IC Catholic Prep girls basketball rolls past Westmont, moves into sectional final

LISLE – IC Catholic Prep’s players only learned Westmont was the top seed in the Class 2A Lisle Sectional when they asked why they would be wearing their blue uniforms when the teams met in Tuesday’s semifinal.

Seeding proved to be nothing more than a number because the Knights convincingly beat the Sentinels anyway. With their 49-32 victory, they’ll have a shot at their fourth sectional title and their first since winning two straight en route to state finals appearances in 2014 and 2015. That shot will come at 6 p.m. Thursday against Phillips, who beat Lisle 57-20 in the second semifinal.

IC Catholic Prep (18-14) jumped out to a 14-3 lead by the end of the first quarter and never looked back. The lethal combination was a better offensive showing and a defense so stingy that Westmont (21-12) was forced into bad shots from all distances and angles throughout.

Leading the charge for the Knights was senior Maura Grogan with 17 points, six apiece coming in the first and fourth quarters. Five of the nine she scored in the first half came from the free-throw line, but her entire second-half output came from the field.

“This game, I think my teammates worked really hard to get the ball inside,” said Grogan. “And I think we practiced really hard, and we had a lot of preparation for this game, and everything was just working tonight. So, super excited about that and looking forward.”

Junior Mary Kate Hilgart scored 10 of her 13 points in the second half. Freshman Libby Phillips, who had 10 points to help clinch the regional title against Timothy Christian, continued to justify her varsity promotion with nine points.

“Give credit to Libby,” IC Catholic Prep coach Todd Fisher said. “It took a few games for her, I think, to get used to the pace and physicality, but I think you’ve seen the last few games even before Timothy, she’s been playing very good basketball.”

Senior Payeton Pickens finished her basketball career with the Sentinels by pacing them with 11 points, including two of their three 3-pointers. Junior Kallie Niemer scored from the field in every quarter as part of a nine-point game, and senior Danielle Hoover scored all nine of her points in the second half.

Despite the decent showing from the three upperclassmen, no field goals came from anyone else. Senior Dasha Savchuk rounded out the Sentinels’ scoring with three free throws.

“We just couldn’t get the ball to fall early on,” said Westmont coach Thomas White. “Some of our open shots that we typically hit all season didn’t fall tonight.”

Still, White was proud of the season the Sentinels had.

“These girls really earned every win,” White said. “And they fought every single game. Even if we weren’t in the game, they fought every single possession this season.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250225/girls-basketball/girls-basketball-ic-catholic-proves-its-point-reaches-sectional-final-by-beating-westmont/