Women’s basketball: Sauk Valley dominates second, fourth quarters to win big over Illinois Valley

DIXON – The Sauk Valley women’s basketball team struggled to separate from Illinois Valley in the first quarter of its Thursday night home game, but the Skyhawks heated up in the second on their way to a 77-43 Arrowhead Conference win.

In a tightly-contested first quarter, Skyhawks sophomore guard Alejandra Padilla starred, scoring nine points, including seven in the first three-and-a-half minutes, while grabbing six rebounds and nabbing three steals to help Sauk Valley to a 15-14 lead.

The Skyhawks started to gain momentum after a Padilla steal, half-court pass and Caylyn Kimmel layup created a 13-10 advantage.

[ Photos from Sauk Valley women's win over IVCC ]

In the second quarter, Sauk Valley erupted with a 23-8 run, including a 12-0 run in the first five minutes. From there, the Skyhawks never looked back.

“One of the things we talked about between quarters was playing better defense, and I felt like we played together more. I also thought that, offensively, we got out and ran better, and shared the ball a little bit more,” Sauk Valley coach Julie Schroeder-Ranz said. “We were kind of robotic in the first quarter, or we took some shots that we like to call ‘settles,’ where we just didn’t run our stuff, and then we just kind of settled for a shot. So I felt like we executed a lot better in the second quarter.”

Kimmel hit her first of four 3s off a Padilla assist just over a minute into the period, extending the lead to 20-14. Freshman guard Ainsleigh Hendrix followed with another 3 from the left wing less than 30 seconds later, making it a 23-14 game.

Kimmel found sophomore forward Josie Rank on a bounce pass in the lane for a 25-14 lead about 30 seconds after Hendrix’s 3, and Hendrix hit a free throw about two minutes later for a 26-14 lead.

Illinois Valley scored eight points over the last five minutes of the second quarter, but Sauk Valley negated them with 12 more points of its own. Kimmel led the way with 10 points in the quarter, while Hendrix chipped in seven.

“We’re getting up the court a lot faster from the beginning of the season, and we just gained a new girl [Kimmel], so hopefully she’s our spark to keep our team moving a lot faster,” Padilla said. “And once we pass the ball and get it into the post and then kick out for that 3, that’s what gets us to go fast. Or even just looking into the post and then scoring.”

Four 3-pointers and a sizable rebounding advantage helped the Skyhawks seize all of the momentum during the second quarter.

Schroeder-Ranz said creating open 3-point looks is something they emphasize in practice.

“That’s something we practice a lot. We have some really good shooters on our team, especially with Kimmel out there now. I think she made three of those four, so she’s a difference-maker for us and had a phenomenal first game for us. We’re really excited to have her out there, but our kids are really willing to share the basketball, and they get in gaps and attack things to make their teammates open. And that’s what we did in the second quarter.”

In the first half, Kimmel paced Sauk Valley with 12 points, while Padilla totaled 11 points, 10 rebounds and three steals. The Skyhawks led 38-22 at the break.

In the third quarter, the Eagles’ tightened their defense somewhat, but they didn’t have the offense to match.

With a Rank right-corner 3 with 8:28 to play, the Skyhawks grabbed a 41-24 lead. About two minutes later, freshman guard Hailey Walters nabbed a steal and assisted Padilla on a fast-break layup, restoring the lead to 17 points at 45-28.

Illinois Valley cut the deficit to 16 points with about three minutes left, and for a brief time, it looked like it could make the game competitive again.

But over the final few minutes, Sauk Valley responded with a 7-3 run to close out the quarter leading 56-36.

“That was definitely one of my [messages] in a timeout, was look, we can’t trade baskets or trade stops. We have to get stops and get baskets to open this thing up,” Schroeder-Ranz said. “And I felt like after that conversation, we really concentrated on running our offense, and we did a really good job with that.”

Said Padilla: “When we run our plays, that’s what gets us those shots, but when we’re not running the plays, we’re playing too quick and creating turnovers. But it’s just executing and playing hard.”

In the fourth quarter, Rank scored eight points and Kimmel knocked down two more 3s to put the game out of reach. Her first 3, which stretched the lead to 63-38, was assisted by Padilla, and it came from the right wing with 7:49 to play. Her second 3, also from the right wing, made score 68-38 just over a minute later. Sophomore forward Jenna Johnson set up the play with a pass from the post.

The Skyhawks ended the game with a 9-5 run over the last six-and-a-half minutes. The short-handed Eagles, down to just five active players, simply couldn’t keep up.

Kimmel finished the night with 22 points (including four 3-pointers) and seven rebounds, Padilla racked up 17 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and four steals, and Rank pitched in 17 points for Sauk Valley.

Sophomore forward Maddy Freeman scored 24 points to lead Illinois Valley.