Girls Basketball: Moline jinx hits Minooka one more time

BLOOMINGTON — Minooka experienced deja vu at the Class 4A Bloomington Sectional semifinals Tuesday night.

Just like a year ago, Moline eliminated Minooka from the state playoffs via a 36-29 victory.

A year ago, Moline ended Minooka’s finest season to date, handing the Indians a 42-38 Normal Sectional semifinal loss.

Moline (20-12) takes on Edwardsville (30-1) for the Bloomington Sectional championship at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Minooka, which made just 9-of-24 shots, ended the season 13-17.

“We came out tight and tried to do things individually instead of as a team,” Minooka coach Ray Liberatore said. “But we came back, and that was key. We did some nice things to get back into it.”

Both teams struggled from the tip, Moline leading 5-4 after a quarter. It scored the final seven points of the second quarter to take a 12-5 lead at the break.

Minooka finally got things going in the third quarter.

Karli Carter’s jumper, off an Ann Marie Bachmann assist, 30 seconds into the third quarter made it 12-7.

After Moline extended its lead to 21-7, Minooka put together a 9-0 run to crawl back in it. A layup by Ashley Clemmons cut the lead to 21-16 with 1:45 left in the third. Moline closed the quarter with five straight points to lead 26-16.

Leading 41-31, back-to-back three-pointers by Sydney Lilly and Sara Placher pulled Minooka to within 41-37 with 3:11 remaining. Minooka turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions, however.

“Twice we got a rebound in a four-point game and twice didn’t get the ball past halfcourt,” Liberatore said. “You can’t turn the ball over, especially at that time of the game.”

Clemmons was the lone Indian to reach double figures with 10 points.

“We knew what they were going to do, we just weren’t used to a slow-paced game,” Clemmons said. “Our inside game wasn’t working. They couldn’t get me the ball and I couldn’t get open. They were holding me, but I could have done better.”

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