NORMAL — A cold-shooting first three quarters ended up putting Pleasant Plains in too big of a hole from which the Cardinals could recover in the Class 2A girls basketball state semifinals on Thursday.
The Cardinals (30-3) manufactured a fourth-quarter rally, cutting a 21-point deficit down to seven with 2 minutes, 30 seconds left, but Breese Central held on for a 48-40 win to advance to Saturday’s Class 2A state championship game.
Plains returned to the Redbird Arena court later Thursday in the third-place game, picking up a 53-33 win over Elgin St. Edward.
Anna Weber led Pleasant Plains with 17 points and 10 rebounds, along with hitting just her fourth 3-pointer this season as she tried to spark the Cardinals.
The Cardinals found themselves trailing 10-4 after one quarter and 17-8 at halftime.
“The first half wasn’t typical of us,” Plains coach T.J. Fraase said. “Normally, we’re scoring in double digits, but you have to credit that to Breese Central. If you would’ve told me we only would’ve allowed 17 points in the first half, I’d have thought we’d be up.”
With the Cougars (31-3) leading 39-27, they went to a stall tactic. Breese Central ignored a player wide open in the corner then a player caught the ball while open near the basket and looked everywhere except for the basket. The possession ended when Aurora Fraase stole the ball and quickly Bailey Leach connected on a 3-pointer to get within 39-30 with 3:00 left. The next Central possession ended in another turnover and Kerbi Shultz came up with the ball and found Madison Burke, whose fastbreak layup got the Cardinals within 39-32.
That was the Cardinals’ last gasp. With 1:17 remaining, Breese Central upped its lead back to 14 before Leach connected on her second 3-pointer.
“That was a really, really tough game to play,” Central coach Nathan Rueter said. “Extremely well-coached group, they play really hard, obviously have some players who are really, really tough to contend with. I thought in the first half, we did a really nice job of controlling the game, but we weren’t good on the glass. That was evident that they were tougher in the first half. We talked about being the tougher team in the second half.”
Pleasant Plains was 1-for-11 in the first quarter and went 2-for-12 in the second in a cold opening half. The Cardinals finished 32% from the field (16-for-50) while Breese Central opened 7-for-12 in the first half and was 16-for-29 (55.2%) overall.
“Schematically, we had a plan and the kids did a really nice job,” Rueter said. “We felt offensively, they were going to do everything to try and score baskets in the paint. That’s their style: they want to score in transition, and they want to score in the paint.”
Leach added 10 points for the Cardinals while Madison Burke contributed with six points, eight boards and four assists.
“I don’t think we moved or ran our offense as well as we have in the past,” coach Fraase said.
Taylor Trame led the Cougars with 15 points and 10 boards while Lexy Santel had 11 points.
Breese Central and Rueter are going for their second state championship. The Cougars defeated Rochester 47-41 to win the 2007 Class A state title. The Cardinals will bring home their second state trophy after winning the 2020 Class 2A state championship.
Third-place game
Anna Weber had a monster game in her career finale, with 17 points, 13 rebounds — including six on the offensive glass — to go with four blocks, two steals and two assists as Pleasant Plains beat Elgin St. Edward 53-33.
The Cardinals (31-2) also got nine points from Bailey Leach and Madison Burke.
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Pleasant Plains recovers from heartbreak in semis to capture 2A third
Reporting by Ryan Mahan, Springfield State Journal-Register / State Journal-Register
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