Maine South Advances to Sectional Final with 39-35 Victory Over Resurrection

Only with a basketball program as storied as Maine South could a sectional semi-final be seen as a potential trap game. But through the weekend, Coach Mark Smith made sure his girls were focused and ready to go against Resurrection High School on Monday night.

After a slow start and struggling through free-throw shooting woes all game, Maine South fought its way to a 39-35 victory in the IHSA Class 4A Park Ridge (Maine East) Sectional semi-finals. They advanced to play CSL South rival Niles West in the Thursday night’s sectional finals at Maine East.

“Our kids battled through. We didn’t play at our best, but we battled out a win,” Smith said. 

The Hawks struggled early on with four missed shots and three turnovers in their first seven possessions. Maine South finally got on the scoreboard when sophomore guard Mackenzie Duffy hit a jumper to tie the game at 2-2 with 3:34 remaining in the first quarter.

Resurrection’s patience on offense gave the Bandits good looks early on. Samantha Ruehl knocked down three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to give Resurrection an 11-3 advantage late in the first quarter.

“[Coach] said we just need to settle down, run our sets and not get worried,” Maine South junior guard Michelle Maher said. “Just run our stuff and don’t pay attention to what they’re doing.”

Still struggling to find a rhythm on offense, junior Kaitlyn Mullarkey knocked down a three-pointer to help spark an 11-0 run midway through the second quarter. Nina Duric scored the Hawks’ last five points of the half and Maine South had an 18-16 halftime lead.

Both defenses held the other team in check after halftime. Maher, who had a poor shooting night, nailed a big three-pointer to help give Maine South a six-point lead going into the last eight minutes.

“We’re used to getting a lot more possessions than we did tonight,” Smith said. “We left some possessions on the floor and you can’t do that when you only get a handful of possessions in a game.

Resurrection continued to claw back and took the lead with five minutes to go on a three-pointer from Jenna Rice. Their lead would extend to four when Rice completed an old-fashioned three-point play after being fouled on a driving layup.

But Maine South finished the game on a 9-1 run. Jacqui Grant’s two free throws with two minutes to go put the Hawks ahead for good.

As a team, Maine South struggled from the free-throw line, shooting 13-for-28 from the charity stripe.

The Hawks move on to face the same team that knocked them out of the playoffs a year ago. Maine South lost the sectional semi-final to Niles West, 52-33, last season.

But Maine South has had Niles West’s number this year, beating them twice in the regular season. In their most recent meeting – on January 28 – the Hawks held Niles West to only 29 points in a 17-point victory.

“Obviously Loyd is the x-factor,” Smith said of Niles West. “We played two really nice games against them, but beating a team a third time -- especially the caliber of Niles West -- is going to be extremely difficult.”