Mount Pulaski Lady Toppers capture
sectional title with 37-36 win over Cumberland
[February 27, 2026]
The Mount Pulaski Lady Toppers played a tight game against
the Cumberland Lady Pirates on Thursday night to capture the 2026
IHSA Class 1A Sectional title at Argenta-Oreana High School.
The game was a nail-biter all evening with Mount Pulaski winning
37-36 at the buzzer. Only this game featured the Lady Pirates making
a layup at the buzzer that still gave them the loss.
The win sends the Lady Toppers to the Super-Sectional championship
in Arcola on Monday night. Mount Pulaski last played in a
Super-Sectional in 2013.
The familiar trio of Alyson Murphy, Elayna Marten and Addison Brown
led the Mount Pulaski offense in the sectional championship game but
it was freshman Ella Martin who came up with the biggest two buckets
of her high school career thus far.
With Cumberland on top 34-31 with 1:30 left to play in the game,
Martin made a reverse layup and then with 58.9 seconds left she made
a jump shot from the outside, just shy of the three-point line, to
put Mount Pulaski up for good. It was a big time shot for the
freshman, who just watched the ball fall through the net before
sprinting down the court on defense.
“McVick is always telling me to shoot the ball and I knew in that
moment that I had to,” said Martin of her basket that put Mount
Pulaski in front 35-34. “In the timeout right before he said, “No
one is guarding you. Shoot the ball if you’re open.”
And shoot the ball she did. The crowd immediately rose to their feet
and a thunderous applause followed, with arms in the air, as the
ball fell through the hoop. The Mount Pulaski bench went absolutely
nuts and the coaches went crazy too. Martin’s teammates smiled,
pumped their fists and clapped, while Martin herself remained very
even-keeled.
“There was so much going through my mind,” said Martin. “I was just
trying to stay calm and finishing out the game was the main focus.”
Elayna Marten was the one who dribbled the perimeter and dished the
pass off to Martin for the go-ahead bucket and Marten herself had a
tremendous game under pressure. Marten’s bucket in the second
quarter tied the game at eleven apiece. She then sank three free
throws before the half to give Mount Pulaski a five-point lead. And
it was her drive to the basket that finally broke a scoring drought
for Mount Pulaski in the third quarter.
“I am just so excited and it feels really great to get a sectional
championship,” said Marten after the win. “My freshman year we went
to sectionals but we couldn’t pull out a win. So it’s great to come
back this year and get revenge on that.”
Marten came up clutch at the free throw line after she got fouled
attempting a three-pointer with 2.3 seconds on the clock in the
second quarter. The senior swished all three free throws.
“I was obviously very nervous but I knew I needed to just take a
breath and really just focus,” Marten said. “I needed to make the
shots for my team and really just collect myself in that moment.”
Marten’s drives to the basket against a very tough Cumberland
defense was also key.
“They did a really good job of cutting off the baseline drive,” said
Marten. “Which that is something I like to do and then kick it out.
Them cutting it off really made a difference in my offense and they
did a really good job getting out to the shooters. Their defense was
good. They were quick and they were good.”
Alyson Murphy, Mount Pulaski’s leading scorer with 18 points, was in
such a zone against Cumberland she did not hear their student
section yelling “Overrated!” in the fourth quarter. But the minute
they yelled it, Murphy collected an inbounds pass and went straight
to the hoop for two points and a Mount Pulaski lead. A minute later
she took the ball all the way up the court and to the basket for two
points again. Murphy actually had eight points in the fourth quarter
to lead Mount Pulaski in scoring.
“It was amazing,” said Murphy of the win. “It was definitely
nerve-wracking but Ella came out and got the three. Our defense
clutched up in the last quarter and we got in a little bit of foul
trouble but then they got in a little bit of foul trouble too. We
got sent to the line and McVick was just like, “Make one and go
home.” And we made one and went home.”
Note: It actually was just a two point basket by Martin as she was
just inside the three-point line.
As for Murphy at the free throw line late in the fourth quarter,
everyone in the gym was praying she’d make at least one. What was
going through her mind?
“I was like “Grandpa, I need you.” she said.
Murphy’s grandpa, Lance Vaughan, passed away her sophomore year.
Murphy has had an incredible four-year career at MPHS. She recently
surpassed 2,000 career points and she’s been on a mission this
entire season. Before the postseason started she was on a run,
scoring 30 or more points a game for a stretch. Opposing teams have
really guarded her close but she’s got a great team around her and a
31-1 record is proof of her leadership and the team’s talent.
“I definitely would not be able to do this without the girls,” said
Murphy. “The rebounds, the passes, bringing the ball up the court,
everything. It wouldn’t be possible without them. As the season has
gone on, we’ve really clicked and we know our strengths and
weaknesses in places.”
These girls sure showed their strengths on Thursday night.
Cumberland was a fantastic defensive team and they played very
poised. Mount Pulaski was also very calm under pressure and just put
forth a fantastic effort at both ends of the court. Another great
team win by the Lady Toppers in front of a terrific crowd that
showed up for the girls.
First quarter
Mount Pulaski fell behind 9-2 to start the game with Alyson Murphy
sinking two free throws early for the Lady Toppers' points. Elayna
Marten added a bucket in the lane and the Lady Toppers would trail
9-4 at the end of the first quarter.
Second quarter
Murphy’s two free throws started the second quarter scoring and then
it was Addison Brown with a three at the 7:13 mark to tie the game
9-9. After a Cumberland bucket, Elayna Marten tied the game with her
drive through the lane. Cumberland took the lead again, only to be
topped by Brown’s three-pointer twenty seconds later. The Lady
Pirates took another one-point lead that was followed by Murphy’s
three that threw the lead back in Mount Pulaski’s favor.
[to top of second column] |
Sectional Champions: The Mount Pulaski Lady Toppers. Photo by Teena
Lowery
Seniors Alyson Murphy and Elayna Marten have spent a lot of
hours in the gym to get to this point Photo by Teena Lowery
Longtime Mount Pulaski supporter and first recipient of the
Hilltopper Medallion award, Dean Cates, is surrounded by the
sectional champs. Photo courtesy of Erin Martin
The seesaw game continued with Cumberland tying the game 17-17 with
2:10 left in the quarter. With 35.6 seconds left Murphy stole the
ball and went all the way for the layup. She was fouled and made the
“and one” that put Mount Pulaski up 20-17. After a traveling call on
Cumberland, Mount Pulaski had 23.2 seconds to take a last shot. With
2.3 seconds left Marten was fouled on her three-point attempt and
after swishing her three free throws, Mount Pulaski had good reason
to run to the locker room with an extra pep in their step. The 23-17
lead was hard-earned.
Third quarter
The Lady Pirates started this quarter with a three-pointer and then
midway through a free throw dropped in for them. Mount Pulaski was
shutout on the scoreboard until the 2:42 mark when Marten drove the
lane and scored. The Lady Pirates scored on a three again with 32.0
seconds left and Mount Pulaski would be clinging to a 25-24 lead at
the end of the quarter.
Fourth quarter
Get ready for some intense action in the fourth quarter. At the 5:10
mark Cumberland took over the lead on a basket by Alysa Dittamore,
who would be their leading scorer. Following a timeout at the 4:29
mark, the Cumberland student section would yell “Overrated!” at the
Lady Toppers. Not a good thing to do when your team is only up by
one point. Because in fifteen seconds Cumberland lost the lead on
Murphy’s bucket. And even though the Lady Pirates would take over
the lead again, Mount Pulaski still had Murphy. She drove all the
way up the court for her next layup and even though Cumberland was
still on top 30-29, Mount Pulaski did not push the panic button. A
free throw put Cumberland up by two points, but ten seconds later
Murphy reset the game to 31-31. Around the two minute mark, things
got a little more nerve-wracking as Cumberland went ahead on a free
throw and then Ella Martin was called for a charge, immediately
giving the Lady Pirates the ball back. Jude Miller made the most of
that opportunity, giving Cumberland a cushion with 1:38 remaining
and a 34-31 lead. It took Martin all of eight seconds to redeem
herself with a reverse layup in the paint. She even took a moment to
look up and watch the ball drop through the net, just to make sure
it was going to be good. Cumberland had possession again and a
chance to extend the lead but then something really good happened:
an over and back call on the Lady Pirates. It was a gift. Of course,
the Mount Pulaski defense played a part in it, but the Lady Pirates
also just simply fumbled the ball, so to speak.
So with 1:09 on the clock, it was Mount Pulaski’s ball and the crowd
was going wild. They were about to really go off like a rocket in
roughly ten seconds because that’s when Ella Martin collected a pass
from Elayna Marten and she may have hesitated a split second, but
then with a wide open look at the basket she just shot it. It was a
long jumper that just glided through the rim and it put Mount
Pulaski up for good, 35-34 the score.
The last minute of the game really belonged to Mount Pulaski. With
37.4 seconds left the Lady Toppers got the ball back and the Lady
Pirates were forced to foul repeatedly. Finally with 19.0 seconds
left, Murphy went to the line and she made one shot. A two-point
lead was nice, but not enough.
Mount Pulaski was about to get another gift. Cumberland had
possession and as Dittamore got the pass and was making a move to
the basket, she really just lost her footing and traveled. There
were just 5.9 seconds left and the ball belonged to Mount Pulaski
again.
So with 4.7 seconds left, Cumberland fouled Murphy again. Her first
shot just clanked off the front of the rim and right back at her.
This prompted a timeout.
During the timeout, the theme song from “Smoky and the Bandit” was
playing and before Murphy stepped to the line for her second shot,
Audrey Cooper gave her a good luck hug. The words to the song were
blaring in the gym, “Oh, we gonna do what they say can’t be done.
We’ve got a long way to go and a short time to get there.” Well,
Murphy did it. She swished the second shot and Mount Pulaski had a
37-34 lead.
Cumberland still had one chance left and this is what they decided
to do with it: The inbounds pass was a full court football throw to
Ashton Tolen, who drove to the basket with two dribbles and then a
toss high up off the glass and through the net for her only two
points of the game. Murphy and Brown were hot in pursuit of Tolen
but after the ball went through the net the buzzer sounded and Mount
Pulaski began to celebrate the 37-36 win.
What a tremendous effort by both teams!
Mount Pulaski (31-1) will play Edwards County (29-5) in the
Super-Sectional at Arcola on Monday night at 6:00 p.m.
Mount Pulaski 37
Murphy 18
Marten 9
Brown 6
Martin 4
Cumberland 36
Dittamore 21
Miller 10
Jones 3
Tolen 2
[Teena Lowery] |
