Girls basketball: Abbey Miner’s game-winning layup completes wild comeback for Marian Central against Rockford Lutheran

WOODSTOCK – Marian Central doesn’t lack confidence.

Trailing by eight points against Rockford Lutheran with more than two minutes remaining, the Hurricanes never stopped trusting each other.

After a pair of missed free throws by the Crusaders with 12.7 seconds left, Marian pushed the ball upcourt and got it into the hands of point guard Abbey Miner, who took care of the rest.

The Hurricanes sophomore got the ball near halfcourt, took a few dribbles and drove into the lane, laying the ball off the glass with her right hand and into the basket to give her team the lead.

Rockford Lutheran’s Soraya Parker’s half-court shot at the buzzer was on target but bounced off the front of the rim, and the Hurricanes celebrated a wild 54-53 comeback victory against the Crusaders in their nonconference game at Landers Pavilion.

Miner could have handed the ball off, but she was confident in her ability with the game on the line.

“Well, to be honest, there wasn’t really much to it,” said Miner, who had seven points. “I knew I had to make it for my team. I could have passed, but I was confident in myself. The team is confident in me, I’m confident in me, so I knew that I could do it.

“It was pretty crazy. We were picking ourselves up every single second.”

Marian trailed 49-41 with 2:06 left but kept it close enough. The Hurricanes came up with key stops on the defensive end and kept making their shots on the other end. Madison Kenyon had a key block and layup to cut Rockford Lutheran’s lead to 49-44 with 1:40 left.

After a pair of free throws from Parker, Marian’s Kerri Johnson banked in a 3-pointer to make it 51-47. After another two free throws by the Crusaders, Adriana Wrzos hit a long 3 from about 20 feet near the top of the key. The Hurricanes then stole the inbounds pass and got a quick field goal from Juliette Huff, making the score 53-52 with under 45 seconds left.

After a few empty possessions, Rockford Lutheran’s Sydney Carlson missed both of her free throws with 12.7 seconds remaining. Kenyon grabbed the rebound and the Hurricanes quickly got the ball upcourt to Miner for the game-winner.

First-year coach Lee Brown gave all credit to his players.

“It’s a testament to them,” said Brown, a 1995 Dundee-Crown graduate. “That’s a great group of girls who work really hard, and they fight to the end. There’s going to be games like this, and we’ll definitely take it. You always try to stay positive and give yourself a chance.”

“This group competes. They gave themselves the chance to win.”

Kenyon, a junior forward, kept the Hurricanes within striking distance of the Crusaders with a game-high 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting, also grabbing 12 rebounds. Wrzos had eight points and two 3s, Johnson had six points on two 3s, and Juliette Huff scored six points.

Kenyon was confident in her teammate to get the job done.

“I was like, ‘Abbey, just go for it,’ " Kenyon said of Miner’s game-winner. “She’s an amazing point guard for us. She has great skills, and she’s really good at communicating. Everyone is. We all have the confidence and trust in each other. Compared to last year, our trust has been phenomenal.”

Brown felt Miner and Wrzos did a good job defensively against Parker, who had 13 first-quarter points on 5-of-6 shooting. She didn’t score in the second quarter had only seven points in the second half, all on free throws. Nine players scored for the Hurricanes compared to five for the Crusaders.

The Hurricanes (9-3) also beat Rockford Lutheran (8-3) in the championship game of Johnsburg’s Thanksgiving Tournament on Nov. 18. Marian Central already has more wins than it did all of last season, when it finished 5-20.

“There’s a huge difference you can see, it’s crazy,” Kenyon said. “I think it’s just the trust between players. The chemistry has totally changed.”