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MATTESON -- Sabrina Carpenter’s 2024 song “Don’t Smile” opens with the words, “Don’t smile because it happened baby, cry because it’s over.” Of course, this is a play on the saying, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”
There were plenty of smiles and crying for the Lincoln-Way West girls basketball team Thursday night as their season came to an end. A 59-40 loss to Marist in the 4A Rich Township Sectional finals to end the careers of two seniors and an impressive playoff run naturally provided the tears.
But consider the path the Warriors took to reach the sectional championship, the legacy those seniors left and the outlook for the future, it’s pretty easy to see what the smiles were all about.
Lincoln-Way West entered the playoffs at 20-11, earning the third seed in the sectional. After easily dispatching Shepard, they were tasked with beating Lincoln-Way East for a third time this year in the regional championship. It was a difficult task, but the Warriors got it done.
In the sectional semifinals, they faced the second seed in Lockport, a team that beat them twice during the regular season. A last second bucket by Molly Finn lifted the Warriors to victory.
The game against top-seeded Marist got away from the Warriors in the second quarter, but the resiliency they showed to get there in the first place deserves praise.
“(Marist) is the number one seed for a reason,” Lincoln-Way West coach Ryan White said. “They’ve had a great year and the kids they had out there could all score the ball. It’s tough to matchup when all five kids can score like that.”
While the game was tied with 30 seconds left in the opener, a buzzer-beating layup by Olivia Barsch gave Marist a 14-12 edge entering the second. Lincoln-Way West got as close as 16-15, but the Red Hawks outscored them 18-5 the rest of the half to take a 34-20 edge into the locker room.
Marist scoring 14 points off of 14 LWW turnovers in the first half was the difference. Ava Tish and Molly Finn, the team’s guards, scored the first 24 points as Marist forced the Warriors into settling for three-point attempts. The Red Hawks controlled the second half, leading by as many as 22.
Again, the resiliency of Lincoln-Way West can’t be understated. The Warriors managed to cut the lead down to 14 after being down 48-26 entering the fourth, playing the game like it was their last.
It was for the season, and for Caroline Smith and Erin Quigley, it was their last ever. Smith finished her career with two sectional championship appearances and was viewed as a team leader on and off the court.
“I’ve played with Caroline for three years and she’s always been there for me,” a teary-eyed Finn said. “She’s always been a role model and I’m definitely going to miss her. Her and Erin have always been such assets to the team.”
Smith will being playing Division I volleyball for Drake University next year, but she’ll forever cherish her time on the hardwood.
“This has really been everything,” Smith said, tears flowing down her face. “I’m going to college for volleyball, so I really just (played this season) for the team and my coaches. I’ve always seen so much support for them and I’m just so grateful for this opportunity and everything this game has given me.”
Though Smith’s loss on the court and Quigley’s loss in the locker room will hurt, everyone else will be back for the Warriors. After Finn and Tish finished Thursday night with 18 and 12 points, respectively, that’s an exciting prospect. So while plenty of tears were shed, there will be far more smiles moving forward.
“Most of our starters are coming back,” Tish said. “Caroline is the only one that’s leaving, so our only problem is going to be finding a big to play. We’re a good shooting team, though, so I think we’ll be fine next year.”