Davis hoists the IHSA Class 2A Herscher Sectional championship plaque as the student fan section joins the team to celebrate on the court following the Fightin' Irish's 69-38 victory over Watseka-Milford on Thursday, Feb. 27. (Tiffany Blanchette)

“It feels very exciting and rewarding, knowing that our school hasn’t had a sectional champion in a while,” Davis, who scored a game-high 22 points, said. “I felt like it was coming to us.”

After Megan Martin’s putback at the first-quarter buzzer locked the game at 13 apiece, it was the Warriors who made the first run of the game when they opened the second quarter on a 10-2 run, thanks in large part to big 3-pointers from Noelle Schroeder and Rennah Barrett.

But the Irish clawed back to eventually take their first lead of the second quarter just as it ended. With three seconds left in the half, Davis took an in-bounds pass, worked around a screen from Lydia Nugent and pulled up a step inside the half-court line, banking in one of the most notable shots in the program’s storied history.

“It was the ultimate boost,” Sanders said of Davis' half-court heave. “One, we took the lead, but it’s a funny thing, because Trinity practices those half-court shots in practice all the time. … To see what she’s been doing in practice come to fruition in a game, it’s crazy. I kept telling her, ‘You haven’t done it all year,’ and then boom, she does that."

The Warriors quickly went back up by a point on their first possession of the third quarter, but the Irish quickly responded by scoring the game’s next nine points and then ending the third on a 13-4 run in the final three minutes of the frame and outscoring the Warriors 17-4 in the fourth.

While Sanders said that every player who saw the floor Thursday performed their roles to perfection, it was the three-headed monster of Davis, Leigha Brown and Trinitee Thompson that helped them pull away. Davis had 14 second-half points while Thompson (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Brown (14 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists) both recorded double-doubles and were tasked with guarding Warriors star forward Martin, who was held to three second-half points.

“Those three have propelled us all season, and any time it gets down to the wire, you always go back to the level of training you have and belief you have in your teammates,” Sanders said. “Those three put the team on their backs and marched us to the finish line while everyone else contributed the way they needed to.”

As the Irish received their plaque and were greeted by their fans, the Warriors closed the chapter on yet another stellar season. They made it a regional championship four-peat, with Martin and fellow senior Lauren Tegtmeyer becoming the first players in program history to win a regional each year of their careers.

But as they made it to their seventh round of 16 since hall of fame head coach Barry Bauer took over in 2014-15, they saw heartbreak before that evasive sectional plaque once again.

Martin’s nine points led the team, and she also had five boards and an assist. Christa Holohan had eight points and three rebounds, steals and assists apiece while Schroeder buried a pair of first-half 3-pointers for six points.

And as much as that may pain Bauer, the team and the coaching staff, Bauer also has known for a couple of months that this season was already a success. After a late decision came to co-op with Milford, a decision that was made to mixed reactions in the locker room initially, it didn’t take long for the Warrior family to fully extend to Milford.

“We co-opped at the very last minute and we were just talking about how some of the girls were really reserved about that and not too excited,” Bauer said. “But it was Christmas time, I told them I didn’t care if we won another game all year, because they had all become friends.”