Girls basketball: Brooklyn Ficek’s 14-of-14 free-throw shooting just enough for L-P to edge Sandwich

SANDWICH – La Salle-Peru senior point guard Brooklyn Ficek wanted to be the stabilizing force for her team during a tough Interstate Eight Conference matchup Tuesday evening at Sandwich.

Ficek was more than up to the task, scoring 25 points, including one 3-pointer, four field goals and a 14-of-14 effort at the free-throw line as the Cavaliers held off a valiant comeback attempt by the Indians to earn a hard fought 43-40 victory.

“I didn’t make a lot of shots tonight from the field, but I tried to get to the basket as much as I could, and that translated into a bunch of free-throw opportunities,” Ficek said. “I think during the last three games I’ve made a bunch of them. But I also felt strong with my passes, my defense, and tried to keep our team together with my leadership during a tough ballgame.”

Ficek – a University of Wisconsin Parkside commit – also received some help from classmate Olivia Shetterly who registered seven points and a game-best eight rebounds as La Salle-Peru (14-9, 9-2 I8) remains alive in terms of a conference title.

“She’s figuring it out at the free-throw line, and tonight she was perfect and showed what a leader she is in all aspects of the game,” L-P coach Adam Spencer said of Ficek. “During the early part of the season she did not shoot well from the line, maybe 60% or so, but over the last few ballgames she’s been amazing.

“Tonight she was better than anyone on the floor with her quickness and ability to get to the hoop, and we held on against a tough Sandwich team on their home court.”

The Indians (7-19, 3-8) got a team-leading 11 points from senior Lily Geltz, 10 points from senior Claire Allen and eight points from sophomore leading scorer Hannah Treptow.

Even though the hosts closed the L-P lead to three points with five seconds to play, Ficek proved to be money from the line and secured the Cavaliers win.

“We didn’t have Hannah [Treptow] much of the first half out on the bench with three fouls, and we fouled them a lot tonight, which L-P took advantage of, especially with Brooklyn Ficek being absolutely perfect from the line,” Sandwich coach Jim Schmidt said. “I thought with the exception of letting Brooklyn shoot so many free throws, I felt we did a really good job of staying in this ballgame until the end.”

Ficek made a 3 at 6:45 followed by a field goal at 3:20 and her first two free throws at 2:15 to put the Cavaliers ahead 11-3. But Allen hit her second 3 of the quarter from the left wing at 1:20 that closed out the opening stanza with L-P ahead 12-6.

Ficek scored six more points in the second quarter, including a basket at 1:50 and two more free throws late that closed the first half with the Cavs up 22-12.

“I hit that 3-pointer to open the game, and from there I had great confidence in my effort,” Ficek said. “We had a decent lead at halftime, but it wouldn’t get any easier from there.”

That’s because Sandwich started inching closer, slowly but surely.

After Ficek’s drive to the basket at 3:15 of the third quarter gave her team a 31-21 lead, Allen registered a bucket at 1:35, and junior Johanna Freeman came off the bench to nail a 3 at 1:10 that closed out the frame with Sandwich down 33-26 with eight minutes remaining.

Indians’ senior Breanna Sexton cut the gap to 35-31 with a top-of-the-key 3 at 5:50 and found another from the same spot with five seconds to go, but Sandwich ran out of clock as Ficek dribbled out the clock.

L-P will host Ottawa (19-6, 9-2 in the I-8) on Friday at Sellett Gymnasium.

Sandwich travels to Coal City on Wednesday.

“In my opinion, we just need to keep our composure and step up on Friday against Ottawa, who we lost to (50-28) back in December,” Ficek said. “Now it’s our time to hopefully win a conference championship.”