Girls basketball: Joliet Catholic mounts huge comeback to stun La Salle-Peru in Ottawa tourney Silver Bracket

OTTAWA – It had been 12 days since the Joliet Catholic girls basketball team last competed at the Ottawa Lady Pirate Holiday Tournament because of weather-related postponements prior to Christmas.

But it was sure worth the wait for the Angels once they got back on the court Monday evening against La Salle-Peru.

JCA trailed by 17 points at halftime, then by 12 entering the fourth period.

The Angels were undeterred and rallied behind the excellent play of senior Lanie Czerkies, who scored a game-leading 17 points to go with eight rebounds, while junior teammates Layla Pierce (12 points, 8 rebounds) and Ingrid Troha (8 points) chipped in down the stretch.

JCA (10-9) outscored L-P 23-6 over the final 12 minutes of play, finding a way to capture an improbable 48-43, come-from-behind, overtime victory at historic Kingman Gym, winning the Silver Bracket championship (fifth place).

Down by two in overtime, Czerkies nailed her fifth 3-pointer of the game with three seconds left to give the Angels a 44-43 lead they’d never relinquish.

“Recently my shot has been off, and I’ve tried to stay late at practice to make sure I could improve on my 3-point shooting,” Czerkies said. “I was wide open for that shot in overtime, and I wasn’t going to pass it up. It gave us the lead, and Ingrid took it from there.”

Troha made 4 of 4 free throws in the waning 17 seconds to secure JCA’s 6-0 run to the finish.

“Part of being a good free-throw shooter is focus, and I knew I had to focus on hitting all of them once Lanie gave us the lead in overtime with that big 3,” Troha said. “What a win for us. I’ve never been part of such a big comeback win like that.”

L-P (7-7) got a team-best 14 points from all-tournament selection Brooklyn Ficek, along with an 11-point, 12-rebound double-double from senior Emma Garretson. Senior Taylor Martyn had nine points and seven boards.

The Cavaliers just couldn’t hold on to the lead they’d built at the break.

“We torched their zone defense in the second quarter with a bunch of 3s, and after halftime things went a way different way for us,” L-P coach Adam Spencer said. “We couldn’t hit any shots, and their pressure defense forced us into a lot of turnovers.

“It was a very tough loss for sure leading by that much at the half and going into the third quarter, but I know these girls will regroup entering the second half of our season.”

During a nip-and-tuck first period, L-P owned a slim 11-10 advantage before making five 3s in the second stanza. Ficek started the onslaught with a top-of-the-key 3 at 6:50 and ended it with another at 2:10 as the Cavaliers outscored the Angels 17-1 in the quarter to grab a 28-11 lead at halftime.

“I told the girls to reset themselves going into the third period, and I knew we could hang in the game,” JCA coach Kaitlyn Williams said. “We just had to start hitting shots, and we did along with playing some great defense really slowing them down after their great second quarter.”

The Angels started their march to victory, cutting the gap to 37-25 after three periods of play as Czerkies hit a 3 at 7:15 and another at 3:25 which pulled her team a bit closer entering the final quarter. Pierce took over, scoring seven points which sparked a 16-4 JCA run that sent the game into overtime at 41-all.

“I knew I had to step up in the fourth quarter knowing we wanted this win so badly,” Pierce said. “We were only down by 12, and I knew we could get the job done, and we did.”

Garretson put in a low-post bucket at 1:38 of the extra session to give the Cavs a 43-41 lead. But Czerkies and Troha’s heroics soon followed.

“Our resilience sure showed tonight, and we found that fire and light in the second half,” Williams said. “It was a long wait since we first started this tournament, but after this huge win, I think the second half of the season will be very good for us.”