Paige Jesse, Princeton girls earn regional rematch with Alleman

PRINCETON – Paige Jesse was playing like a senior who wasn’t ready to play her last game.

The little senior guard came up big for Princeton, scoring seven points in the fourth quarter to give the Tigresses just the spark they needed to break open what was a three-point game into a 50-35 win over Sandwich in a Class 2A Princeton Regional semifinal Tuesday at Prouty Gym,

“Definitely, didn’t want it to end,” Jesse said. “That 3 just changed my attitude, quickly. My shots kept going in. I just pushing defense and everything.”

“Me especially being a senior and playing with most of these girls since my freshman and sophomore years, coming off this win, I’m just proud. There’s no better way to end the season than going into the regional championship.”

The win sets up a rematch of last year’s regional final Thursday against top-seeded Alleman (23-9), which dispatched Bureau Valley 54-26 in the first semifinal.

The Pioneers beat the Tigresses 58-27 for last year’s title in Rock Island as well as 60-35 in a matchup last month at Prouty Gym.

The Tigresses are ready for the rematch

“I’m excited we have another chance because I think we can play closer this time. We’ve been doing better at the turnaround games,” junior guard Camryn Driscoll said.

“I’m super excited to play them again,” Jesse said. “Don’t want it to turn out like last year, and looking forward to the win.”

“This is where we wanted to be, competing against another regional championship and what better way than go up against the top-seeded team,” PHS coach Tiffany Gonigam said. “We’re looking forward to the challenge.”

The championship is set for 7 p.m. Thursday.

Princeton 50, Sandwich 35: Sandwich scored the first seven points of the third quarter to cut a nine-point deficit to 23-21.

Princeton scored the last two points of the third quarter and the first four of the fourth quarter with Jesse converting a steal and layup to put the Tigresses up 34-25.

Driscoll and Gonigam said Jesse’s spark was crucial.

“Whenever she can hit 3s and make quick steals it always sets a fire in the rest of us. We just kept going and didn’t stop after that,” Driscoll said.

“I thought her effort all around is always spectacular, but she just seemed to be in all the right spots, doing all the right things at just the right time,” Gonigam said. “Coming up with a several steals, sprinting the floor and getting open underneath and finding her teammates. She really was a key for us at the end.”

The Indians made another run with Alayla Harris scoring two free throws along with a basket in the post to cap a 6-0 run to make it 34-31 with 5:02 left.

Jesse immediately knocked down a 3-pointer and followed with a layup on a runout on a pass from Driscoll. Freshman Payton Brandt added a putback to give Princeton a 41-31 edge.

“I think we bounced back by utilizing our transition game and defense, which I feel like we’re best at and helps a lot,” Driscoll said.

Driscoll poured in a game-high 20 points, sinking 8 of 10 free throws. Keighley Davis added 10 points.

Alleman 54, Bureau Valley 26: The Storm spent 20 minutes working on a triangle-and-2 defense to try to slow down the Pioneers' top guns, Adalynn Voss and Megan Hulke.

While it kept the Storm in the game early, trailing 13-7 after the first quarter, the Pioneers simply overpowered them in the end. Alleman doubled up the Storm at the half at 30-15 and turned it into a running-clock game.

“I thought if we played pretty solid defense, took care of the ball, made some shots, we’d have a chance to be in the game,” BV coach Jon Henegar said. “But we turned the ball over a little too much and didn’t shoot the ball well, but a lot of that credit goes to Alleman. They’re really good defensively.”

Henegar said his first year as a head coach was a fun one.

“I’d never coached girls basketball before, but it was a lot of fun. They made it easy for me,” he said. “The seniors were good leaders. Everyone on that team made my job pretty easy. So I had as lot of fun this year and I’m really excited for the future.”

Sophomore Libby Endress led the Storm (11-20) with 12 points, while Bella Birkey added seven,

Hulke led the Pioneers with 19 points, with Lindsey Britton chipping in nine and Voss seven.