The Triton College women's basketball team needed all 40 minutes to scratch and claw to a 73-69 victory over Sauk Valley Community College March 4 in Freeport in the opener of the Region 4 Division I tournament.
The come-from-behind win clinched a berth at 5 p.m. March 6 in the championship game against the tournament hosts Highland Community College. The No. 3 seeded Cougars (13-15) rallied from 15-down to stun Malcolm X College in their 79-77 semifinal victory.
It will be the third consecutive year Triton and Highland will square off for the title. The Trojans won in Freeport in 2021 and the Cougars returned the favor in River Grove last year.
Out of sync for much of the game, the Trojans (23-6) saved their best for last, going on a 10-0 to finish the game. A pressing defense that forced Skyhawks turnovers on almost every possession worked to perfection in forging the eventual winners' to retake a 70-69 lead with just 1:12 remaining. Celebrating her 19
th birthday,
Trinity Barnes tallied that go-ahead basket – two of her game-high 22 points.
Then
Dana Walcott went from potential goat to surefire hero. Executing the press as Sauk Valley set up for a go-ahead shot, she stole the ball, raced downcourt for a layup, was fouled and hit the resulting free throw with five seconds remaining to clinch the game and the final score.
Pushed back into the recesses of the players' memories were earlier struggles. The Skyhawks (9-22) led by 12 midway through the second quarter and again by 10 halfway through the third. The Trojans then repeatedly crept closer, but could not get even until
Queen Baker's layup knotted a 63-63 tie with three minutes to go.
Interim coach
Drew Winston was not worried, though.
"It was a two-possession game," he said. "We were right there within reach. It was a matter of settling down and do what we have to do."
Winston was not even worried when Walcott, upset when she committed a two-shot foul, slammed the ball down in frustration with herself – not the referees – after Baker's tying score. But the officials did not see it that way, and assessed a technical. The Skyhawks hit all four free throws and another basket for a 69-63 lead with just under three minutes remaining.
"I talked it to her, and she was under control," Winston said. "I teach the girls to stay in the moment. She was initially upset. Once she settled down, she was fine. You focus on every possession, and be ready when your number is called."
Said Walcott: "I just realized it didn't really matter. I had to let it go. There were two, three minutes left."
Winston put in his press, which requires a kind of desperate energy from the players. He can only use it for a limited number of possessions at a time. The last two minutes was just such a moment.
"You don't want to release it too early," he said of the all-or-nothing defense. "It'll burn you out after three-four minutes. We haven't run it all year. It has to be in spurts."
Winston and his players also were mindful of Barnes' birthday for extra motivation.
"Coming into the game, we did not have as much energy as we usually do," she said. "At the end, we put it together. I hit a good shot."
Barnes also kept the Trojans in the game with her free throw shooting. She hit 10 of 11 shots.
Walcott, who finished with 11 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, gathered almost all her energy for one key play, start to finish, as she did the final execution of Winston's press.
"lt feels good," she said. "I had to keep my defender in front of me. After I stole the ball, I just had to keep my mind on the basket. And not worry about the defender, not knowing she would hit me (on the foul)."
Monraia Wilson had 18 points and six rebounds including a critical steal and buzzer-beating three to end the third quarter to help spark the fourth quarter comeback. Baker had 13 points and six rebounds. Hailey Walters led Sauk Valley with 18 points.
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(Story by tritonathletics.com contributor George Castle)
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