Madison Hoffmann’s free throw sends Grayslake Central past Cary-Grove, into supersectionals

NORTH CHICAGO – Grayslake Central senior Madison Hoffmann liked her odds as she stepped to the free-throw line with one second left in overtime in an even game with Cary-Grove.

The Green Bay-bound Hoffmann had three tries to break a tie after a controversial foul call on a 3-point try with a Class 3A sectional title at stake Thursday night.

Hoffmann missed the first free throw but made the next two. She then intercepted the inbounds pass at midcourt and flung the ball toward the ceiling to start the celebration of a dramatic 33-31 victory for the top-seeded Rams (28-5).

“I’ll take it,” Hoffmann said after scoring 14 of her game-high 15 points after halftime. “I had to drown out all the noise and take a second. I knew I’d hit 1 of 3.”

Hoffmann’s sophomore sister Peyton added nine points as the Rams claimed their fifth sectional title and a trip to Monday’s 5:30 p.m. Hersey supersectional against Montini (24-10), a 48-31 winner over host DePaul Prep. Montini beat Central 44-25 in last year’s supersectional.

“This was a bizarre one,” said Central coach Steve Ikenn. “It truly was two really good teams who gave everything they had and kudos to Cary. They’re a great team and Tony (coach Moretti) does a great job.”

No. 2 Cary-Grove (25-8) battled back for two six-point fourth-quarter leads. It was 31-26 with 4:28 left in regulation behind Sam Skerl (12 points, two 3s), Lehigh-bound Ellie Mjaanes (10 points, seven rebounds) and Kennedy Manning (five points, five assists, six rebounds).

“It’s a tough way for it to end like that but we fought really hard all game,” Mjaanes said. “I’m really proud of everyone and the way we fought back.”

Peyton Hoffmann’s 3 at 3:39 and Madison Hoffmann’s 15-footer at 0:43 tied it at 31-31 and C-G missed a shot in the lane with five seconds left. Central won the tip in overtime, missed a shot that Katelyn Marcelain rebounded and then hung on to the ball against C-G’s 2-3 zone.

Central missed two free throws with six seconds left, but Annie Wolff rebounded and was fouled with 3.5 seconds left. After a timeout, Madison Hoffmann tried to throw a baseline inbound pass off a defender’s back but missed. Wolff got it back to Hoffmann for what appeared to be a desperation 3 at the buzzer and what Cary thought was another four minutes.

After the foul call, the officials put a second back on the clock for Hoffmann’s free throws.

“This is something I’ll never get over as a coach,” Moretti said. “These kids worked hard all season and to have it end like that is tough. Credit to Grayslake Central, they made shots when they needed to at the end.”

Including the most pressurized ones Hoffmann ever took.

“Everyone did their part tonight,” Hoffmann said.