Adam DuvallPeoria Journal Star
CANTON — Peoria Notre Dame and Deer Creek-Mackinaw seem to have been a on collision course all season.
The two state-ranked girls basketball teams will now meet at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Class 2A Canton Sectional title game. No. 1 Peoria Notre Dame beat Bloomington Central Catholic, 64-31, while No. 8 Dee-Mack took down the hosts, 44-34 in the nightcap Tuesday night.
“It’s going to be battle, for sure,” Dee-Mack coach Joni Nightingale of the Sweet 16 matchup. “We’ve seen a lot of Notre Dame this year in film, in person. There’s no doubt about it, they’re a very talented team.
“The best thing that we have going for us is we have zero pressure going into this. We 100 percent believe in ourselves, but we might be the only people in the state that do.”
SWEET 16: 6 girls basketball teams from around Peoria that will play for 2024 IHSA sectional titles
These 30-win teams have a trio of common opponents — Eureka, Camp Point Central/Southeastern and Canton. The Chiefs (32-2) went 4-1 against those foes with their loss coming to CPC, while PND (30-4) beat those three squads by an average margin of 32.7 points.
Regardless, these teams will likely be playing in front of another packed house with an extra unique atmosphere provided at Alice Ingersoll Gymnasium.
“This is fun when Alice full,” PND coach Layne Langholf said. “I was blessed enough to be here a lot of years (as the Canton girls coach) where our girls games looked a lot like this when we were playing really good basketball. … I’m glad we do get to come back, and our kids get another chance to play over here.”
No. 1 PND rolls to victory
For Lexi Baer, it was her first time playing in the historic venue. But that didn’t faze the 6-foot-1 sophom*ore guard one bit. She scored 10 of the Irish’s 22 first-quarter points on her way to 12 points and five rebounds. Her first quarter consisted of a lay-in off an Emy Wardle dish, a layup followed by two 3-pointers from opposite wings.
“The main key in being a shooter is definitely confidence,” Baer said, “so I always have to come out with confidence no matter where I’m at."
And like so many of PND’s victories this season, it was the defense that shined. In less than four minutes of the opening period, the Irish had turned over BCC (26-7) five times. The Saints committed 23 in the game, while shooting 27.2 percent (9-of-33) from the field and getting outrebounded, 28-18.
“We knew we really had to lock in on defense, especially, on the boards,” PND senior guard Mya Wardle said. “I think we came out and set the tone early. We boxed out, we rebounded and pushed it.
“This was a really good game coming into Thursday, gave us a lot of confidence because everybody stepped up and made shots and that was really good to see.”
Julia Mingus led a balanced PND attack, which shot 47.2 percent (25-for-53), with 14 points, while Emy Wardle added 10 points and six rebounds and Mya Wardle had eight points and six rebounds.
Lauren Emm scored 12 points to pace BCC.
Dee-Mack ends Canton's season
Dee-Mack showed its resolve after a late fourth-quarter rally by Canton (25-9). A Dalia DeJesus layup put the Chiefs up 13 midway through the fourth quarter, only to see the Little Giants battle back.
Nine points off three 3-pointers over a 2:04 span including two by Ava Wenger got Canton within four. That, however, would be their final points of the night.
IHSA GIRLS BASKETBALL BRACKETS: Peoria-area postseason schedules, scores and pairings
“I think our biggest confidence comes from our defense,” said Nightingale, whose team held Canton to 28.6 percent shooting. “We really pride ourselves in it. … We know if you can’t outscore us, you can’t beat us.”
This was very evident in the first half when Dee-Mack — winners of eight in a row — held Canton scoreless for 10 minutes and four seconds.
“Everybody’s prepared to guard whoever they need to,” D-M junior Lexi Cottingham said.
The 5-foot-6 guard controlled the offense for the Chiefs, scoring from a variety of ways for Dee-Mack. She hit three triples, plus used the baseline to add four other buckets in a game-high 17-point effort on 7-for-11 shooting.
Nightingale says Cottingham is "just a shooter with ice in her veins."
“You can’t crumble under pressure,” Cottingham said of her mindset. “You just got to go with it. It’s win or go home, so you just got to play with the confidence like you’re the best shooter out there.”
Elise Hahn also proved to be a big factor for Dee-Mack. The 5-foot-11 senior forward had her way in the post, scoring 12 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Her biggest strength was her shot-blocking ability in the third quarter, getting four of her five blocks in that frame.
Wenger scored 14 points for Canton, which also got eight from Jena Goforth and six by Allison Wheeler.
Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.
