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U High claims Intercity girls basketball title
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NORMAL -- A quick glance at the 29th annual Intercity Tournament schedule left University High School girls’ basketball coach Laura Sellers concerned. Now she can breathe easier. | Box scores, stats, results Facing a daunting task of her team playing their fourth game in six days, Sellers’ nerves proved fickle as the Pioneers claimed their first outright Intercity title since 1993 after a 61-53 victory over Bloomington Saturday night at Normal Community. It was U High’s fourth Intercity title. “I knew (Saturday) was going to be the hardest game, four games in six days on top of the emotion with Central Catholic (a 50-44 overtime victory on Friday),” Sellers said. “But we can have a lot of kids who can contribute every night and that’s what we had tonight and we needed that.” In the opening game, a defensive effort by Normal West that left coach Steve Price “very impressed” carried it to a 51-31 victory over Unit 5 rival NCHS. U High-BHS Trailing 33-25 at halftime, the Purple Raiders (1-2) crept back into the game by utilizing their potent frontcourt tandem of sophomores Amanda Hainlen and Shaneice Bell. “That’s one of the things we talked about working on and improving from the first two games,” BHS coach Sondra Sisson said. “We were not getting the ball inside well or we were doing it from the wrong angle. (Saturday), kids got to the spots on the floor, hit the angle in the offense and I think it showed in our play.” With BHS constantly pushing the ball into the interior, the Pioneers (4-0) had trouble stopping the reenergized Raider attack. Taking high-percentage shots in the lane allowed the Raiders to cut a deficit that once ballooned to 11 points down to two in the fourth quarter. Although they allowed BHS back into the game, the Pioneers remained calm and scored on five of their final seven possessions to win the title. “We held on,” Sellers said. Bell finished with a game-high 15 points and 11 boards for the Raiders. Alyssa Palmer’s 15 points led U High, while Kristin Judson had 14 points. Despite the loss, Sisson was “very proud” of her team and hopes the Raiders will find U High on their February schedule. “This will probably be a preview for the (Class 3A) regional title,” Sisson said. “I hope we will play a little stronger and be ready for them then.” |