Hillcrest, Lemont move into finals

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Uniquah Hampton had 18 points and sophomore Juanita Robinson added 17 to lead Hillcrest to a 61-46 victory over Harlan in a Class 3A sectional semifinal at Rich East.

Robinson scored eight of her points during a 15-2 third quarter run that gave Hillcrest (25-4) a 50-31 lead. She also buried a three-pointer from 40 feet at the end of the first half that gave the Hawks an 11-point cushion.

‘‘Sometimes before practice, I work on my half-court shots,’’ Robinson said. ‘‘I know I was nervous at the beginning of the game. I was too hyped. I wasn’t doing real good in the first half, but I came back to life in the second half.’’

Camille Byrd led Harlan (22-7) with 14 points, and Tiffany Morris and Tikeyiah Johnson each had eight.

‘‘A lot of people were talking before the game about us flopping last year against Crete-Monee,’’ said Hillcrest coach John Maniatis.

‘‘I think that was weighing heavily on the kids’ minds for the last 365 days. Robinson was a little bit of a roller-coaster ride tonight. She had a tough first half, but I thought she was clutch in the second half.’’

Lemont 57, Rich South 52: Erin Stahurski scored 27 points and had 10 rebounds and sophomore Annie Forzley came off the bench to add 11 to lead the Indians.

Stahurski scored 15 points in the third quarter as Lemont extended a 28-26 halftime lead to 43-35 with 1:03 remaining in the quarter.

''I haven't scored 15 points in a quarter in a long time,'' Stahurski said. ''They were passing the ball to me well down low, they were getting the ball to the right hand. We worked really well together.''

Niara Harris scored 24 points for Rich South (18-9), which got within 51-48 with 46.8 seconds remaining the fourth quarter. Taheerah Ali had 11 points for the Stars.

Alex Prasuaskas added nine points for Lemont (25-5).

''Erin is a load inside,'' Lemont coach Bill Bozue said. ''We had a chance to get her a couple more baskets but we either fumbled the ball or made a bad pass. We got excellent guard play, we bring three sophomores off the bench and they play a ton for us.''